Financiers, locations and unions all ask for it before you can shoot.

Production package

A single renewable policy covering every production a company shoots in the year, rather than one policy per project. Productions carrying stunts, cast cover or animals are scheduled onto it individually.

Without it — The core form: equipment, sets, props, extra expense and the perils that stop a shoot.

Cast insurance

Pays the cost of shutting down, recasting or reshooting when a scheduled principal cannot perform through injury, illness or death. It is rated per person and requires the cast member to be named and usually examined before cover attaches.

Without it — A principal unable to work is the loss that halts a picture, and financiers require it named.

Negative film & faulty stock

Covers reshoot costs when the footage itself is lost or unusable — damaged media, a camera fault, or a processing error. The loss is not the equipment, it is the day of shooting that has to happen again.

Without it — Loss or damage to the footage itself, which has no replacement cost and cannot simply be reshot cheaply.

Media errors & omissions

Covers claims arising from the content itself — copyright, trademark, defamation and rights clearance. No distributor or streamer accepts delivery of a finished film without it.

Without it — No distributor accepts delivery without it, and it has to stay in force for years afterwards.

General liability

Third-party bodily injury and property damage — the line nearly every contract names by default.

Without it — Every permit, location agreement and studio lot requires it named before you arrive.

Workers compensation

Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.

Without it — Cast and crew are employees for the schedule, and the unions verify it.

Third party property damage

Damage to property in your care while you are shooting on it — the location itself, and the fixtures in it. General liability excludes property in your care, custody and control, which is precisely what a location is.

Without it — Locations are handed back at wrap and damage found afterwards is the production’s bill.

Completion bond

A guarantee given to the financier that a picture will be delivered on schedule and on budget, with the guarantor entitled to take over the production if it will not be. It is not insurance: the beneficiary is the financier, not the producer.

Without it — Institutional finance and gap lending generally will not close without a guarantee of delivery.

When do we need the insurance in place?

Earlier than most first-time producers plan for. Location agreements, permit applications and studio bookings all require a certificate before they will confirm, so the policy has to exist during prep rather than by the first day of principal photography. Cast cover in particular needs medicals arranged, and that is a lead time rather than a phone call.

How much of the budget should insurance be?

It varies with what you are shooting far more than with the number — stunts, aerial work, water, animals, period vehicles and international travel all move it, and a talky drama and an action picture at the same budget are not comparable. The more useful discipline is to price it from the actual script breakdown rather than as a percentage, because the percentage rule of thumb is what produces a shortfall on the shoot with the most exposure.

Do we need errors and omissions if we have no distributor yet?

You need it before delivery, and you should do the clearance work during post regardless. Underwriters want chain of title, releases, music licences and a legal review, and assembling that under a distribution deadline is where productions lose weeks and leverage. Buying late is also more expensive than buying on time.

What E&O requires before it can be issued