A film production carries crores of investment into uncertain territory — actor illness, equipment damage, natural disasters, negative film loss, third-party liability, and production shutdown can each cause catastrophic financial loss. The Film & Television Producers Package Insurance Policy is a modular 10-section package covering every dimension of production risk — from pre-production cast insurance to commercial general liability — for films, TV series, OTT content, web series, documentaries, and any audio-visual production.
Commercial Insurance · Entertainment · Film, TV & OTT Production
Film & Television Producers Package Insurance (also called Film Production Insurance) is a comprehensive packaged insurance solution specifically designed for producers engaged in film and television production. It covers the full spectrum of production risks — from cast illness disrupting the shooting schedule to physical loss of irreplaceable negative film, from equipment damage on a foreign location shoot to third-party liability claims from bystanders. The policy is structured as 10 modular sections, one or more of which can be selected by the producer. It is available both as a short-term (single project) and long-term (multiple projects) policy.
Sections 1 & 2: Extended pre-production and principal photography cast cover for death, injury, sickness, and kidnap of insured cast members and key production personnel.
SECTIONS 1–2Section 3: Physical loss or damage to raw film, exposed original camera negative, tape stock, digital media, cutting copies, and all production recording assets.
SECTION 3Section 4: Physical loss or damage to props, constructed sets, costumes, wardrobe, scenery, and all theatrical property used in the declared production.
SECTION 4Section 5: Loss, damage, or theft of camera, sound, lighting, grip, and all production equipment — owned or rented — from any external cause.
SECTION 5Section 7: Budget overrun costs from production interruption or postponement caused by covered property loss — crew holding costs, location rebooking, reshoots.
SECTION 7Section 10: Bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury liability to third parties arising from production activities at any covered location.
SECTION 10— 10 Modular Sections, Mix and Match
The Film & Television Producers Package Policy is a modular product. Producers select the sections relevant to their specific production and risk profile. Each section has its own sum insured limit. Here are all 10 sections with their scope.
| Section | What Is Covered | Key Claim Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Pre-Prod Cast | Pre-production loss if designated cast incapacitated before shoot begins | Death / injury / sickness / kidnap before principal photography |
| 2 — Cast Insurance | Extra costs to complete production after cast member loss during shoot | Death / injury / sickness / kidnap during principal photography |
| 3 — Neg Film & Tape | Re-shoot / recopy cost for destroyed or damaged footage / recording | Physical loss or damage to raw / exposed film or digital media |
| 4 — Props, Sets, Wardrobe | Physical loss or damage to production properties (sets, props, costumes) | Fire, theft, accident, or natural calamity at shooting location |
| 5 — Equipment | Repair or replacement of production equipment lost, damaged, or stolen | External cause including theft of camera, sound, lighting, grip gear |
| 6 — TP Property Damage | Liability for damage to third-party property in production’s custody | 3rd-party property damaged while used for production |
| 7 — Extra Expense | Budget overrun costs from production interruption or postponement | Covered property loss causing production delay / cancellation |
| 8 — Money | Loss of production cash (petty cash, advances, money in transit) | Robbery / theft / accidental loss of production funds |
| 9 — Film in Storage | Recopy cost for footage damaged in post-production storage | Physical loss at specified storage / post-production facility |
| 10 — CGL | BI, PD, and PI liability to third parties from production activities | Injury or damage to public / bystanders at shooting location |
Deep Dive Into the 4 Most Critical Sections for Indian Producers
Four sections represent the highest-value and most frequently relevant coverages for Indian film and television productions. Understanding each in depth helps producers select the right sections and sum insured levels.
The Indian film industry has seen productions shut down due to actor deaths mid-production, medical emergencies, serious injuries during action sequences, and sudden illness. Cast Insurance covers all additional costs to complete principal photography after replacing or waiting for the insured cast member:
• All extra costs to reshoot scenes with a replacement cast member
• Crew salary holding costs during the delay
• Additional location and logistics costs from rescheduling
• Any other direct additional expenses from the insured cast event
Who can be insured: Lead actors, key directors, DOP, special effects experts, and other key personnel declared at policy inception. Each must be named in the policy schedule. Medical examination or health declaration may be required for high-value cast. Each cast member’s section-wise sum insured should reflect their contractual value and the production’s daily cost rate.
