In February 2021, Gravity Diagnostics began a partnership with Film Cincinnati to provide COVID-19 testing for cast and crew members who work on productions in the area. Gravity Diagnostics is a CAP-accredited, CLIA-certified laboratory based out of Covington, Kentucky. Its COVID-19 testing solutions provide a rapid turnaround time that it says assures the movie industry projects can be made effectively and safely in the Cincinnati region.
“Companies and partners who want to adapt their already quality skill sets to the motion picture industry are invaluable to Film Cincinnati. Gravity Diagnostics is one of them,” says Kristen Erwin Schlotman from Film Cincinnati. “They react swiftly to the urgency of testing production crews and provide incredible service and professionalism. It has been exciting to see another local company benefit from incoming productions,” Schlotman says.
At the beginning of the partnership, Gravity Diagnostics first met with Doug Harris of TriHealth Event Medicine to help step in and test a few COVID-19 samples. Currently, Gravity has tested 5,000-plus samples for Film Cincinnati, and is expecting this number to grow because of the number of featured films scheduled for production later in the year.
“Working with Gravity Diagnostics — thousands of COVID PCR nasal swabs have been performed on-site — with results provided in 4-5 hours,” Harris says.
Gravity has been working hard to follow each film’s various COVID-19 guidelines for safe filming. Having rapid and accurate results are pivotal to help the organization land projects and keep people healthy.
“What’s great about working with the movies in Cincinnati is that it’s corner service. We can swab someone today and get you a result today,” says Gravity Diagnostics’ CEO Tony Remington. “Getting people back to work, getting the economy back and running is really important, and movies are a big part of that. We are happy to help the film industry in Cincinnati in any way we can.”
