#MondayBlog

Audiovisual Insurance: When the responsibility is not yours

to be defined

Hello!
Our #MondayBlog of the month is going to be controversial!
We constantly see the Brazilian “way” manifesting itself on film sets and then we watch the drama that unfolds when damage occurs to equipment or personal objects during filming.

You know that scene where you need a specific cell phone, in the color "x", and your production assistant just bought one exactly the way you thought? Then, a minute later, the cell phone is in the actor's hand, like a prop. Everything was beautiful until that actor tripped, fell and the screen of your employee's brand new cell phone broke into a thousand pieces.

Or, for example, the cell phone disappears on set, or is stolen, or any of several different scenarios, totally possible to happen.
The big question in this case is, is the damage that occurred to this cell phone during the filming of the scene your responsibility Producer? And the short and clear answer is an expressive: YES.

Now comes the second question, will your insurance cover this damage, producer? The answer is very likely: No.

Notice the difference between liability and the existence of insurance coverage in our example above? That's why our discussion is controversial.
Many audiovisual producers think that once their crew has already taken out insurance for their own equipment, they do not need to include that equipment in their production insurance policy.
And that is a dangerous path to take. The idea that you don't need to cover a piece of equipment twice is seductive, but the headache can be unparalleled in the event of a claim later on.

Think like this:
If someone on your crew is filming a project of his and is using all of his own equipment and has insurance coverage, all he needs is liability coverage for any damage he may cause on location during filming, as well as against personal damages.

However, for YOUR film, producer, you need to provide insurance to cover everything. That's YOUR job, not theirs.
If you want or need to use an object or electronic equipment thats is of personal use of someone on your team, establish a rental for the property, in writing, with a start and end date of use, and include the item in your equipment list to inform this inclusion in the insurance with your broker.

That way, you'll have insurance coverage at the right time, in the right way.
The best of all worlds is not to cross that line and use only what is owned by the production, but if this is not possible, record the use, rent the equipment and include it in your insurance.

If there is any doubt as to when you, as a producer, are responsible for any damage or loss, talk to one of our experts, we at Prospecto will be happy to help you understand how to protect yourself and what your responsibility is in fact, and what insurance covers, or not, in any given situation.

Now our tip is, as a rule of thumb, if it happened on your movie set, it's your responsibility. Afterwards, it will be seen if there was a failure, error, negligence or if it was intentional, but any Brazilian judge will impute responsibility on the production.

That's why we always say that being proactive and taking out full insurance is the best defense an audiovisual producer can have.
Are you going to film? Count on Prospecto!

We look forward to seeing you on our next #MondayBlog.

Prospecto Seguros


Learn more:
Audiovisual Production
Errors and Omissions
Equipments
Drones
Life and Personal Accidents