There’s a lot that goes into producing video, digital, and print campaigns. While producers of course must book the best talent, find incredible food, schedule shots to get the most out of a sunny day, and much more…having the right production insurance policy may be the most important. To allow the more dynamic, creative parts of the work to take over, it’s helpful to have the peace of mind the right production insurance policy can provide.
LÜK Network’s priority is to connect the best who with the best what: providing resources and connecting dots for producers. In that spirit, we’ve put together this (not thrilling, but super important) production insurance guide to help ensure each producer’s creative vision and crew are properly protected.
Table of Contents
What is Production Insurance?
Production insurance covers all types of production, including film, television, radio, theater, and live events. It exists to help protect producers, directors, and actors from liability and financial losses that may occur if a shoot is hit with a dose of chaos. It also provides coverage for equipment, locations, and other materials used in production.
Basically, a great policy is chaos repellent. You don’t want to need it, but you gotta have it.
Even the most airtight, top-notch set needs a safety net for human errors and omissions, public liability, workers’ compensation, and property damage. It helps ensure that each production runs safely and efficiently so producers can focus on the reason they’re there to begin with: the creative parts of the work at hand.
Short-term Production Insurance vs Annual Production Insurance
Short-Term Production Insurance
Short-term production insurance offers coverage for a single production, whether it’s one day of shooting or a few weeks. It can be a great option for producers that are just starting out, or those that know they’ll only be producing a few projects a year.
This kind of production insurance is bought for each project and can provide coverage on a project-by-project basis, whether it’s a print shoot, commercial, short film, or music video.
Annual Production Insurance
Annual production insurance covers production for an entire year. It can be a great fit for producers working on multiple projects throughout the year or for projects that last longer than 12 months, such as documentaries or feature films. It’s also helpful for larger production companies that run several projects at once.
Why Does LÜK Network Care So Much About Production Insurance?
LÜK’s mission is to provide ease and efficiency to the casting and production process wherever we can. Though a breezy, beautiful casting workflow and payment processing are LÜK’s main events, we aim to extend a hand in any way possible as producers cobble together a successful shoot.
Providing consolidated, reliable information for all elements of production is just one way we can cultivate that mission in a meaningful way.
Types of Production Insurance
General Production Liability Insurance
General liability insurance provides coverage for premises and locations for bodily injury and property damage to third parties during filming. It can sometimes be limited to location.
Worker’s Compensation Insurance
In the event of an injury on set, worker’s compensation insurance can cover medical expenses and rehabilitation costs for the cast and crew. This type of coverage is often for all full-time employees, but it’s also recommended to make sure your worker’s comp covers any independent contractors working a production since there are often many.
Owned Equipment Insurance
Insurance policies for equipment can cover both rented and owned gear. These policies can guard the equipment against damage, theft, or loss while on set.
It’s important to remember that these claims usually come with a deductible so you’ll still have to pay a flat rate to repair or replace the gear.
This deductible usually ranges between $1000 and $3000–but can sometimes be as low as $500–which is a much better price than replacing an expensive camera rig that can reach into the five-figure territory.
Errors & Omission
Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance, also called Professional Liability insurance, protects producers that work on photoshoots and film from intellectual property violations, plagiarism, slander, and defamation of character. The cost of this type of insurance can vary depending on the production size.
Travel Accidents
Travel accidents are unfortunately one of the most common risks that production companies face since crews are traveling all over the state, country, and world to find the right shoot location. Insurance covering travel accidents can cover medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses related to travel accidents, as well as save you from any potential legal issues.
Whether it’s a car accident on the 101 or a turbulent plane ride from Vegas to Burbank, travel accident insurance for producers helps safeguard against certain liabilities that could negatively impact your production crew and production budget.
Accident Mental
Accident Mental coverage is an important component of production insurance that offers specialized coverage for mental health-related issues. This coverage protects personnel and crew members’ physical and emotional welfare, including counseling costs and other treatments.
Accident Mental coverage may also include reimbursement for lost wages due to mental health-related absences as well as legal fees related to any potential claims against the production company.
Auto Insurance
Auto insurance covers both auto liability and auto physical damage. Auto liability provides protection from financial losses resulting from an accident involving a production vehicle, while auto physical damage insurance covers the cost of repairing or replacing a production vehicle that has been damaged. Be it a car scene in a movie or a tired driver’s gear shift mix-up, this type of policy can’t be overlooked.
Excess Liability Insurance
Excess liability insurance is an add-on to your production insurance policy that helps provide extra protection in case of a lawsuit or major claim. This type of coverage is essential for productions with a higher budget that may need an extra layer of protection in case of a major claim.
It also protects against claims of libel, slander, copyright infringement, personal injury, property damage, and advertising injury, as well as legal defense costs and any settlements or judgments resulting from a claim.
Benefits of Production Insurance
As a producer, the last thing you want is to have to postpone or cancel a project because of damages, injuries, and more.
Production insurance:
- Protects your production from unexpected and costly losses due to equipment failure or other unforeseen circumstances.
- Saves money on costly repairs and replacements.
- Provides financial protection in case of a lawsuit.
- Can provide some peace of mind and security (which isn’t easy in this industry).
Where to Get Production Insurance
Production insurance is available from many different insurance companies and brokers. Depending on the size and needs of your production, you may need more than one type of policy.
Some companies specialize in production insurance and can customize your policy to fit your needs. When researching production insurance, ask questions about any limits or exclusions that may apply.
A few popular production insurance companies include:
Production Insurance FAQs
What is a Certificate of Insurance?
A Certificate of Insurance, or a COI, is a document that indicates that you have insurance coverage in case of an unfortunate event. It is basically a list of the insurance protections you have in place, the start and end dates, and the coverage limits.
What are Film Insurance Deductibles?
A film insurance deductible must be paid out-of-pocket before the insurance company covers the cost of the insurance claim.
How Much Does Production Insurance Typically Cost?
The cost of insurance varies. The range is pretty wide, from $400 to $2,500 a year. However, it also depends on the insurance company and what you need to be insured. The most important factors that can impact the overall cost of your insurance are:
- Production company size.
- The filmmaker’s budget.
- Insurance needed.
- Any potential risks that can happen during production.
Streamline Your Entire Production Process
Ultimately, creative work is what we’re here for. Having production insurance offers the peace of mind needed to free up a producer’s headspace to focus on the more rewarding parts of the job. In that very same way, LÜK Network is here to transmute production headaches into smooth workflows and saved time.
LÜK connects top-tier talent with top-tier creative producers at some of the world’s biggest brands and production houses. Through intimate knowledge of the casting and payments workflow, our simple, solution-based tool kit streamlines those parts of the job. A casting cure-all if you will!
We’re confident that LÜK’s suite of producer tools can be the answer to your production woes. Set up a demo with our sales team to see how we can help. We can’t wait to meet you!
