Insurance: How much is enough?

LasVegasIRA

LasVegasIRA

Holy cow. I just finished the first draft of my feature lenght script and counted 14 featured speaking parts, several extra parts, and 15 shooting locations.

This is going to end up being a bigger production than I had initially anticipated. What should I expect as far as insurance costs, worker's comp costs, etc...

I'm figuring that this will take me most of the summer to complete if I do principal photography Fri-Sun and second unit stuff after I get off of work during the week, so I can't see a way around insurance and permits.

Any advice from those that have worked on a "slightly" larger scaled production like this would be appreciated...
 
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I spent around $18,000 on insurance, but if you're not using SAG actors there may be some stuff you won't need 37 speaking roles (I must be insane!), a dozen locations, no stunts or special effects. And at every location and with everything that we rented, I provided insurance certificates.

This included all of my equipment (we shot on a RED camera, had a lot of lights, etc); general liability; auto insurance both rented and that owned by cast and crew; workmen's comp, and I had a group travel insurance policy that was required by SAG.
 
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You can save a great deal and get business insurance for say a video production company w/ up to 1 million coverage. The same as many photographers get as long as you are not doing stunts and the like, you might want to consider looking into it. I had WPPI back in the day and there is also PPA. General Business Liability Policies can and do cover video production. Start talking movie biz and rates get higher.
 
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I just got a quote for $1200 for a 60 day shoot with what they consider "stunts." The stunts are just driving shots on the open roads. But whatever... :rolleyes: It's still not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be.

That cost covers liability up to $1M. No equipment is covered, so I wonder how much more it will be if I include cameras and such. I'll compare that to the price of hiring a DP and sound guy that will provide their own equipment...

Also, I'm not allowed to shoot a "live gangster rap" video. :lol:
 
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LasVegasIRA said:
"e and o"??
Click to expand...

"e and o" = Errors and Omissions

You screw up and have a product logo in it and the company does not like the way their product is portrayed and the company sues , not getting a release for something, you omit a credit and get sued etc....etc...etc....etc...etc....etc...etc....etc...etc....etc...etc....etc...
 
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It's a separate policy....I had the totals merged in my final budget. I think that cost about 4500, but I'll doubled check.

You need it for distribution, and several sources told me that it's cheaper to get in advance than after the fact. I could have waited to see how things develop, but decided I'd rather deal with it upfront.
 
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