‘For Life’ Suspends Production Due to ‘Inconsistent’ COVID-19 Test Results

“For Life,” a co-production between Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios, suspended filming Friday due to conflicting coronavirus test results on set.

Multiple people involved with the production first tested positive for COVID-19, then received negative results upon subsequent testing, sources tell Variety. It is unclear just how many people received such test results, and whether the affected individuals were cast or crew. Those involved with the production are subject to routine tests for the respiratory virus that has resulted in a months-long production shutdown across the industry.

“As a result of some inconsistent test results, and out of an abundance of caution, we paused production earlier today,” said a spokesperson for Sony Pictures Television.

The ABC series, created by Hank Steinberg and executive produced by Steinberg and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, centers on an imprisoned man, played by Nicholas Pinnock, who earns a law degree and begins litigating cases for other inmates while fighting to overturn his life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. Indira Varma, Joy Bryant, Glenn Fleshler, Dorian Missick, Tyla Harris, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Boris McGiver also star.

“For Life” is not the only active production to be hit with inconsistent test results.

At Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook, 10 people in Los Angeles tested positive for the coronavirus in August, only to test negative following several days of quarantine and another round of COVID-19 test. Westbrook did not identify the affected production; Westbrook Studios currently produces Red Table Talks, hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, while Westbrook Media has a number of media shoots in production.