Modern productions shoot hundreds of hours of raw footage before editing. A single incident — lab fire, flooding of the production office, accidental hard drive failure, processing error — can destroy weeks or months of irreplaceable work.
Coverage for:
• Raw unexposed film stock (before shooting)
• Exposed original camera negative (the production’s most valuable asset)
• Digital camera cards, SD cards, and RAW recording media
• Master videotapes and digital master files
• Work prints, cutting copies, and all intermediate materials
Indemnity: Cost of re-shooting or re-recording the lost or damaged footage, including all additional production costs to recreate the material.
Important limitation: Loss due to faulty raw stock (manufacturing defects), faulty processing at a lab, or cameraman error is typically handled under a separate “Faulty Stock / Camera / Processing” extension — check whether this is included or requires a separate endorsement.
Film budgets are built on specific shooting schedules. When a covered event interrupts or postpones production, every day of delay costs:
• Full crew holding costs (salaries continue even when shooting stops)
• Location holding charges (locations must be rebooked or rebilled)
• Equipment rental continuation (hired gear clocks continue running)
• Accommodation and travel for cast and crew during delay
• Set redressing or rebuilding costs
• Re-booking of specific scenes, shooting windows, or foreign locations
Section 7 covers all of these extra expenses up to the declared sum insured. For large-budget productions (₹50–500 crore), this is often the single largest potential claim under the policy — a week’s shutdown on a big production can cost ₹5–25 crore in holding and rescheduling costs.
Covered triggers: Damage to or destruction of any property or facilities used or to be used for the declared production — from any cause not specifically excluded.
A film production is legally a temporary business operating in many locations simultaneously — with heavy equipment, large crews, and crowds of bystanders. Third-party liability risks are substantial:
• A bystander injured by falling lighting equipment at a public location shoot
• A historical property damaged by production lighting or cabling
• A crowd control incident injuring spectators at a shoot
• A music video shoot damaging a rented hotel venue
• Defamation or privacy violation claims from people depicted in production
CGL covers:
• Bodily injury to any third party (non-cast, non-crew member)
• Property damage to third-party property from production activities
• Personal injury and advertising injury
• All legal defence costs for covered claims
• Court-awarded damages and out-of-court settlements
Geographic scope matches the production’s declared location coverage.
Optional Endorsements to Expand the Base Policy
The base Film & Television Producers Package Policy can be extended with optional endorsements to cover specific risks that are excluded from the standard policy or require enhanced geographic scope.
Extends coverage from India-only to worldwide, covering all production activities at any international location. Essential for: Indo-foreign co-productions, films with foreign location schedules, OTT content with international shoots, and any production with post-production activities abroad. The base policy covers India; this extension must be added explicitly for any international shoot.
The standard policy excludes acts of terrorism. This endorsement adds material damage coverage for terrorism-related events affecting production property, sets, equipment, or negative film. Particularly relevant for productions shooting at high-profile urban locations, landmark buildings, or large public gatherings where terrorism risk is elevated.
Covers additional costs from shooting delays caused by unexpected adverse weather or rainfall that was not forecast and prevents planned outdoor shooting. Relevant for productions with tight outdoor schedules in seasonal shooting windows, including monsoon-sensitive locations, mountain shoots, and desert locations. Weather must be demonstrably unseasonal and unforeseeable — not normal seasonal weather.
Covers costs arising from non-appearance of cast or key production members due to circumstances beyond their control: road accidents preventing arrival at the shooting location, flight delays or cancellations, weather-related travel disruption. This extension covers travel-related non-appearance — distinct from Section 2 which covers illness/injury-related incapacity. Relevant for productions where cast travel from distant cities or countries to a single shooting location.
Provides enhanced coverage for productions shooting at international locations — covering additional costs of equipment transportation and re-import, local crew engagement, foreign location permits and compliance, and production logistics specific to international shoots. To be used in conjunction with the Worldwide Geographical Limits extension for full international production coverage.
How to Handle a Film Insurance Claim
Film insurance claims often arise suddenly — an actor falls ill, a set catches fire, equipment is stolen on location. The first 24 hours are critical. Notification speed, evidence preservation, and documentation quality determine how quickly and fully a claim is settled.
