Rio Grande Insurance

Making Movies in New Mexico:
Get 33% more bang for your buck, and we can insure your films and companies!
We insure productions and companies of all sizes.

Rio Grande Insurance has ten offices across New Mexico (and also operates in California, Arizona and Utah), best suited to comprehensively serve your production. Read further for types of insurance to consider for entertainment productions and services.
Contact Sam Levy, Film Division Insurance Manager, for a quote today:

New Mexico Film Incentives

The state of New Mexico's Film Office (New Mexico Film Commission) and Taxation and Revenue Dept. have created an excellent set of incentives for New Mexico film production. Kudos to film commissioner Lisa Strout and Governor Bill Richardson.

At the top of the list of New Mexico Film Production Incentives is a 25% rebate on all production expenditures, including labor and talent. This rebate applies to feature films, television, regional and national commercials, documentaries, video games and post-production. Apples-to-Apples, it costs only 75% as much to make the same movie in New Mexico! If you use an in-state payroll service, you can also get the rebate on out of state talent expenditures. There is no minimum spend required, no cap, and no sunset clause. See nmfilm.com's rebate cheat sheet for more information.

Rio Grande Insurance is your financial strategy partner
Entertainment Industry Insurance Policies (E&O, Producer's Risk, Workers Comp, Liability, Health, Businessowner, etc.) and bonding can be a significant portion of production costs, up to 10% total. Rio Grande is your financial partner to reduce these expenses, shop for your best value and get excellent coverage. All insurance premiums at Rio Grande are elegible for 25% rebate from the state.

New Mexico-made movies received 14 Oscar nominations in 2008.
Just a few of the entertainment projects & major motion pictures recently filmed (and insured) in New Mexico:

• Transformers & Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
• No Country for Old Men
• The Astronaut Farmer
• 3:10 to Yuma
• Sex & Lies in Sin City
• Easy Money (series)
• Crash (series)
• Terminator: Salvation
• In the Valley of Elah
• Save Me
• Night and Day
• The Spy Next Door

So, just what type of New Mexico film insurance do you need to consider?

There are basically two ways to insure entertainment productions:
(Note: We also insure film industry support companies, including production services, post-production, digital/multimedia, support, etc. - fill in a film & entertainment industry businesses [not productions] online insurance quote form)

Film Insurance for a single production

• This is for the producers of individual productions who need coverage for a specified budget in a specified period. There are many individual coverages, described further below in Coverages, that may be needed. The core "by the production" insurance policies usually are:
  • General Liability (may be packaged as a Businessowner's policy) - primarily covers "slip and fall" for bystanders (not for those involved with the production). This allows you to get film permits, and you can add optional coverages such as:
    • Blanket (unlimited) Additional Insureds (if more than 3 anticipated);
    • Unlimited municipal/law enforcement certificates;
    • Fire Legal Liability
    • Medical Payments (immediate payment without legal action)
    • Waiver of Subrogation (see below in Waiver of Subrogation)
    • Entertainment Production General Liability, as opposed to a normal businessowner's general liability, can cover you anywhere in the United States and Canada, and worldwide by additional endorsement
    • Premiums start at $1,000
  • Businessowners - Includes General Liability and adds Business Personal Property and optional building property owner coverage.
  • Errors & Omissions - Protects claims against rights, music, story, etc. for up to 3 years
  • Producer's Risk - This is the one that has many different elements (see below in Coverages) and can include:
    • Rental Equipment, known as "Inland Marine" (non-owned, paid-for equipment at non-permanent locations)
    • Third Party Property Damage (for non-owned AND non-rented equipment that you borrow and use, also referred to as "Care, Custody & Control")
    • Hired and Non-Owned Auto liability & Physical damage
    • Owned equipment "floater"
    • Special Coverages:
      • Faulty Stock/Drives
      • Sets, Props & Wardrobe
      • Animals
      • Stunts, including blanks & squibs
      • Pyrotechnics
      • Vehicles, including aircraft & watercraft
      • Cast
        & more...
  • Workers Compensation - a state statutory requirement if you employee more than 2 people, that can also easily be provided by your payroll service, or we can provide it for your employees and single-entity contractors, but not for volunteers
  • Temporary Health Insurance - averaging in the $90/month range per person. These are "individual" policies, not "group" policies, but we can issue them for anyone you desire on your production.

