How Bill Gates’ Predictions On The Ellen DeGeneres Show Affect The Entertainment Industry

Bill Gates, who made a viral prediction in his Ted Talk in 2015 that is relatable to the current pandemic, made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday to talk about the speech and the worldwide predicament as it stands.

The prediction

In 2015, the billionaire and philanthropist said: “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war. Not missiles, but microbes.

“We’ve actually invested very little in a system to stop an epidemic,” he said in the talk, which now speaks prophetically. “We’re not ready for the next epidemic.”

Through The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the married couple has donated $100 million towards research to develop a vaccine and treatments. 

In his chat with Ellen, Gates predicted that, “[things] won’t be back to normal until we have that phenomenal vaccine or therapeutics that are over 95% effective.” He subsequently stated that “we have to assume that’s going to be almost 18 months from now.”

Thoughts on production

Though mentioning that he believed there will be a slither of normality returning over the next few months, barring any significant negative change, with a predicted 18-month runway for a vaccine presumably social distancing would still have a sizeable impact on society until then. 

Both scripted and non-scripted productions generally rely on many people being in close proximity, though a number of productions have thought of inventive ways to stay safe and keep going during this time, the majority of those productions have been non-scripted. 

The ramifications on the industry, who potentially could not return to productions fully for over 12 months are unknown, but it certainly speaks to a long lay-off that would affect every sector of entertainment unless there is significant innovation or adaptation. 

Speaking on the resurgence of the economy as a whole Gates spoke to being patient. “It won’t go back to normal in some very rapid fashion, because not only do we have these factories shut down and all these activities have ceased, even as we start them back up, people will still be a bit leery about going out,” he said. “And they will have seen their investments and their job security greatly reduced. So, the strong economy that we had will take several years before it comes back.”

As of Monday, more than 1.8 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with over 117,000 infections resulting in deaths.

Watch the full interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show below.