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Home , James Garner, Jon Favreau, Kevin Costner, Waterworld

by Ted Tafaro Break a Leg The Risks of Moviemaking

25 April 2013 hen “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 ’s director told the his aircraft safely, certain precautions ing during the filming of Air 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 , Tom lift off the tarmac and the money guys the gridlock by piloting his own Bell Cruise, Angelina Jolie and 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 -produced film is argu- A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, was made about ably Hollywood’s worst tragedy. the production of ’s Vietnam epic, which was shot primarily in the The Crow (1994) Philippines. “We were in the jungle, there were ’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 . to the . Fraught (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 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. 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, and ‘70s when Steve McQueen, is to protect a film or TV show’s pro- investors, those holding the lucrative and 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 , “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 , Baldwin pseudonym. 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, . 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 . 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. major television production, especially one aiming to get enough episodes in the show’s future, Aon was able to help irony of a massive storm holding up the can to rake in a lucrative syndica- solve the problem. the production of Noah is not lost tion deal. A New York Post report, not- on ,” noted his co-star ing that has earned more than Film Risk of Biblical Proportions Emma Watson on . $2.3 billion from reruns since it went Everyone complains about the weath- No matter the peril, traditional off the air, highlights just how much is er, but no one does anything about it. insurance brokers do an exceptional at stake when it comes to syndication. In Hollywood, the insurance indus- job protecting film and television pro- But this goal was threatened for try tries, but there is only so much ductions. It would be impossible to list one major series a few years ago when you can do. Sure, you can avoid the just how many times that coverage has a well-known actor was signed as the Philippines during monsoon season prevented studios from hemorrhaging lead before show execs discovered the (see the problems Apocalypse Now fortunes after disaster strikes. But occa- star was struggling with a potentially faced on pg. 24). Or, if you’re going sionally something arises that is outside deadly disease. Lori Shaw, an enter- to shoot in Florida, you can chose the purview of the traditional brokers, tainment insurance advisor with Aon, some time other than hurricane sea- and the specialty carriers fill that gap. remembers it well. son. But even with forethought things “They allow business to be conduct- “We were involved with a TV pro- don’t always work out. ed, contracts to be written, commerce duction that was about to be launched Having to contend with a hurri- to take place within our industry and when their anchor star was diagnosed cane while filming on Long Island in movies to get made,” said Dowling. “If with a life-threatening medical condi- November seems like an unlikely pos- not for them, many films would never tion,” said Shaw. The insurance carrier sibility. But last fall, Hurricane Sandy have seen the light of day.” n covering the cast was not willing to take wreaked havoc on the Northeast, on the medical risk, which would have delaying filming of the Russell Crowe Edward A. (Ted) Tafaro is president & shut down the series “before the first biblical epic Noah as floodwaters CEO of the Mahwah, New Jersey-based episode was filmed.” Fortunately for threatened the sets. “I take it that the Exceptional Risk Advisors, LLC.

Reprinted with permission from Risk Management, April 2014 issue, pages 22-26. Copyright 2014 Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.rmmagazine.com