Film Insurance: Small Budget vs. Large Budget
Front Row offers different film insurance options to accommodate smaller vs. larger budget productions. Sometimes, that is driven by contractual obligations and the insurance requirements of funders, streamers or broadcasters. So, step one is asking “do I have anything there that I need to satisfy?”
If you have a smaller project (lower budget), consider one of Front Row’s online insurance portals, such as short-term production insurance (Canada).
Perhaps you’re doing a short film or public service announcement and you’re shooting two days over a weekend and you need insurance. One of Front Row’s online insurance portals would be perfect in such a scenario. You can insure just the equipment, if desired, because the rental houses require it. You can also get general liability coverage, which responds to bodily injury and property damage claims.
When I started doing this, clients were shooting and processing film and there’s a whole other myriad of risks there. We don’t see a lot of processed film anymore; I used to insure a couple of the big labs in Toronto and we knew at the time that the labs took no responsibility for [issues in] processing the negative film. I had one large claim once where the film twisted when it was fed through the processor, ruining the film and wasting a day of shooting.
We can lose data now and we can still have equipment problems. This allows the producer to make sound decisions around “what are my risks?” So, if they are shooting digitally and they have redundancies and backups, they’ve got a tech on location, they’ve got their post people – everybody is keeping an eye on the data to make sure it is protected. So, you have more of an ability to protect yourself today than you did when a lab was processing a negative.
However, if the driver is a financier who requires certain levels of insurance, then you may have to buy a more robust package that can be arranged offline with a film insurance broker. You may also wish to consider going back to the funder and saying, e.g., “you’re giving me $10K to produce this but it’s going to cost me $7K for insurance – what can we do?”
At the end of the day, we all want to see the money go to what’s on camera vs. what’s behind it. So, the size of the project, where and how it’s being shot, the equipment that’s being used – all those things need to be factored in.
— Steve Beatty | Executive VP Business Development, Front Row Insurance
Courtesy of the Canadian Made podcast: https://www.instagram.com/canadianmadepodcast/
Are you a producer in Canada or the US? Get a quote for film production insurance here.
About: Front Row Insurance Brokers Inc. is an independent insurance broker that specializes in the entertainment industry – specifically, the film industry. Front Row works hard to provide insurance protection for a very low cost. Should a claim occur, Front Row works diligently with clients and insurers to expedite the payment. Offices in: Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, NY, and LA.
Disclaimer: Informational statements regarding insurance coverage are for general description purposes only. These statements do not amend, modify or supplement any insurance policy. Consult the actual policy or your broker for details regarding terms, conditions, coverage, exclusions, products, services and programs which may be available to you. Your eligibility for particular products and services is subject to the final determination of underwriting qualifications and acceptance by the insurance underwriting company providing such products or services. This website does not make any representations that coverage does or does not exist for any particular claim or loss, or type of claim or loss, under any policy. Whether coverage exists or does not exist for any particular claim or loss under any policy depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss and all applicable policy wording.
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