‘Orange Is the New Black’ Team Sets ‘Social Distance’ Anthology Series at Netflix

Jenji Kohan New Netflix Series
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Netflix

TV show productions have had to shut down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but one will be starting soon and adapting to the changes in the world.

The creatives behind Orange Is the New Black have teamed up on a new scripted anthology series for Netflix about the experience of living while social distancing. For the aptly-titled Social Distance, crews will be working remotely and actors will be filming themselves.

“Our job as storytellers is to reflect reality, and in this new, bizarre, bewildering reality we are all experiencing, we feel passionate about finding connection as we all remain at a distance,” executive producers Jenji Kohan, Tara Herrmann, Hilary Weisman Graham, and Blake McCormick said in a statement. “We’ve been inspired to create an anthology series that tells stories about the current moment we are living through — the unique, personal, deeply human stories that illustrate how we are living apart, together.”

“We are challenging ourselves to do something new: To create and produce virtually so that our cast and crew can stay healthy and safe,” they continued. “The experience of social distancing is currently universal, but no individual story is the same. Through a broad spectrum of tales and moments, some seismic and some mundane, we hope to capture a moment in time. And we hope that Social Distance will help people feel closer to one another.”

The writers will not be meeting physically during the writing process, the producers explained. Graham, who will serve as showrunner, will run production from her living room. Diego Velasco will direct the talent remotely.

Talk shows have been producing shows remotely, and there have already been two Saturday Night Live episodes from homeAll Rise is also set to air a remote episode.