Filming (Love) in the time of COVID (Cholera): Making Coyote Science 3 During COVID to keep Elders and Questers Safe

We were committed to the safety of our children and Elders

We were committed to ensuring that no one, especially our children and Elders, would contract COVID. Our Elders possess libraries worth of knowledge that spans generations, and they are cherished, just like our children. We take great pride in the fact that throughout our entire production, we cannot trace a single COVID case back to any of our shoots.



The pandemic posed significant challenges for shooting a show like ours. We had to quickly adapt and pivot. The pandemic struck in early 2020 before we began filming Season Three. Our understanding of COVID was rapidly evolving at that time. However, we were able to develop a comprehensive pandemic shooting plan that remained in place through production and post.

Remote Filming with questers from the same bubbles of our knowledge holders

One of the major changes in our format was the decision to no longer bring questers from outside the bubble of our knowledge holders during filming. Fortunately, we have an incredible network of Indigenous filmmakers and knowledge holders, along with some really cool kids. This allowed us to shoot remotely, utilizing questers and knowledge holders who were already within each other's bubbles. This season features a lot of family and close friends. Additionally, it enabled us to leverage the skills of a wide range of talented Indigenous filmmakers as they shot within their own bubbles.



In the past, we would have arrived with a crew, but now we were able to minimize the presence of external crew members and significantly reduce the risk of exposure. As a result, there are elements that will indicate to viewers in the future that Season Three was filmed during this unique period in history. Most notably, people on screen wearing masks while interacting with those who are not from their immediate bubble.

Overcoming Travel Restrictions and Production Challenges

We also had to forego any travel this year. As a result, some of the interesting remote locations we wanted to feature became inaccessible. International travel was limited to essential travel only for a significant portion of our production window. We couldn't bring Commander John Herrington to Vancouver, as we did in seasons one and two. Instead, we had to find a COVID-safe crew where he resided, far from a large city. This posed a challenge, but we were proud to prioritize everyone's safety from COVID.



Speaking of impacts and production windows, they were severely affected. In the past, organizing shoots was relatively easy, but once we had to consider exposure windows, exposure risks, and take every cough and headache seriously, filming became much more complicated. Many shoots were canceled in the morning due to someone feeling unwell. Given the ever-changing symptoms of COVID across different variants, it was always wise to err on the side of caution. This resulted in our 52 shoot days spanning over two years as we prioritized safety and creativity.

successfully Overcoming Unique Challenges in TV Show Filming

It was a strange time to film a tv show, thats for sure, but we think we did an incredible job given the unique set of challenges we faced. It is a credit to everyone involved that we were able to pull this together through such trying circumstances!