Two days, one location, and the same certificate a feature has to produce.

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 — An annual package beats per-project cover the moment you shoot more than a couple a year.

General liability

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

Without it — Permit offices, locations and studios all require it named before you can shoot.

Inland marine & equipment

Tools, equipment and property in transit. It picks up exactly where commercial property stops, which is the moment the item leaves the building.

Without it — Hired camera, lighting and grip are your responsibility from collection to return.

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 — Crew are employees for the shoot days, and states do not make an exception for short schedules.

Props, sets & wardrobe

Physical loss of the things built or bought for the shoot — sets, props, costumes, and rented furs, jewellery, art and antiques, which sit on their own sub-limit because their values are nothing like the rest.

Without it — Wardrobe and set dressing are often borrowed or hired and are in your care while they are on set.

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 — The location is handed back at wrap, and damage is billed to the production.

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 — Labels and platforms require it before they will accept delivery of the finished piece.

Commercial auto

Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.

Without it — Unit moves and picture vehicles on a one or two day schedule are still commercial use.

We shoot a handful a year. Annual policy or per project?

Annual, in almost every case, and the break-even is lower than people expect — commonly around three or four shoots. Per-project cover has to be arranged each time under deadline, costs more per day, and leaves you unable to say yes to a job that lands on Thursday for a Monday shoot. An annual package with a declared estimate turns the insurance from a blocker into an email.

The label sent insurance requirements. Why are they so large?

Because they are written for the label’s exposure rather than for your budget, and they are usually the same document handed to a feature. They are also rarely negotiable, since the person sending them has no authority to vary them. The practical route is an annual policy sized to meet the largest requirement you are likely to see, so it is already in place when the document arrives.

Do we need a permit and does the permit need insurance?

Almost certainly yes to both, on any public location. Every major jurisdiction requires a film permit for shooting on public property and every one of them conditions the permit on a certificate naming the authority. The limits differ sharply between them — and in Los Angeles they even differ between the City and the County for the same activity.

What Los Angeles requires, exactly