One of the most expensive predicaments a film production (especially the big-budget type) can face is a delay. When you consider the scheduling of a large scale production, and the amount of money that goes into cast, crew, equipment, locations, permits, food, vehicles, etc. for each day of filming, a simple accident, especially, the film’s star getting injured can result in tremendous expense.
As was mentioned in Part 1, the injury to Harrison Ford earlier in the summer is a good example of this. While shooting the next installment of the Star Wars series in London, Harrison Ford had an accident on set and broke his leg, which resulted in a two week production delay. Overseas filming compounded an already difficult situation resulting in additional cast, crew, equipment, travel, location, and permit expenses. This is not a situation in which any production company or studio wants to find themselves.
A good way to mitigate this risk is to procure cast coverage. Cast coverage is a form of extra expense insurance that covers a production company or studio in the event of death, illness or injury of a performer or director. There are, often, a few requirements attached to the policy, including an approved medical exam prior (without a medical exam, coverage will revert to accident only) to production.
If a production company or studio has a cast coverage policy, they will be reimbursed for the expenses related to completing principal photography in the event of injury to a cast member, quite possibly saving the company from a financially catastrophic situation.
The next question is: How does a production company or a studio protect its employees while filming abroad?
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