  We have special comprehensive packages for single, smaller and short term productions that have production budgets of less than $2 million and production periods of less than one year. We have a simplified application that you can fill out and we can get you a very fast quote. Download a PDF of the Short Term Film Productions application here and fax it to (505) 984-8238, Attention:Sam (or scan and email to )

For larger productions, please call Sam at (505) 984-8216.

A word on Film Completion Bonds

Productions may also desire (or lenders require) a film completion bond. This is not like any other type of insurance bond, but a much more involved product, taking over a month just to quote. A film completion bond is strongly in the interest of the lenders, but not always in the best interest of the producers and director, who risk losing control of the production if the budget is in danger of going over. Film completion bonds are not a "brokerable" product, and are much more than just "bonds," which means that no one but a direct bond company employee can act as a film completion bond agent.

To quote a bond, you will need to contact a bond company directly.There are really only three players in the completion bond business:

• IFG (a division of Fireman's Fund, owned by Allianz of Germany),
• cineFinance &
• Film Finance

Ongoing/Annual film insurance for a company, individual or support industry company

• For companies, this is for the ongoing, annual production of DICE works (Documentaries, Industrial, Commercials & Educational). DICE/Annual policies can consist of producer's risk, general liability, hired and non-owned auto and maybe an equipment floater. DICE may need workers compensation depending on number of employees or individual contractors.
  • We have a special "plain vanilla" DICE package at great rates
    To be eligible for the "vanilla" DICE/Annual Productions programs, the productions must:
    1. Have annual gross production costs less than $5,000,000;
    2. Shoot only in the US, Canada and their territories and possessions;
    3. Not have Stunts, Pyrotechnics, Aircrafts, Boats, Animals, Fight Scenes, Blanks, Squibs, Guns, Live Gangster Rap Music
       We have a simplified application that you can fill out and we can get you a very fast quote. Download a PDF of the DICE application here and fax it to (505) 984-8238, Attention:Sam (or scan and email to )
    4. The below types of productions are generally acceptable in the "vanilla" program
• Even if you do not qualify for the "vanilla" DICE package, we have other DICE and ongoing/annual policies - please email or call Sam at (505) 984-8216.
• Similarly, we write commercial insurance for film industry support companies - we have relationships with entertainment industry specialty insurance and can shop to find your best value, regardless of what your company does with the entertainment business.
• For individuals, they may often need only a small, a la carte set of business owner coverages (like liability and an equipment floater only), however if they need more than 3 coverages (see the next section, Coverages), then very often a DICE policy will provide more comprehensive and broader coverage for less, and is therefore the better value.
  
  Example: A "monoline" (standalone) general liability policy, for example, may only cover you for "slip and fall" at your recorded place of business, whereas the film insurance general liability included in a DICE policy covers accidents anywhere in the US and Canada (and other countries by add-on, or endorsement).
  

What are some of the Producer's Risk policy and other film production insurance coverages?

Equipment, Props, Sets and Wardrobe

Camera, sound, lighting and miscellaneous rented equipment. Owned equipment can be covered separately (on an owned equipment "floater" policy). Props, sets, and wardrobe are covered.

How much should I insure for?
The insurable value should be the total value of your rented equipment, props, sets, and wardrobe from all vendors. Owned equipment should be covered for their replacement cost.

Can the deductible be changed?
No. The deductible is based on the total limit of equipment, props, sets, and wardrobe.

