A letter to our community: COVID-19
Dear clients and friends,
We have been shooting our 4th feature film in Scotland and thankfully we finished just before coronavirus pandemic became a real threat in Edinburgh.
The shoot was great fun and we would love to thank everyone at ‘Film Edinburgh’ for all their support @thisisedinburgh
We were also supposed to start filming our next big-budget feature film in May in and around Edinburgh but for now, we have put all our film and commercial shoots on hold.
The Coronavirus pandemic is clearly a fast-changing and evolving situation and our top priority remains the health, wellness, and safety of our staff and the many amazing freelancers we work with.
Fortunately at Square Elephant Productions, we have preexisting and reliable cloud-based infrastructures that allow for a seamless transition to working from home.
But our office remains open and operational, supported by staff working remotely.
I want to ask all of us, during this tough time, to remember all of the fantastic people who are part of this industry including the freelancers, artists and online communities we collaborate with.
The biggest impact of this pandemic will be felt by the self-employed people in the UK as they account for over 15% of the workforce and we know that so many people across the creative arts face a worrying and uncertain time until this has passed.
The film, television and advertising industry employs thousands of people as editors, graphics and motion designers, camera assistants, light assistants, production assistants and set workers who are paid on a daily basis.
And we hope that the UK government creates an Income Protection Fund to support self-employed people through the coming months.
Please think of our freelance community and sign this:
Include self-employed in statutory sick pay during Coronavirus
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300336
During these tough times, please stay strong, take care of yourself and your loved ones. We can overcome this.
Parag Sankhe
Founder & Director