Lights, camera, but no action – the COVID-19 pandemic has all but shut down film and TV production. But some independent filmmakers are finding new ways to bring their stories to life amid the virus.

One such way is to create new series for the internet. “The Honeyzoomers,” written by Charles Messina, is a web series about a brother and sister forced to quarantine together, getting on each other’s nerves. It is an obvious nod to the classic TV series “The Honeymooners.”

“We’re dealing with new and scary stuff, but it is still us dealing with it and we still have to look to the people that we love and that’s another thing we try to show in a very real way,” says Joli Tribuzio.

The show is about the quarantine but is also shot in quarantine. Cast members record their own parts. Tribuzio edits each episode, which is then posted on YouTube.

“There’s something about needing to do something, and needing to create that I think makes you just rise to the occasion. Well, I have to do this. This is what we have to do, you know? We have to keep creating.”

Filmmakers have had to turn to the virtual stage while production is down.

“Some of the setups I had to ‘MacGyver’ a little bit. But it looks good on camera, so that’s what counts,” says actor and filmmaker Anthony Bradford.

Bradford’s desk at his Monmouth County home is now his makeshift sound stage. He recently self-taped his role in a feature titled “Remote” about an online romance during the pandemic. And he is rewriting his series “Love Millennial Style” on Amazon to reflect the isolation of the pandemic.

“I think that’s what art does. We have to reflect on the times and people, I think, will relate to it,” Bradford says.