Inside The Wuhan Lockdown

To halt the spread of the coronavirus, the Chinese government put the city of Wuhan on lockdown. 11 million people were forced to stay home, including freelancers who could no longer work to sustain themselves and their families. This is an exclusive interview with a prominent freelance filmmaker from Wuhan, China, who asked us not to reveal his identity. We talked with him about his experiences in the birthplace of the pandemic. He provides a glimpse of what life may soon be like for freelancers around the world.

What does China’s lockdown actually mean?

The lockdown means, other than certain kinds of people whose jobs are necessary to the city’s operation (such as doctors, policemen, delivery vehicle drivers) and ill people, all other residents in Wuhan could not leave their communities, even if they have jobs. People could not go out to the public street or supermarket. And all public transportation methods in the city have been shut down since January 23rd. No buses, no subways, no taxis, no trains, no flights.

How hard has it been to come by things like soap, hand sanitizer, other essentials?

In the very first few days of the outbreak, it’s nearly impossible to buy proper face masks and alcohol anywhere in Wuhan because the demands were so high that no vendors could meet that. And because it was Chinese Lunar Festival when the outbreak started, the production volume of these things was reduced.

In Wuhan, we can buy these things through community workers. They gather the requests from residents, buy those things from a designated vendor and deliver to our homes. I think they’ve done a really good job.

Can you visually see the impact the coronavirus has had on your area? If so, what is it?

Wuhan is usually a very crowded city with more than 11 million residents, but right now there are only a few cars on the road, and no people outside. The malls and markets are closed, schools are closed. It’s a really quiet and empty place now.

Who do you live with? How have you all been making sure to be safe?

I live with my wife and my daughter. Because of the shutdown, my family can not go out. My kid has not left the apartment for 50 days, which is crazy. We just stay at home, playing with our daughter. The community organizes the food for us. We just order online and volunteers and social workers will deliver to us. We have enough face masks and hand sanitizer, so if we need to come down to pick up food, we can protect ourselves.

We obey the instructions from the World Health Organization and our local agencies. Stay at home, wash hands frequently. I think we will be fine.

How have you handled telling your daughter about the ongoing pandemic? Does she know why she’s been stuck inside for 50 days?

My daughter is only 2 years old. She doesn’t know what’s really going on outside. We told her there is a little monster outside these days so we could not go out until the monster goes away. She just bought it. We prepared her lots of books, toys and games on our iPad. As far as I can see, she is doing pretty well. My goal is to make sure to minimize the negative effects of the coronavirus on her.

How has the coronavirus impacted your work?

I work as a filmmaker and cinematographer and travel around China, so the coronavirus has impacted my work a lot.

At the beginning of the outbreak, I still could go out and film, so I accepted a few jobs about the outbreak. It was actually risky to do that at that time but I think it was worthwhile; going to document what happened here in Wuhan. As filmmakers, it’s our duty to document critical times. And I also need to make money to pay my bills.

But since the implementation of the restriction to lockdown all communities in Wuhan, I have been staying at home for several weeks. If the lockdown continues, I don’t know when I can go back to work, which makes me nervous.

I actually have a couple of ongoing projects on Storyhunter, but I don’t know when I can travel and shoot. So I hope that my clients can understand my situation and give me some extra time to finish those projects.

What’s some of the work you were able to do before the lockdown went into effect? How did you find them?

Most of these jobs came to me because it’s an urgent issue and since I’m based in Wuhan, I have the access. I shot a lot of news footage for TV networks, just covering the coronavirus. I worked for NBC, ABC, Reuters and a couple more. One non-news piece I did was for The Guardian.

What precautions did you take on shoots?

The whole time, I wore a N95 face mask and gloves when I was out. When I came back home, I immediately used soap and water to wash my hands and put my clothes outside of my apartment since they could be contaminated.

Do you anticipate a long-term effect on freelancers after this crisis is over?

The impact of the virus to the global economy seems to be huge. I believe this will eventually impact our jobs in the next year or two because the clients might want to cut the budget.

What’s some of the work you were able to do before the lockdown went into effect?

I shot a lot of news footage for TV Networks, just covering the coronavirus. I worked for NBC, ABC, Reuters and a couple more. One non-news piece I did was for The Guardian.

What is the video for The Guardian about?

The video for The Guardian is about a young man who risks himself to feed dogs and cats that are left behind in apartments because of the virus. Their owners went back to their hometowns for the Spring Festival but could not come back in time due to the lockdown. This guy voluntarily goes out to feed them.

Why are stories like this important to tell right now?

The story is all about love and courage, which is urgently needed at this point. I want people to know that even though we are struck by the coronavirus here in Wuhan and all around the world, we still have love and courage in heart, which is critical to beat the virus. I want people to get inspired by this guy, not asking people to take risks to do this and that, but just to believe, believe that we can overcome all this after all. Once we have faith, we’ll be good.

Do you have any projects you’re excited to work on when the lockdown is lifted?

I’ll probably pitch a few when I can go out to shoot again. We have so many great stories about all kinds of volunteers here in Wuhan like delivery men, restaurant owners, volunteer drivers, vegetable vendors. Just a lot of people doing what they can to help each other.

Outside of working, what are you looking forward to doing when this is all over?

I plan to go to some parks and museums in Wuhan that we have never been to before with my parents, my wife and daughter. We really need some fresh air.

To hire freelancers in Wuhan, China, click here.

Interviewed by Jake Watkins, Head of Stories