Skip to main content

Front Row Announces Special Insurance Program for IDA Members

By Andrea Granera

A black and white close up photo of a professional camera.

We are excited to announce a new partnership with Front Row Insurance Brokers to provide IDA members with Producer’s Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance Program. This program is designed to provide coverage for our members’ specific documentary needs at preferential rates. The program can offer discounted premiums compared to the market due to Front Row’s relationships, expertise, and years of experience insuring documentaries. 

Front Row staff are eager and ready to assist IDA members and to work with IDA members to obtain the best coverage at the best price for productions with budgets of $10,000 to $5,000,000.

This program is limited to American companies and productions with US addresses. Because of specific laws, quotes in Virginia, Massachusetts, Alaska, Hawaii, and Iowa may not apply. In those states, the Front Row staff will get you the best quotes possible.

Some material, if considered highly litigious by the carrier, may still be able to obtain discounted rates but may fall outside of the standard discounted rates.

Read more about the program: https://www.frontrowinsurance.com/en/ida-insurance-program 

Producer's E&O will cover legal & judgment costs if you are found responsible for:

  • Invasion or infringement of privacy;
  • Infringement of copyright or trademark;
  • Libel, slander or other forms of defamation;
  • Plagiarism, piracy or unfair competition resulting from the alleged use of titles, formats, ideas, characters, plots, performances of artists or performers or other material;
  • Breach of contract, implied or in fact or in law, resulting from the alleged submission, acquisition, or use of program, musical, or literary material used by the insured in the insured production.

This is an illustration only.  For a detailed outline of E&O coverage, contact Kent Hamilton and the Front Row team here. They will send you a sample policy.

DISCLAIMER FROM FRONT ROW INSURANCE LLC: Informational statements regarding insurance coverage are for general description purposes only. These statements do not amend, modify or supplement any insurance policy. Consult the actual policy or your broker for details regarding terms, conditions, coverage, exclusions, products, services, and programs which may be available to you. Your eligibility for particular products and services is subject to the final determination of underwriting qualifications and acceptance by the insurance underwriting company providing such products or services. This website does not make any representations that coverage does or does not exist for any particular claim or loss, or type of claim or loss, under any policy. Whether coverage exists or does not exist for any particular claim or loss under any policy depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss and all applicable policy wording.

About Front Row Insurance Brokers LLC:
Front Row is a specialty insurance brokerage providing insurance and risk management services to the film industry with US offices in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, and Colorado. We do not offer insurance for ‘any and all’ industries but rather focus 100% on the needs of our entertainment clients. We specialize in providing insurance solutions for a number of sectors, including Film & Television: Producers, Distributors & Broadcasters, Producers of Documentaries, Commercials, Music Videos, Educational and Industrial Videos, and services allied to the entertainment support industry. https://www.frontrowinsurance.com/en-us/ 

For more information, contact:
Kent Hamilton
Front Row Insurance Brokers LLC
Phone: 424-529-6700
Email: kent@frontrowinsurance.com 

FAQ

Who can access the Producer’s Errors and Omissions (E&O)Insurance benefits from Front Row Insurance?

To access the Producer’s E&O benefits from Front Row Insurance, you need to be an active member of the IDA.

I’m an IDA member. How do I access this benefit?

If you're an active IDA member and would like to utilize Producer’s E&O  benefits, please email membership@documentary.org with the subject line “E&O Member Benefit Inquiry.”  Anisa will contact you to put you in touch with Kent Hamilton and the Front Row team so you can use the benefits.

Why is errors and omissions insurance needed for a documentary?

You sold your documentary. You met your distributor's requirement of obtaining an E&O policy through the IDA program. Congratulations!

However, you read the fine print in the contract, and you’re surprised to see several requirements:

First, the distributor wants you to extend your policy to cover them by naming them Additional Insured in case of a claim. No problem: you just send a request and provide us with your distributor's name and address. This will generate a certificate of Insurance (COI). The certificate will detail: your company name and address, what insurance company is covering you, how much insurance the project has (i.e., $1,000,000/$3,000,000), and what the retention (deductible) is, e.g., $10,000 or $25,000). Second, the distributor wants to be covered for more than three years! You just paid a lot of money for a policy. Will this cost you more premium? The answer is maybe. There is a special endorsement called a “Rights Period Endorsement (RPE)” or “Term of Contract Endorsement (TOC).” This endorsement will extend the length of your E&O term to match the length of your distributors’ agreement as long as you notify the insurance carrier prior to the expiration of your policy. Just send us your distribution contract, and in the majority of cases, the insurance carrier will provide you with this money-saving endorsement.

 

Now you can breathe easier knowing that your E&O policy is in place to protect your company, financiers, and distributors.

 

 

 

Tags