When producing a film, many studios focus on the most significant risks such as damage to equipment, essential actor injury or illness, and copyright infringement. While attending to the most salient challenges your team might encounter is smart, knowing about potential risks does little to mitigate the harm they can cause. It is also important to build an emergency response plan. Did you know that doing so with your DICE insurance provider offers many advantages?
Rather than tackling this project alone, involve your insurance agency. This can open up new opportunities and save you money on your policy. Here is how to build an emergency response plan with your DICE provider so that your insurer and team are well-prepared.
Know How Emergencies Affect Your Insurance
No one wants to experience an emergency on set, but your insurance will likely need to respond as quickly as you do. Emergencies often lead to claims, and if your team is unprepared, your insurance company’s actions may differ from what you expect.
For example, if your team has no plan to address equipment theft, your insurance is less likely to protect the equipment. If it does, its amount of coverage may be lower, or your team’s deductible might be higher.
Insurance companies want to see that a film studio has prepared for the rigors of the industry. When you create a strong emergency response plan directly with your DICE provider, you may benefit from lower premiums, since the insurer knows you have mitigated risks as much as possible.
Creating an Emergency Plan
If your team does not have an emergency response plan, the best time to create one is now.
Choose the Respondents
Before the fundamentals of the plan come into shape, choose the primary respondents (i.e., the crisis management team). These will be the people in charge of leading during an emergency. Most production studios will involve someone from HR, legal, and operations, but choose the professionals who best suit your project. The team should include people with leadership abilities, knowledge, and wisdom to make quick decisions.
Identify the Risks
Once your primary team of leaders is established, consider the risks your studio might encounter. For most film productions, these include:
- Injury and illness
- Equipment breakdown and theft
- Copyright and trademark infringement
Once you know what issues might necessitate emergency intervention, you can proceed to the next step: determining what to do when an emergency occurs.
Create Procedures
The team should work together to outline the actions required during an emergency. For instance, if a crew member is injured during filming, the crisis management team should already have a plan for stabilizing their condition, seeking medical attention, notifying their family, submitting an insurance claim, and managing the production while absent.
Establish Communication
As the procedures develop, it will become clear that communication is an irreplaceable part of a successful response. Thus, before an emergency occurs, open communication channels. Establish points of contact and include your DICE insurance policy provider in your emergency response procedure.
Create a Claim Template
Once an emergency occurs, things will be moving fast. Create an insurance claim template beforehand to relieve stress and achieve a faster resolution. Review your insurer’s website to see what they need and how a claim works. Prepare any basic information, such as your business’s registered address and contact information, ahead of time so you can submit a claim as fast as possible.
Conduct Training
Once the emergency response plan has been completed, training and mock drills should be conducted to establish an effective emergency response team. When everyone knows what to do in an emergency, the event will be less stressful. In addition, a calm, collected team produces a much better result, such as seeking medical attention promptly.
Handle Anything That Comes Your Way
Emergencies are expected at some point during a studio’s production lifetime. Building a response plan to prepare for emergencies, mitigate the damage, and see a faster resolution is essential. Including your DICE provider in this plan has many benefits, from smoother communication to the potential for lower premiums. Contact MFE Insurance to choose a comprehensive plan that is right for you, get help creating an emergency response strategy, or involve us in your existing emergency plan.