Covid-19: Japan’s NHK created telework drama

With conventional shooting not impossible, pubcaster NHK drama team called on the creative community (including actors, scriptwriters and production crews) to create dramas by means of telework. For this project, it conducted discussions, rehearsals, and recordings without directly meeting. The performers were responsible for their own makeup and costumes.

Conventional drama shoots require specially created professional equipment and many staff members for the sake of great images and sound. With telework project, the pubcaster strove to avoid physical contact between people. For one episode, for example, the performers each controlled all of the equipment themselves and the equipment they each had was just a single smartphone. Further, production was unprecedently fast. The shooting started after two weeks since the initial conception. There are three episodes. All three episodes have been shot. They will start being aired on May 4 on one of NHK’s domestic channels in Japan.
 
Yukie Okamoto, Senior Manager in the Programming Department, said: ‘Producing dramas in this unprecedented way was tough. But at a time when people are being urged to stay home and are experiencing ongoing anxiety, we wanted to bring them something comfy, heartwarming, and funny. We’re grateful that the performers were also keen to be involved’.

She added: ‘Some of the actors performed together for the first time but without actually meeting. There were many constraints. For instance, camera angles were limited, and we had to stop shooting when internet connections deteriorated. Production team members pooled their expertise and found ways to move forward. I hope this experience will inspire more efforts to find new ways to realize dramatic expression’.

One of the three stories is about a couple whose plans to get married in Hawaii in the spring have been cancelled because of COVID-19 outbreak. They keep in touch by means of video chats (their only means of communication). But a trivial disagreement exposes the distance between them, leading to a split. Another episode begins with a man receiving a videocall from his late wife. The other episode is a comedy in which people’s souls are swapped with those of people they wish they could meet.