Notify Probitas Insurance Brokers on 022 4302 0000 immediately upon any loss event — do not wait for the situation to resolve. For cast illness: obtain a medical certificate from the treating doctor as soon as possible. For fire or natural calamity: obtain fire brigade or official government report. For theft or crime: file an FIR at the nearest police station immediately. Notification speed is critical because productions operate on daily budgets and insurers need early involvement to assess and approve additional expenditures.
Collect and preserve all evidence and production documentation: complete production schedules and call sheets showing planned vs actual shooting; cast contracts naming insured members; equipment purchase/hire invoices; location agreements; shooting logs; daily production cost reports; and all correspondence related to the covered event. These records establish the production’s status at the time of the loss event and quantify the financial impact.
For cast claims: document every extra cost incurred and projected to complete principal photography after the event. For equipment: obtain formal repair or replacement quotes from authorised vendors. For extra expense: prepare a day-by-day log of every additional cost incurred as a direct result of the covered event, with supporting invoices for each item. Submit a comprehensive loss statement with full supporting documentation to facilitate fast claim assessment.
The insurer appoints a specialist entertainment or film industry surveyor to assess the claim. For complex cast or extra expense claims, the surveyor reviews the production’s financial records, shooting schedule, and loss documentation. Claim settlement is typically within 30 days of complete submission of all documents. Complex disputes may take longer. Probitas Insurance Brokers manages the claim on the producer’s behalf throughout the process — from initial notification to final settlement.
What Is NOT Covered
The following exclusions apply across the standard Film & Television Producers Package Policy. Several key exclusions (terrorism, foreign locations) can be removed by taking the relevant optional extension.
Loss or damage arising from war, invasion, civil war, rebellion, revolution, or military operations is excluded from all sections of the film & TV producers package insurance policy.
Mechanical or electrical breakdown of equipment is excluded unless the breakdown was caused by a covered peril (e.g., a fire or flood that damages equipment is covered; internal motor failure is not).
Disappearance of property that cannot be attributed to a specific identifiable external cause, or losses discovered only on inventory count without a clear incident, are excluded from coverage.
Acts of terrorism are excluded from the standard base policy. Coverage can be added by purchasing the Terrorism Cover Endorsement as an optional extension, which then provides material damage protection for terrorist events.
Damage caused by insects, vermin, inherent vice, latent defects, or any characteristic of the insured property that causes its own deterioration is excluded from all sections of the policy.
Gradual wear and tear, depreciation, and deterioration of equipment, sets, props, and all other production property over time is excluded. Insurance covers sudden, unforeseen physical loss — not ageing.
Deterioration due to dampness, dryness, extremes of temperature, shrinkage, evaporation, loss of weight, rust, contamination, or leakage is excluded unless directly caused by a covered peril.
Loss of footage due to faulty processing at a lab, errors in recording caused by the camera crew or editing team, or storage in inappropriate conditions is excluded from Section 3 unless the specific “Faulty Stock / Camera / Processing” extension is added.
Any loss or damage deliberately caused by the insured, their directors, employees, or any person acting at the insured’s direction is excluded from all sections of the film & television producers insurance policy.
Losses arising from hazardous activities (stunts, pyrotechnics, aerial work, underwater filming, vehicle chases) that were not declared to the insurer at policy inception and appropriately underwritten are excluded.
The information and product comparisons displayed on this platform are intended solely for general informational and evaluation purposes, and do not constitute a legal offer or binding insurance contract. Specific policy features, premium rates, riders, and underwriting guidelines are determined exclusively by the respective general insurance carriers and may vary significantly based on the insurer, product tier, and location across multiple Indian states. All quotes and premium calculations generated on this website are indicative estimates based on preliminary data and do not guarantee final underwriting approval or policy issuance by the insurer. For comprehensive details regarding specific coverage terms, limits, and permanent exclusions, please refer directly to the official sales brochure and policy wording issued by the respective insurance company, which will take absolute legal precedence in the event of any discrepancy or dispute.
Film Insurance Questions
Get Your Film & TV Production Insurance Quote
Our entertainment insurance specialist will contact you within 24 hours with a personalised Film & TV Producers Package Insurance quote based on your production type, budget, sections required, and shooting locations.
By submitting you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. Film & Television Producers Package Insurance is an individually underwritten commercial product. Policy. Information provided is indicative. Refer to the policy wording for complete terms. Probitas Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd. · IRDAI Lic. No. 528.