by Ted Tafaro BREAK A LEG The Risks of Moviemaking 25 April 2013 hen Harrison Ford “piloted” der asking if you wanted a lift home,” not an A-List actor is going to land a disabled 747 to a safe land- the film’s director Jon Favreau told the his aircraft safely, certain precautions ing during the filming of Air New York Post. While a smooth, easy must be put in place. WForce One, everyone with ride home was the likeliest outcome, a financial stake in the movie smiled the worst-case scenario was frightening: Insuring Pilots and Injuries broadly while anticipating a flood of one bad downdraft had the potential to When we talk about non-traditional box-office receipts. But at the end of the take out an entire cast. film risks, insurance coverage is already shooting day, while the rest of the cast Actors who pilot their own aircraft in place when a film production is and crew piled into cars to brave the Los are fairly common these days. We’ve launched—even before Travolta’s wheels Angeles freeway, Ford chose to fly above all seen photos of John Travolta, Tom lift off the tarmac and the money guys the gridlock by piloting his own Bell Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are heading for group therapy. There are Apocalypse Now (1979) the helicopter. The accident during the making An entire documentary, Hearts of Darkness: of this Steven Spielberg-produced film is argu- A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, was made about ably Hollywood’s worst tragedy. the production of Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam epic, which was shot primarily in the The Crow (1994) Philippines. “We were in the jungle, there were Bruce Lee’s son, Brandon, was fatally shot by a too many of us, we had access to too much prop revolver while shooting a scene that called money, too much equipment, and little by little for the firing of a blank towards the 28-year-old we went insane,” says Coppola in an on-screen actor. But a bullet had inadvertently been lodged interview. While the problems are too numer- into the barrel due to careless procedures by ous to list, the largest came when Typhoon those working the set, and the resulting gunshot Olga wrecked sets and halted production for took Lee’s life despite an emergency surgery in a weeks as most of the actors and crew returned nearby hospital in North Carolina. to the United States. Films Fraught Waterworld (1995) with Risk Twilight Zone: This post-apocalyptic picture that imagined The Movie (1983) a world without land after the polar ice caps While filming, a low-flying helicopter was melted was reportedly the most expensive Death, weather and crooked unable to avoid pyrotechnic explosions, which movie ever made upon its release. A large financiers are just some of the issues destroyed the tail rotor. As it crashed, the cause of the cost overruns came when a hur- that have set back some high-profile aircraft decapitated actor Vic Morrow and ricane destroyed a multi-million-dollar set off Hollywood productions. Myca Dinh Le, who was seven years old. the coast of Hawaii that was being used to Renee Shin-Yi Chen, age six, was crushed by film key scenes. Kevin Costner also reportedly 206 helicopter. That meant that with smiling while strapped into a cockpit. a number of specialty insurance brokers every whir of Ford’s propeller blade, It is probably no different than in the within the industry whose sole purpose the film’s backers—the studio, bankers, 1960s and ‘70s when Steve McQueen, is to protect a film or TV show’s pro- investors, those holding the lucrative Paul Newman and James Garner duction costs while shooting. foreign distribution rights—were now loved the thrill of racing cars at 100 This insurance also covers risks turning a whiter shade of pale. miles per hour, much to the chagrin associated with cast insurance (i.e., It has even been reported that Ford, of the studios. But when a hobby has injury, death and abandonment). Case while filming 2011’s Cowboys & Aliens, the potential to put a major motion in point: Halle Berry broke her foot graciously offered the cast and crew picture in jeopardy, and an invest- while on location in Spain filming chopper rides home at the end of the ment of upwards of a $100 million Cloud Atlas, which pushed back shoot- workday. “You’d get a tap on the shoul- rests on the shoulders of whether or ing two-and-a-half weeks to allow the actress’s foot to heal. (She would then arena are, there are some risks that can- Drugs and Medicine re-injure it during filming.) not be underwritten by traditional car- There are also cases where insurance is Along with injuries to the cast, the riers. “That’s