We are into the second week of the Summer break and it has been non-stop preparing for ‘Monty’s Quest’s’ 2010 shoot. I have met with both cast and crew, looked at locations, checked through insurance policies, prepared a schedule, begun negotiations with a range of local interested parties and bought a porta-loo.
The things you find yourself thinking about to ensure everyone has a good experience seems never-ending. It is also amazing how financial restrictions make you think more creatively. Last year the Public and Employer’s Liability Insurance cost £700 for the four week shoot. I was a little frustrated as, being a member of BECTU, I already had Public Liability Insurance but my local insurance broker informed me that they could only get a dual policy. The cast and crew came up with some solutions and with everyone contributing £35 each we managed to raise over half the sum needed, leave me with only a small sum to cover.
With the passing of another year and the global financial crisis pinching into my own budget (i.e. we haven’t got one) it was time to see how to address this problem. Employer’s Liability has been quite a concern for many of the student projects. Each one potentially having to raise at least £700 for a joint Public and Employer’s Liability Insurance Policy. Over the past couple of years we have managed to work things out so that for college projects produced by the media students they are covered by the college’s Public and Employer’s Liability Insurance Policy. During the summer, however, this becomes a different story. The problem is that if projects like ‘Monty’s Quest’ are college projects then it can be seen that I am not on holiday and that I am doing extra student contact. Whereas, this is a fun activity outside of the scope of my normal teaching but something that can be shared as an experience with the students, if they choose to do so.
‘Monty’s Quest’ came about through a desire by the students to work on a project similar to ‘Fiddler’s Walk’, which was produced between 2004-2006. This shoot gave students, from September 2005, the opportunity to learn editing techniques through using footage from the film. In 2008 the students who formed the cast and some of the crew for ‘Monty’s Quest’ produced a shot film called ‘Silent Whispers’. They enjoyed the process so much that they were eager to work on something bigger. Since making ‘Fiddler’s Walk’, I had attempted to put together several other feature length projects but at the last moment each fell through. However, the enthusiasm of the students in 2009 ensured that ‘Monty’s Quest’ would not suffer the same fate. Eimear Burke came on to co-produce. Michael Hannaway and Sarah Campbell were cast in the lead roles (with local comedian, Des O’Gorman taking a minor role), Ally McKenzie found one the main location, while Eimear secured the second. Emmett Byrnes and Noel Kennedy ensured the sound production was to a professional level, assisted by Rebecca McKevitt and James McKeown. A range of others filled in addition casting roles, some at the drop of a hat and we even managed to called back Anthony Fitzpatrick for a cameo role, to give us a flavour of ‘Fiddler’s Walk’.
We filmed for fourteen days over a four week period. According to the script we were shooting roughly five to seven pages a day. This should have given us around 75 minutes of edited material but instead, in the timeline, we only had 60 minutes. I had also hoped to create a good part of the animation work needed for the film but the academic year prevented this from happening due to the numerous changes and video projects I was engaged in for the college. On top of this, the software I had chosen to create the 3D animation was undergoing a major overhaul and so there was a need to wait until this was completed before tackling this part of the project.
With the arrival of Easter 2010, I put my mind to developing the script for ‘Monty’s Quest’ to ensure we had more than 76 minutes of edited film. Over the past few weeks this year’s shoot has begun to take shape. The students have been re-arranging their work patterns to be available on a range of dates. In all we only need about three to four days but have added in a couple more buffer days as part of our contingency plan. We are still waiting to hear whether we can use one of our locations and several more have to be sought just in case. Then the issue of Public and Employer’s Liability Insurance Policy cover returned.
With things being a lot more tighter financially it was hard to know how this money could be raised. Even though we were only going to shoot for one week, the insurance was still going to cost £700. There had been several offers for work doing some editing jobs but none of these came to fruition. It was also frustrating to have Public Liability Insurance through BETCU and being forced to have to take extra coverage. However, after contacting BECTU I was able to talk to the company that provided their Public Liability cover. To my surprise and delight, they informed me that they could providing me with the Employer’s Liability Insurance on its own for £307, not just for a week but for the whole year and the payments could be spread across the year. This works out at just over £27 per month and provides me with cover for not only employing someone to help me on projects but also for supervising trainees who are volunteers.
Many amateur, enthusiast and student filmmakers often neglect to think about insurance issues unaware of how important it is to have such cover. Public Liability Insurance covers an individual against claims made by the general public, such as if someone trips over a tripod, set up in a busy street, and hurts themselves. Employer Liability Insurance provides you with cover if an employee is claiming compensation due to illness or injury sustained while at work. Effectively, if someone volunteers to help you carry out an activity such as shooting a film and are under your supervision, if they are injured they can make a claim against you (Crown, 2008).
The benefits to having Public and Employer’s Liability Insurance is that I can undertake more projects in the year than I was previously able to. Being a member of BECTU has also reduced this cost from well over £100 a month, when I was freelancing over seven years ago, to just over £27 per month. Even though this insurance cover is in place it is important to carry out risk assessments for each shoot location to ensure hazards are kept to a minimum. If you are visiting locations for your shoot, permission should always be sought and permits gained beforehand. The site owner will also want to see certificates for Public and Employer’s Liability Insurance before they will allow you to use their premises. You will also need a registered First Aider in the team.
At the end of the day, it is all about communicating what you want to do, how you intend to do it and why you want to do the planned activity. Keeping everyone informed helps to keep the project running smoothly. On location, the important thing is to make sure everyone is comfortable and if you are in the middle of nowhere, what is an essential piece of equipment? You’ve got it – a portaloo.
Article by George J. Kingsnorth
Photography by Eimear Burke.
Crown (2008) Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 – A guide for employers, Health and Safety Executive Assessed 13/07/10: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse40.pdf)
