The cast of Michael Bay's pandemic-themed movie, Songbird, can take a breather for a while, as the movie has been issued a "do not work" order from the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

The production was issued the order because "the producers have not been transparent about their safety protocols" amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, an American magazine.

The organisation told the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday (June 2) that they are taking safety protocols "very seriously" and that the film's producers "have not yet become signatory to our agreement."

The statement continued: "The producer of the picture entitled 'Songbird' has failed to complete the signatory process and is therefore not signed to any applicable SAG-AFTRA agreement. As such, SAG-AFTRA members are hereby instructed to withhold any acting services or perform any covered work for this production until further notice from the union."

Songbird tells the story of people navigating a pandemic and was set to start production in Los Angeles this month. Bay, whose notable movies include Bad Boys (1995) and Transformers (2007), cast popular favourites such as Demi Moore, Craig Robinson and Paul Walter Hauser in the movie.

The news comes after Hollywood was given the all-clear signal on June 12 to resume film and television productions in Los Angeles County, while abiding by strict rules that include testing of on-set employees, social distancing, cleaning of props and sets, as well as a coronavirus compliance officer being installed on-set, according to Fox News.

Copyright: The Straits Times/ Asia News Network