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Adam is a production insurance broker at Wrapbook. Before getting into production insurance, he was an Assistant Director on non-union films, as well as, a nonprofit director in Baton Rouge. He is also an avid creative writer, home brewer, and fan of his hometown Jacksonville Jaguars.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
Feature films and TV create a lot of losses and take a lot of resources to underwrite. It’s not uncommon for an insurance company to lose money on its feature film business, but they offer it because it opens the door for other entertainment businesses like DICE, Rental House, Touring Performers, Shell Corps, and so on.
Many of these insurance providers offer other products, such as personal insurance and general Business Owners Policies. However, they do not offer production insurance policies directly to consumers. You’ll need to go through a licensed insurance broker that you trust, preferably one that specializes in film and entertainment.
Shopping around is fine. However, keep in mind that only one broker is allowed to quote you at a time at each carrier, so if you get too many brokers involved they will be blocked from quoting you—although you can sign a “Broker of Record” form to switch any quote or policy over to a broker you trust.
The one exception is Abacus, which allows different brokers to pull versions of the same quote. With Abacus, the rates are exactly the same, so make sure you know how to read a quote so you avoid buying a cheaper quote up front that will cost you more later on.
For the most part, no. Feature films and TV are risky ventures, and if an insurance provider is going to offer millions in coverage, they need to make sure they are paid in full. One exception is a web series or documentary, which can sometimes be covered under an annual DICE policy. DICE rating is a little different, and usually offers installment payments. Feature films and TV are excluded from the vast majority of DICE policies.
Understanding the intricacies of production insurance through these FAQs lays the groundwork for navigating the insurance landscape, especially for productions with budgets under $5M. With this foundational knowledge, it becomes crucial to explore beyond the basics and consider other specialized policies that may be essential for your production's unique requirements. These additional policies not only ensure comprehensive coverage but also address specific risks that could significantly impact your production.
Depending on the needs of your production, your broker may need to line up a few other policy types in order to get you fully covered.
These other policies may include:
Beyond these standard policies, there are hidden costs in production insurance that can significantly impact your budget. Let’s get into those.
These often-overlooked expenses arise from specific coverage areas that are essential yet not immediately apparent. Let's delve into some of these hidden costs to better understand their impact on your production's financial planning.
When quoting feature film and TV, underwriters always ask “Do they want cast?” That refers to “Cast Coverage,” which protects the production if injury, illness, or family bereavement to a covered cast member causes a loss to the production, usually in the form of a delay. Keep in mind: the cast member’s health and wellness while at work is covered by Workers’ Comp, not cast coverage. Cast Coverage is an additional cost, and not every provider will offer it. If you know you want Cast Coverage, budget more for insurance, and make sure your broker knows up front.
At a low budget, these projects are difficult to insure. Due to their high losses, most providers will decline to quote, leaving us just a few markets we can submit to. Quotes for these kinds of projects will be higher in premium, or may require you to change how a stunt is being performed in order to make it insurable.
The production insurance market varies significantly based on your project's budget, affecting not just the cost but also the coverage options available to you.
Here's how different budget ranges influence your insurance quotes and options:
For films and TV in this budget range, we’ll get quotes from the whole market. More stunts are allowed, and more market participation means more competition on pricing.
Plenty of providers still write these projects, but most will not consider action films. Others will not offer Cast Coverage.
Only a few providers insure here, but they’re still competitive. Providers such as Coaction, Hiscox, and Intact prefer walk and talk projects with minimal stunts. Productions with stunts likely will be insured by Abacus. Abacus requires productions in this budget range to be quoted with a “Production Portfolio” with a policy minimum of 60 days and a maximum of 12 months.
A few providers still write here, although Abacus writes most of these policies due to their flexibility with coverage limits. They offer either the fuller “Production Portfolio” bundle of coverages for 60 days to 12 months, or a more a la carte “Short Term Policy” where you pick your dates and coverages up to 60 days.
If you need coverage for post, or will have shoot dates in the future, choose the “Production Portfolio” for a year. Abacus allows a variety of stunts, which are added a la carte to both the Production Portfolio and Short Term policies.
Please note: Many low-budget filmmakers choose the cheapest quote—usually a Short Term policy from Abacus—only to have to pay more to increase limits, or even buy a second or third policy to cover the rest of their production. This can cost much more over time than purchasing the Production Portfolio up front or purchasing annual coverage from another provider. To avoid this, think about the timespan you expect to be covered and work with a broker you trust.
Now we’re in the realm of “minimum premiums,” which is the minimum the insurer is able to accept in order to cover your risk. At $250k, this might still be 1%–3% of your budget. At $50k, this could be 10% of your budget or more, especially If stunts or hazardous activities are involved. For reference, a very bare bones quote with a short film in this budget range with no stunts would run around $2,000 for General Liability, minimal equipment, property damage, Auto Liability, and Auto Physical Damage. Take a look at our guide on production insurance for a description of these coverages, as well as the other coverages you are able to add if you’re interested.
As you can already tell, production insurance is both a necessary part of filmmaking and an aspect of it that requires thoughtful consideration. Now you know about the most common insurance mistakes, as well as what the market looks like depending on your production budget.
