Rhonda Kay's Lounge Discussions

Just my two cents..I'm a production Accountant. If the producers aren't willing to raise the money for production insurance I'd think twice about working with them. I do lots of low budget movies..There is just a certain level of protection insurance gives you. Besides you have to protect the people you are asking to work for you, act, drive, etc. Movies should not be made on the backs of the cast and crew who aren't being compensated or treated fairly. Some people will do anything to get their "dreams" made. Regardless of the cost to others. Just always watch out for yourself.

First - YOU MUST GET PRODUCTION INSURANCE - NO OPTION HERE!!!! - even basic with $1,000,000 liability and $5K medical is under $1K. Every member of the crew involved is leaving themselves open to a potential lawsuit. Second - get a GOOD Stunt person to work with and expect to spend a LOT of time in rehearsals and practice to assure the shots work and the gag is safe. THIRD - set up the shots to make the "falls" short and simply ( only a few steps at a time) and then edit the bits together to make a complete fall down the stairs... Don't try to do the whole thing in one shot- Not with an inexperienced crew, inexperienced spotters, and a low-budget stunt person... you are just begging fro someone to get hurt.

I see your getting a fair amount begging you to tell the producers to get insurance. I'm sure everyone understands to problems with no budget. But they are right. No insurance and you could pay way more for the lawsuit alone. I had a project fall apart because we could get the insurance. But it was obvious if we didn't we couldn't rent equipment, use locations, and not to mention someone getting hurt. There cannot be enough said on the insurance thing. As for the stunt man. You certainly can do a huge deal with just cutting interesting angle

No you are not being to cautious! It just so happens that I live just down the street from a rather famous stunt coordinator from "yesteryear', Ky Michaelson. He will always tell you, safety first. He knows first hand just how quickly a stunt can go wrong and the sad consequence that may follow. It was a simple stunt that he was the coordinator of when Dar Robinson died. There is no one to blame, just the simple fact that they (every member of the stunt) didn't take into account all the safety precautions first! In this case, if they had an ambulance on on the set, instead of cutting dollars, Dar could have got the immediate medical attention he needed for the injuries he suffered from a "fall gone bad". My son is also a world record holding escape artist. We made one mistake several years ago when he was buried under three tons of corn and the escape failed. We were lucky that he wasn't injured - or worse, killed. Our mistake, we didn't rehearse the bit, or understand all of the dangers of corn kernels. Nor did we have a real "safety backup", just in case... So you know just what kind of dangerous escapes Jon does, you can can check him out at: www.jonathonbryce.com If you don't have insurance don't take the risk. Even if you do have insurance, make sure every one knows what they are doing and the bit is rehearsed over and over. Finally, you must have an agreement with everyone on the set, that if ANYONE - and that means exactly that - IF ANYONE doesn't feel 100% sure of the bit, it is not to be done and you go to "Plan B". If the director isn't cool with that, drop the project. Keep in mind, if something wrong takes place, you could find yourself in court right next to the director and producer. Safety first, the success of the shot second! Good Luck and have fun!

Bryce has some great word of advice. You should always be 100% about your job at all times. As a Grip, I run into situations of set safety that can be career enders, quite often. And it is my job to double check my work. For example, never leaving a frame unattended or unbiased. Always double check cheesebourghs, etc. but the ultimate point that I am making is that it is my choice to do my job right or not and to work in safety or throw caution to the wind. If a stunt person works for you knowing there is no insurance thy It really their fault for getting into a bad duration. You may still get sued and loose everything but that person doing the stunt really is to blame for their injuries.