Actor Tim Meadows on how COVID-19 is hitting film and television

Comedian and actor Tim Meadows joins Yahoo Finance to discuss how COVID-19 is impacting production for film and television, and what could be next for the industry.

Video Transcript

JEN ROGERS: You know him from "Saturday Night Live," "Grown Ups." He's on "Schooled" and "No Activity." Tim Meadows joins us now. Hi, Tim.

TIM MEADOWS: Hi, how you doing, Jen?

JEN ROGERS: I'm doing pretty well. So we wanted to get an actor's perspective here on how this is all going. I mean, we feel very fortunate. We say it's a real privilege to get to work from home.

TIM MEADOWS: Right.

JEN ROGERS: I'm here in my dining room getting to do this show. For an actor, can you work from home? Like, what have you been doing as we've been sheltering in place?

TIM MEADOWS: Well, I-- no, I can't. I cannot work from home. So it's been weird. It's been tough. Like, I was on the show "Schooled" on ABC, and we were right at the-- we had one more episode to shoot to complete our 23, and it got shut down. And then we just found out yesterday the show was cancelled. So that was like-- so now, I'm sort of like, you know, in this place of, you know, I don't know what's going to happen, you know?

Because I have another show that I'm on on CBS Streaming called "No Activity," and I know that's going back into production. It's a lower budget show. And the cast we work in twos, so there's not a big-- there's not a lot of extras or, you know, crowds or anything like that. So I could see that being an easier production to go into.

But for right now, I'm just trying to, like, bide my time like everybody else, just trying to be productive. I'm writing more. I'm trying to prepare for when I can do stand-up again and just-- you know, I'm doing yoga and meditating every day.

DAN ROBERTS: Tim, Dan Roberts here. Thanks for joining us.

TIM MEADOWS: Sure.

DAN ROBERTS: You know, during this time, one subplot that's been interesting in the Hollywood and entertainment world is the big success that "Trolls" had by going straight to digital rental. And we had a lot of people predicting, I thought going a little bit too far, that now a bunch of movies are going to skip theaters and go right to rental. I don't really know if that's going to happen when we reemerge from this. But as an actor, I'm just curious whether you and whether actors care when a movie skips series, goes right to rental, especially if it has the same number of eyeballs, and what do you think might happen, what you think might change after this time for theatrical releases.

TIM MEADOWS: Well, I mean, there is that, you know, magic of having a movie being played in the theater, you know, and having it on that big screen. And I think, you know, eventually, we might have to sort of change, you know, the way we look at it. I think maybe like bigger, you know, motion pictures like, you know, the Marvel pictures or whatever, those kinds of things that you want to see on a big screen are going to-- they're-- audiences are going to go there, and that is going to be satisfied, you know?

But there are also successful movies that have come out on streaming, you know? Like the Sandra Bullock movie that was like, everybody saw it. Everybody was talking about it. So I think, you know, the way we look at-- you know, how we view something that's successful, as far as, like, big motion pictures, I think is probably going to change.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Hi, Tim. It's Allie here now. Off of that point, there was a new survey out that said the genre that's actually attracting people to get out of their house and go to the movies is comedy. And I thought that was interesting because as you mentioned, normally those big blockbuster action films seem to be the ones that do well. But during this time, it looks like people really want that human-to-human narrative. So as a comedian yourself, what role do you think comedy is going to play in this post-COVID-19 world, as people need to process the aftermath of this pandemic?

TIM MEADOWS: You know, that's a good question. I think it's-- well, I mean, it's going to be tough in a way because, you know, I think people-- first of all, I think people want to enjoy comedy in a group. I mean, you can watch a comedy movie at home and enjoy it and everything, but I think the laughter and everything is sort of contagious when you're in a group of people.

And I think right now, people are looking to just feel better, you know? My hope is that when we come back from all of this that people aren't so politically correct and sensitive to, you know, different material. I think part of the thing with-- especially with stand-up, was that audiences were becoming too sensitive. And it was sort of, like, hurting what you could do, and it would sort of make you change the way you perform. So that's one thing I'm hoping, that audiences are more open to seeing new things.

JEN ROGERS: Maybe we'll all be changed on the other side of this. So Tim, I guess, they're talking about different ways of reopening. Like, they're going to have fewer people on set, or maybe they're going to even quarantine casts and crews. Do you think-- I mean, can you imagine quarantining or staying at the same hotel with your fellow actors?

Or is-- to me, it sounds funny. I'm like, me and the rest of the anchors, like we would all be together? I'm not so sure. But maybe you guys already used to going on, you know, remotes and staying in hotels together. So does it seem odd to you, or do you think that could work?

TIM MEADOWS: No, I think it could work. I think it would be weird when you're doing like a network or a television show that's more than 13 episodes or-- you know, because people-- we are used to working on films and being away for months at a time and basically being in a hotel with the same people and working with the same people. So I think it's doable, but I think it might be just strange in the beginning to-- for some people to be living in a hotel in the same city that you live and not being able to go home for eight weeks at a time, you know?

I think-- I mean, I think there's a lot of changes. I think there's probably going to be testing for the cast. And I think there's going to be a lot of masks. And I think, you know, like, craft services tables are a thing of the past. But you know, yeah, it's going to be different. It's going to be a lot to sort of adjust to.

JEN ROGERS: Tim Meadows, it's always so good to talk with you. You're the funniest guy. I can't wait to see what you're working on when you come out of this.

TIM MEADOWS: Thank you.

JEN ROGERS: Keep up with the meditation. You're very relaxing to listen to. Anyway--

TIM MEADOWS: It's all-- it's all in here.

JEN ROGERS: All in there. It's so good to see you. Thanks a lot.

TIM MEADOWS: Thank you, Jen. Bye bye.

JEN ROGERS: Coming up, we have much more, talking about Hollywood on hold. We're going to talk to showrunner and director David Mandel about how those behind the scenes are working to get back in business. That's coming up in two minutes.