We are shooting on private property. Do we still need a permit?

Frequently yes, and the trigger is impact rather than ownership. Activity that affects public right of way — parking a unit on the street, closing a sidewalk, intermittent traffic control, generators or a drone flying over public land — brings the permit requirement even when the camera never leaves private property. The location owner will usually also require their own certificate naming them, which is a separate additional insured from the jurisdiction and FilmLA.

Can we use a per-project policy or does it have to be annual?

Either satisfies the requirement. What decides it is how often you shoot: an annual production package is cheaper and faster once you are doing more than a few projects a year, and it means the certificate exists on the day a job is confirmed rather than after a phone call. Short-form and music video companies almost always end up on annual cover for exactly that reason.

Do we need workers compensation for a small crew?

FilmLA lists proof of workers compensation alongside general liability and auto, and California is not a state where a production crew is treated as contractors by default. Even where every crew member invoices through their own company, each of those loan-outs will be asked for its own certificate — which is the same requirement arriving one layer down rather than going away.

What insurance does a FilmLA permit require?

General liability at a limit set by the activity, with both the jurisdiction and FilmLA named as additional insured, filed electronically by your broker through KwikComply. In the City of Los Angeles that is $500,000 for stills and $1,000,000 for filming, rising to $2,000,000 for drone work and $5,000,000 for aircraft. The County sets stills at $1,000,000 — twice the City — which is the difference that catches people.

Call/Text(626) 344-2158

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Tell us the situation.

A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.

We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.

The detail

The City of Los Angeles requires commercial general liability of $500,000 per occurrence for still photography only, $1,000,000 for motion capture, $2,000,000 for unmanned aircraft (drone) use and $5,000,000 for aircraft use.
FilmLA — Area Requirements, City of Los Angeles
Filming in City of Los Angeles areas served by the Department of Water and Power requires $2,000,000, and Harbor Department locations require $3,000,000.
FilmLA — Area Requirements, City of Los Angeles
The County of Los Angeles requires $1,000,000 for still photography only — twice the City of Los Angeles requirement for the same activity — as well as $1,000,000 for motion capture and $5,000,000 for aircraft use.
FilmLA — Area Requirements, County of Los Angeles
Both jurisdictions require two additional insureds: the jurisdiction itself, and FilmLA. Certificates are submitted electronically by the insurance agent or broker through KwikComply, the City of Los Angeles insurance and bonds compliance system.
FilmLA — Area Requirements

What this means for you

THE ACTIVITY SETS THE LIMIT, NOT THE BUDGET. A one-camera stills shoot and a feature unit are different numbers in the City, and adding a drone to either takes it to $2,000,000. Decide the activity before you buy the policy, because adding a drone the week of the shoot means an endorsement and a re-file.
CITY AND COUNTY ARE NOT THE SAME JURISDICTION, and productions conflate them constantly. Los Angeles County requires $1,000,000 for stills where the City requires $500,000 — so a photographer insured to shoot in Hollywood is underinsured in unincorporated county land a few miles away, for identical work.
FILMLA IS NAMED AS WELL AS THE JURISDICTION. Two additional insureds, on the endorsement rather than typed onto the certificate. A certificate listing the City alone is incomplete and comes back.
YOUR BROKER FILES IT, NOT YOU. Los Angeles takes insurance electronically through KwikComply and the submission comes from the agent or broker. If your broker does not know what KwikComply is, that is a lead time you have not budgeted for.
THE PERMIT IS NOT RELEASED UNTIL INSURANCE CLEARS REVIEW, which is the practical deadline rather than the shoot date. Build the review into the schedule rather than treating the certificate as paperwork to finish on the way to set.
AIRCRAFT AND DRONES ARE DIFFERENT POLICIES, not just bigger limits. Aviation liability is its own form and a general liability policy will not answer for it however high the number on the certificate.

Need this handled?

We do the filings, and we place the accounts other brokers decline — lapsed authority, claims history, new ventures. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.