Landon D. Parks Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 When it comes to renting equipment, who is it that does it? Is it up to the DP to rent and provide insureance on the equipment or is it up to the production manager, producer, ect? I understand this may very from small productions to large productions, and from DP to DP. But in general on small production's whos job is it? Thanks! Landon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Andino Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 It's always the Producer--unless the DP volunteers (& then becomes a producer)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landon D. Parks Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 I understand, but sometimes, even on here i hear DP's saying "Panavison gave ME a great deal on such and such camera package..." as if they where the ones that rented the package, and not the producer. But I figured it was the Producer anyway, just wanted to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted February 23, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 23, 2005 The production COMPANY (usually a limited liability entity formed just for the production) is the renter and is usually carrying the insurance. That doesn't mean the DP might not arrange or be somewhat responsible for a good deal from a camera rental house (the industry is all about personal connections), but the production itself is the renter. Now some DP's own their own equipment and the production may rent from them, or the DP's have some sort of shared ownership deal with some other company or person so in a sense, the production may be renting something from the DP who in turn, is paying someone else part of that rental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Kevin Zanit Posted February 23, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 23, 2005 What David said. I generally handle the details of the package and will usually call on my contacts to arrange the details, such as if I can have some time for free for tests, etc. I see to it personally because I usually get better service for the simple reason that I know the company, and they know me. Thus to maintain the relationship we help each other. If the producer pisses me off, or for some reason I don?t want to go out on a ?limb? for the show, I will just give my list to the producer and the number to the rental house I want to rent from. Once my list is settled on, the rental house will forward the quote to the producer (or sometimes me, if I think the number could be obscenely high, and I want to control it before it gets to the producer and makes me look bad). The production department handles it form there, faxing the certificate of insurance, and of course paying for the gear. Kevin Zanit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landon D. Parks Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 so generally, its not a single person that rents the equipment. Its the company as a whole. What kind of insurance is it that rental places require to check out there equipment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted February 23, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 23, 2005 Individuals can get insurance and rent cameras too, but if you're talking about a feature, usually a company has been formed for that purpose. I don't know the exact name for the production insurance you get. Just looking at the Plus-8 Digital rental catalog, it states: "All equipment rentals must be insured. Any client supplying their own insurance must provide us with a certificate of insurance naming Plus-8 Digital as additionally insured/loss payee. Plus-8 Digital may supply an Equipment Damage/Loss Waiver for 12% of the rental list price. Insurance by Plus-8 Digital is subject to a deductible and must be accompanied by an open credit card voucher. Restrictions apply to all Waivers." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Kevin Zanit Posted February 23, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 23, 2005 Panavision wants $300,000 equipment, $1M general liability. Hollywood rentals wants $2M general liability. It gets trickier when you rent their trucks as well. Kevin Zanit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landon D. Parks Posted February 24, 2005 Author Share Posted February 24, 2005 (edited) I read on Rules.com's website that you can also purchase insurance from there provider for 10% of the total rental cost. Although it just covers the equipment I imagine. Im guessing you'll still have to take out insureance for cast, crew, locations, ect.... That could get pricey! If desired, insurance can be purchased from Rule Broadcast Systems at 10% of the rental cost of the equipment. Edited February 24, 2005 by Landon D. Parks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Kevin Zanit Posted February 24, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 24, 2005 In LA, Wooden Nickel will rent you insurance for 20% if the rental cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Allen Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 Just tagging on to what other said... As for insurance - you generally need production insurance for more reasons than just the equipment. A grunge indie way around this is that sometimes you can find a friendly production company who has a year long deal with insurance and make them co-producers on the project in theory and pay them for their insurance arrangement skills... if that makes sense - basically these indies pay them for the right to use their insurance. I'm not sure it's even legally a grey area, though I'm sure it could be. There is also a place which does something like this more officially called filmmakers alliance. http://info.facommunity.net/index.html - no gray area. If you ONLY need insurance for the equipment - sometimes it does make more sense to just buy it from the rental company. On independent productions, generally the DP makes the equipment list and will recommend a rental place and if they have a friendly relationship - hopefully that would translate into some sort of favorable deal. odd related anecdote... I knew one DP years ago who every time he'd leave the pick up (after everything was signed) he'd say... "Oh! we need [whatever]" and the rental company would just tag them onto the order without charging because it was more trouble to rebill than it was worth. It took me seeing this happen a few times before I figured out that this was his little modus operandi to get free stuff. Frankly I think it satisified some deep desire to be a sneaky player in him more than it was truly huge savings. I've never used nor encouraged that technique, but I always fondly remembered the joy he got from "beating the system." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Andino Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 Just tagging on to what other said... As for insurance - you generally need production insurance for more reasons than just the equipment. A grunge indie way around this is that sometimes you can find a friendly production company who has a year long deal with insurance and make them co-producers on the project in theory and pay them for their insurance arrangement skills... if that makes sense - basically these indies pay them for the right to use their insurance. I'm not sure it's even legally a grey area, though I'm sure it could be. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It is not legal to sell your insurance services... But it is legal to insure a production you're involved... And it's legal to do a co-production... (though most real grundy indie projects don't have an official production company) However this approach really doesn't work for features Since production companies that have year-long policies can't insure features... Eitherways it's recommended for a feature to start up an LLC And get a producer's packet for production insurance-- It'll include: Worker's comp. Equipment Personal & 3rd Party Property Film Negative Etc... If you're going to distribution you might also need E&O insurance... But that usually comes after post If you're interested you should call Film Emporium (that's where we got our policy) Talk to LAIRD CRINER He has been doing this for over 15 years & is very friendly and very helpful He'll tell you what you'll need. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Wendell_Greene Posted February 24, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 24, 2005 Another great place for short term production insurance needs is Taylor and Taylor They have offices in NYC and Los Angeles. I also have to second Kevin's mention of Wooden Nickel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landon D. Parks Posted February 25, 2005 Author Share Posted February 25, 2005 Since we are on the topic of Insurance, I heard that you can usually get the insureance for 10-15% of the entire budget for a basic feature with no huge stunts, Pirotechnics, ect. Is this true? Is it more or less generally? Im putting together a ruff budget idea for a feature film I'm interested in one day making, and I'm on the subject of an insurance quote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Kevin Zanit Posted February 25, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 25, 2005 I think that?s fair. You could just ask for a quote from the company if you are curious, and want more exact figures. I remember a little HD short I did where the insurance for a few days was over $2000. That seemed high, and the producer asked the company and they said because it was HD they were not as comfortable insuring it. This was a chunk of the budget for a small short film, so I don?t think there is any one percentage rule you can go off of. The above situation was several years ago, and I think companies have become more comfortable with HD, but the point is, just get a quote. Kevin Zanit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Andino Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Since we are on the topic of Insurance, I heard that you can usually get the insureance for 10-15% of the entire budget for a basic feature with no huge stunts, Pirotechnics, ect. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm not so sure... I've not gotten insurance for a feature... But I know that for shorts Insurance is usually determined by the type of policy (Meaning: whether it's only equipment insurance, 3rd person property damage... Or worker's comp... etc...the more you add-on the more it adds up) Also--the amount of the deductible, the number of days, the number of crew members, the amount of equipment that needs to be insured... There are alot of variables that go into question... It's not a fixed percentage. Like Kevin said get a quote from brokers they can tell you better than us. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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