Are "Loss Payees" included?
Equipment insurance includes your vendors being provided with certificates of insurance naming them as loss payee in the event of a loss. Unlimited certificates can be issued.

Negative Film or Videotape & Faulty Stock, Camera & Processing

Damage or destruction of raw film or tape stock, exposed film or videotape, faulty stock, faulty cameras or lenses.

How much should I insure for?
The limit is the budget you declare as your largest single production.

Extra Expense

Extra expense reimburses the insured for the out-of-pocket expenses in the event of the interruption, postponement or cancellation of the declared production, as a result of loss, damage or destruction of property or facilities contracted for use by the insured.

Third Party Property Damage

Covers damages to property and personal property owned by others and loaned to you, while it is in the care, custody and control of the insured (i.e. damage to a house that you are shooting in).

General Liability

Covers the insured for losses due to bodily injury or property damage caused by the insured’s employees or agents. Locations will require general liability of at least $1,000,000. The aggregate is the total liability limit. The occurrence is the limit per claim.

Are "additional insureds" included?
With blanket additional insureds, your vendors and locations will be provided with certificates of insurance naming them as additional insureds in the event of a loss. Unlimited certificates can be issued.

City and other special certificates
Cities, police and highway departments and other entities may require “special wording" on their certificates or have a special form they require be completed. Film permit offices will require this.

Automobile (Hired & Non-Owned)

Vehicles rented for the production.

Automobile Liability covers injury to third parties or damage to their property.

Automobile Physical damage provides coverage for damage to the vehicles.

Excess Liability

This provides excess liability over the general liability and/or automobile and can be obtained in increments of 1,000,000.

What types of productions are elegible for "plain vanilla " DICE/Annual Productions insurance?

"The Making of" Videos

Animation

Commercial

Community TV Interview

Corporate Video

Demo Reel Shoot

Digital Video

Direct Sale Videos

Director's Reel

Documentary

Editing

Educational & Training Film

Experimental Film

Feature Film

Festival Reel

Film Promotion

Independent Feature, Low Budget

Industrial

Infomercial

Instructional Video

Live Action Shot

Miscellaneous Production

Motion Picture

Music Video

Non Airing Pilot

Photography Shoot

Pick-up Shoot

Point of Sale Video

Post-production

Pre-production

Promotional Video

Public Access Program

Public Service Announcement

Reality Based TV Show

SAG Experimental

SAG Limited Exhibition

SAG Modified Low Budget

Sales Video

Short Film

Soap Opera

Spec Commercial

Spec Production

Television Pilot

Television Series

Television Special

Thesis Film

Trailer

Training Video

Video Biography

Video Game Shoot

Video Location Survey

Video Shoot (Miscellaneous)

What is a "Waiver of Subrogation"?

Subrogation means, in a legal sense, one party has the right to "step into the shoes" of another party for the purposes of bringing a claim for damages. Not all types of claims may be subrogated. The most common type that can be subrogated is property damage claims.

Example: Joe is an electrician insured by BIG Insurance Company. He is hired by Amusement Park World to replace light bulbs in the parking lot for the park’s opening in the Spring. Amusement Park World requires Joe to sign a Waiver of Subrogation stating that BIG Insurance Company will not be able to recover (from Amusement Park World) any money paid for damages to Joe’s truck if he hits any of the huge potholes in Amusement Park World’s parking lot (a claim for which they would normally be liable).

A waiver of subrogation clause is placed in a contract to minimize lawsuits and claims among the parties. The result is that the risk of loss is agreed among the parties to lie solely with the insurance company. The risk, once assigned to the insurers (insurance companies) by the parties, is determined to stop there, without allowing the insurer to seek redress (legal cation) from any party who may be "at fault" for the loss/claim. In order to add a Waiver of Subrogation to your insurance policy, you will either need to state the number of parties with whom you have such agreements, or you may purchase a blanket waiver of subrogation that will apply to all entities with whom you have a contract with a waiver of subrogation clause.