'Stranger Things' Season 4 director calls filming shutdown 'bittersweet'

Shawn Levy calls having to shut down production on "Stranger Things" Season 4 a bittersweet moment, but feels it is the right thing to do amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Filming for the upcoming season was scheduled to end in August and move from Atlanta, Gerogia to New Mexico. The highly contagious nature of the disease had Netflix calling a stop to all filming for its original shows including "Stranger Things," which was well into production on its fourth season when Levy received the notice.

"I was having phone calls with Netflix while directing takes and blocking scenes. We shared the news with our cast and crew that we would be pausing production out of an abundance of caution," Levy said as quoted by Indiewire.

The producer-director shared that none of the cast and crew exhibited symptoms of COVID-19. However, he agreed that putting production for "Stranger Things" Season 4 on hold 'seemed like the right thing to do."

He called the temporary shut down a "bittersweet moment" and "intense" for everyone involved in the show because by now the set "feels familial for everyone." He admitted that it felt odd to stop now, since everyone felt like they "were on a roll" already.

"Stranger Things" Season 4 was already well into production when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Other shows and movies started pulling out from production for safety measures. It was only right that Netflix took the same path. Levy admitted that he is "hard pressed to come up with any comparisons for this truly global situation." Although the crew and cast raised concerns about their pay amid the suspension.

"Netflix has agreed to pay the crew for two 40-hour work weeks during the hiatus. I'm just happy that Netflix wants to do right by the health and well being of the people who make this show," Levy said, and shared that the cast and crew then "went their separate ways to wherever they thought they should be in terms of social distancing and sitting out."

Netflix not only shut down production on "Stranger Things" Season 4 but also on "Lucifer" Season 5. The devilish show was down to filming its last episode when they received the memo.