In part two of our series, we’ll take a look at what insurance underwriters look for when considering a customer and how to choose the right broker for your needs. Until then, check out what Wrapbook offers in the way of production insurance and how you can get in touch with us for your project needs.
Budgeting for production insurance isn’t hard and doesn’t even have to be confusing.
However, while filmmakers will talk about story ideas and lens choices all day long, one topic they rarely talk about is insurance. That means insurance is usually the last thing to go into a budget, and the amount budgeted for insurance may not be realistic for your production.
The traditional rule of thumb is this: if you’re a feature film or TV series, put back 3% of your budget for insurance. This should ideally include your production insurance, Workers’ Compensation, and Errors & Omissions. If you have multiple stunts and hazardous activities, or you’re filming in high-value or risky locations, or if you’re a reality TV show, put back a bit more.
That’s great for a Hollywood film, but what about your $100k indie film staffed by a small army of volunteers? This two-part article series will shed some light on the production insurance landscape for your company and help you be more realistic about what to put in that line item.
Navigating the intricacies of production insurance can be daunting, and it's easy to fall into common pitfalls. Being aware of these mistakes can help you make more informed decisions and avoid unnecessary costs.
Many budget filmmakers purchase the cheapest option possible only to pay more later to increase their limits—usually on a Friday afternoon when their rental house won’t release a camera!
Sometimes the cheapest option also requires buying a second policy when the first runs out, or leaves you exposed to a claim you assumed was covered. Buying the policy that is right for you, rather than the cheapest one, can save you lots of grief—and sometimes money—in the long run.
Every production is unique, and the underwriting for your insurance policy reflects that. A $1M walk and talk shot in a studio versus the same budget set in a swamp with boats and potential exposure to wild animals will be wildly different. Working with a broker you trust can help you identify these differences and find a policy that fits your production.
With every zero added to a budget, the film grows exponentially in size. When your $30k feature shot in your own house gets $3M in funding to be remade, suddenly you’re going to have much more crew, better equipment, trucks, more public—and legal—exposure, and crucially you’re going to expect insurance to kick in to cover these higher exposures when things go wrong.
If you upgraded from a Toyota Camry to a Lamborghini you would expect your car insurance to go up considerably; it’s the same with production insurance.
Stunts and other hazardous situations (animals, water, drones, pyro, precision driving, etc.) are some of the riskiest parts of your production.
Even though it may seem “mild” and carefully choreographed, you’re asking your performers to willingly expose themselves to harm while at work. Insurance takes this very seriously, and if their stunt isn’t listed on the policy, it isn’t covered.
If you’re planning to do stunts or other hazards, be willing to pay for them on insurance, or even change the stunt if it is considered uninsurable.
Insurance is a vital piece of risk management in film, but it’s not the only one.
Good pre-production, hiring experienced professionals, and writing solid contracts are also very important ways you manage the risk you face in production. Also, deductibles apply to all of your “Inland Marine” (i.e. equipment and property) coverages on film, so you’ll be on the hook for small losses and a small piece of large ones.
Insurance is meant to get you back on your feet after unforeseen, common loss events, like fire, theft, breakage, or lawsuit due to your filming operations. It covers a lot, and it’s meant to be an important risk management tool, but not the only one.
In features and TV, most set workers receive their Workers Compensation through a production payroll service like we have at Wrapbook. If you’re paying your crew as independent contractors, or are not using a payroll service, you’ll need to find another way to cover them.
Outside of a payroll service, you can get Workers Comp through your state’s Workers Comp fund, or if the insurer will allow it, through production insurance. Regardless of how you pay them, if they don’t have their own Workers’ Comp coverage then you are liable for their health and wellness related to their work on your film. Plus, making sure your crew is covered for workplace injury or illness is just the right thing to do.
At the end of the day, you know your production better than anyone else. That also means you need to read your quote to make sure you’ve given your broker and your insurance carrier the right information. Make sure you read your quote and ask questions, as well as keep your broker informed as budgets, stunts, and other plans change.
You don’t need to be an insurance guru. Working with a broker you trust goes a long way to getting the right coverage for your unique film. Also, familiarizing yourself with some of our other blogs that explain insurance costs and more can give you the tools to read your quote and make sure you’re getting the coverage that’s right for your production.
Out of all the insurance companies in the country, only a select few offer specialized “production insurance” for film and entertainment.
These Major Providers are:
However, the Main Providers that offer coverage for budgets under $5M are only:
As you might expect, each one has a different “appetite.”
"Appetite" means the sorts of things insurance companies want to cover. More practically it means what they don’t want to cover. For example, everyone likes to cover commercials and music videos, but one might be more comfortable with hip hop than others. Most like web videos, but many don’t have an appetite for prank videos or other kinds of reality TV-like content.
Further, many don't want to cover marijuana or CBD content, even if it is a commercial. One covers short films in their program but doesn't want to cover anything remotely racy or darkly sexual. Very few will cover pornography.
Part of our job as brokers is to get a good idea of the client's content, so we can match them with the insurer that has an appetite for our client's work.
These appetites change over the years with market forces.
However, there are some general FAQs that are good to know.