when we need to fill the needed when an actor’s idea of getting insurance also covers delays caused by gaps with a specialized underwriter: high has nothing to do with soaring fire, theft, damaged film and other set- a company that is able to take on the in an airplane. There’s no shortage of backs, and it typically totals between added risk,” he said actors whose penchant for party life has 0.8%–1.5% of the film’s entire bud- An actor wanting to pilot his own the potential to put a film in jeopardy. get. This number can fluctuate, how- aircraft during production of a film These actors need the insurance equiva- ever, based on such factors as where would qualify as something left to lent of hand-holding. the film is being shot or an actor’s specialty insurance, and the cost of But drugs and alcohol are not the only health. “Traditional insurance can cover coverage can vary depending on how personal risks that require extra cover- almost died in a jet ski accident, and his stunt movie but it turned out they didn’t, so while in Robert Fleischer’s mobster movie featured double was lost at sea for hours before being we were making the movie they were bounc- gangsters shooting up a cinema audience. rescued by the Coast Guard. ing checks all over New York.” The movie “Many conversations followed that,” Fleischer was seized by a federal bankruptcy court, told the Associated Press, “and we talked Town & Country (2001) purchased by Crash producer Bob Vari, and re- about it, and very quickly decided that the Production delays pushed back filming so cut against Baldwin’s wishes. The $25 million appropriate action would be to take the scene far on one the biggest flops in history that production went straight to television with out of the movie out of respect for the fami- Dharma & Greg star Jenna Elfman, who the director credited as “Harry Kirkpatrick,” a lies who suffered that loss in the tragedy.” appeared alongside stars Warren Beatty, Baldwin pseudonym. Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn, was forced World War Z (2013) to repeatedly dye her hair back and forth from Troy (2004) This Brad Pitt zombie movie was rife with platinum blonde to the strawberry blonde she George Camilleri, a bodybuilder and extra, script and finance issues, but its strang- was known for on the hit television show. “I broke his leg during filming. He was operated est setback came when a Hungarian anti- bleached my hair so many times that chunks on the following day but died two weeks terrorism unit raided a Budapest warehouse to were starting to fall out,” Elfman told the later of a heart attack related to a blood clot. seize 85 weapons and assault rifles the film- Philadelphia Inquirer. Ironically, Brad Pitt, who played Achilles in the makers were storing. The guns, which were blockbuster version of Homer’s Illiad, also tore supposed to be non-functional, were instead Shortcut to Happiness (2003) his left Achilles tendon during production. operational. “Guns like these are highly illegal Alec Baldwin gave the New York Post a to transport even if they were to be used as simple reason you’ve never heard of his Gangster Squad (2013) stage guns,” said a representative of the anti- directorial debut: “Some of the film’s inves- A major action sequence had to be re-imag- terrorism unit, according to Us Weekly. tors are being investigated for bank fraud. ined and re-shot due to the 2012 movie the- They claimed they had the money to make the ater massacre in Aurora, Colorado. One scene –Jared Wade almost anything that impairs the abil- many times the star intended to fly age. Something as simple as advancing ity to make the film,” said Konrad the aircraft during filming (everyday age and the health issues associated with Dowling, managing director of Arthur or just the last day of shooting?) and it can complicate filming. People are J. Gallagher Entertainment Services in where he is flying (over Beverly Hills living and working longer these days, Glendale, California. or Afghanistan?). and those in the entertainment industry Dowling’s firm insured, in one capac- But this risk is becoming more are no exception. ity or another, two-thirds of the films and more common. “Last year alone Sometimes factors beyond any- that were nominated at this year’s we worked on at least four films that one’s control arise. People get sick, for Academy Awards. But as successful involved having to obtain specialized example. Still, it is not every day that a as Gallagher and the handful of other insurance for A-list actors who were also serious illness threatens to shut down a insurance brokers that operate in this pilots,” said Dowling.