Filmmakers: Capture Footage of the Location Before the Shoot!

Colby Spencer: For someone who is an indie filmmaker or doing a small project, what are some things that you wish you could tell them that they can learn from this episode?

Mike Groner: I would say probably the most important thing – and I try to hit this home with every filmmaker – when you’re going to film at a location, whether it is someone’s home or a studio, or you’ve rented a diner, have two or three people on your crew walk around with their cell phones and film every inch of that location. Capture every “before” version of that home or location before the rest of the cast/crew or any equipment enters into that location.

The reason being is: every homeowner is going to come back to their home after you’re doing using it for a film and they’re going to see a little scratch on the kitchen counter, they’re going to see a paint chip in the bedroom, they’re going to see a little nick on the floor, and they’re going to blame the production. And the only tool you have to counter that would be the “before” photos.

Colby: Yeah, like a car rental, same thing, right? When you come back, it’s on you, so you better note it before.

Mike: But it’s even more extreme when a homeowner comes back to their home and maybe doesn’t remember that their kid may have made that hole behind the door but all they see is, “I don’t remember it there. I want everything back the way it was, you know, 30 years ago when we bought the home.”

Colby: This is my chance to get a renovation! Well, and a lot of people think, film has deep pockets, so it’s like “I’ll just complain and I’ll get something.” But this [usually] isn’t The X-Files, this is like some UBC students who came in and shot a short.

Mike: I had a funny one maybe four to five years ago where a homeowner claimed that their floors were damaged by the production, which technically they were, but maybe only two or three panels of the wood floors that were damaged.

So, there is this meeting between the homeowners, the claims adjuster (who works for the insurance company) and the contractor who would be repairing or replacing the floors. They brought it to the attention of the adjuster that the particular floors that were being used in this home are no longer made and they more or less proved to the adjuster that in order to make this homeowner whole, they’re going to have to replace the entire bottom floor of this home with a new floor. Not that unusual, especially in an older home, you’re not going to be able to find that particular floor anymore, especially if it’s real wood.

But during this discussion, all of a sudden, the teenage son of the homeowners comes in with an entire box of the flooring and says, “Hey guys, guess what, I found all the extra flooring from when the floors were done!” So, what was probably going to be a $30,000 claim (the homeowners were going to get new flooring, they were going to get to pick out the colour, etc.) turned out to be about $300 in labor and wasn’t even an insurance claim at the end.

Are you a producer in Canada or the US? Get a quote for film production insurance here.

Related:

• Mike Groner Bio
• Common Film Insurance Claims
• How To Call A Wrap On Top Film Insurance Claims
• Third Party Property Damage Coverage Explained

Content courtesy of the Vantropolis podcast

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