The evolution of online media sites like YouTube
and Hulu as fully developed, mainstream entertainment platforms is spawning an
infinite audience for engaging entertainment content that is resulting in a
renaissance in content creation, be it a web series, feature-length or short
films, tutorials or music videos, according to Scott Carroll, Executive Vice
President & Program Director of Take 1 Entertainment Insurance.
“Thanks to this demand for entertainment, the
production industry is in the midst of a content creation renaissance in which
anyone with a unique idea or perspective and a desire to turn their vision into
content can share that vision with the world,” Carroll said today. “Due in
large part to the decreasing cost of production equipment, and the increasing
number of free or low-cost sharing platforms, the number of production
companies creating content will continue to grow in the years to come. All of
these new companies need to be aware of the necessity of working with an
insurance provider who specializes in production insurance and offers
up-to-date policies that meet all of their needs, including protecting their
equipment and physical media where they store their content.”
According
to Carroll, production companies need to look to insurance providers who
recognize that production is no longer limited to big-budget projects, and that
smaller-budget endeavors require the same level of insurance protection for
equipment, and more importantly, content, as do blockbuster films.
Less-experienced production companies cannot afford to underestimate the
importance of being covered by an insurance provider that understands the
unique nuances and differences between content produced for YouTube and content
produced for television or films.
“That
said, insurance providers must adapt their coverage programs to accommodate
this evolving industry as traditional methods of developing coverage plans like
studying a client’s prior insurance experience through loss runs, analyzing
their industry resume or checking their IMDB biography may not be viable
options in this new community of production companies,” Carroll explained. “It’s essential that content creators
look for insurance providers that are as creative as the content they
themselves produce, and that their chosen provider is doing everything in their
power to provide the most comprehensive, customized coverage plan possible.”
Many
insurance companies provide a suite of products that many production companies
and content creators need, but they don’t go the distance to make sure that
they provide every product.
Production companies need to be presented with a wide menu of coverage options
that are specific to their content and how it’s distributed, as opposed to a
one-size-fits-all approach. For instance, do all content creators need coverage
for props, sets or wardrobes? If certain coverage lines aren’t an issue,
perhaps they should be excluded.
Carroll
stressed that insurance providers have to understand exactly what type of
coverage their clients need in order to offer the best protection. “Take 1
Insurance, for instance, has offerings that accommodate current trends in
technology and production, as evidenced by a recent change to its policies on
software, media and data storage devices to include all reusable media that is part of or attached to photographic, video
and sound recording equipment.”
The
production industry continues to expand, and with this expansion comes new,
young and extremely creative companies who may not have experience in
considering insurance priorities. Before it is too late, they need to be aware
of the necessity of protecting their company’s content, equipment and business
assets with policies that best suit their unique needs. The bottom line is that
new production companies must make sure that the language and line items in
their insurance policies are current with the technologies in play, relevant to
what needs to be covered, and supported by insurance providers who understand
that nuances of the exposures faced by content creators every day.
About U.S. Risk
Insurance Group
U. S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc. is a
specialty lines underwriting manager and wholesale broker headquartered in
Dallas. Operating 12 domestic and international branches, it offers a broad
range of products and services through its affiliate companies, which include
U.S. Risk Underwriters, U.S. Risk Brokers, Lighthouse Underwriters, LLC,
Professional Claims Managers, Omnisure Consulting Group, Oxford Insurance
Brokers, Ltd. (London), Goss Reinsurance Brokers, LLC, and NovaPro Risk
Solutions, LP. Its entertainment
division, Take1, has served as the official
endorsed insurance provider for the last 15 years INFOCOMM, the leading
association of A/V communications industry professionals.
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