In the wake of her recent drug bust, can a future movie production secure insurance with Lindsay Lohan in the cast? Probably yes, judging by the experience of one broker familiar with the filmmaking trade.
No matter how shaky the client, “I've never been shut down completely by the marketplace,” said Brian Kingman, managing director Aon/Albert G. Ruben in Los Angeles.
Mr. Kingman has been in the business of securing movie coverage since the 1980s, sometimes for reputation-challenged actors.
Among one of his more difficult placements was coverage for a production involving actor Robert Downey Jr., whose background included problems with drug abuse.
In that case, Mr. Kingman said, “we modified the cast insurance to cover the peril of incarceration.”
When it comes to securing insurance, he noted, “If there's enough time, we've got the talent [and] anything is insurable–almost anything.”
In the case of a problem thespian, Mr. Kingman said that when there is a high level of cooperation from the actor and the filmmakers and a broker like himself, “we'll figure out a way to do it so everybody wins.”
Among some of the tactics employed to keep errant film actors in line, he noted, are agreements to defer salaries until there is completion of a movie and having someone assigned to keep the star on the straight and narrow.
“They call them minders,” he explained, referring to a person who is by the actor's side 24 hours a day to “assist and support the particular artist from indulging.”
Minders, he said, are support people, like Alcoholics Anonymous sponsors, who can “talk them off a cliff” before they engage in inappropriate behavior.
Ms. Lohan was arrested Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., and hit with felony drug and misdemeanor driving charges. Speaking with NBC's “Access Hollywood,” she said she was innocent.
Ms. Lohan's latest difficulty has caused her to cancel appearances to promote her latest film, “I Know Who Killed Me.”
Mr. Kingman said that insurance to cover promotion activity for a film is one area that is “not normal or customary.”
Ms. Lohan is scheduled to begin shooting a new film this summer for Bowline Entertainment.
“The producers have compassion and kindness for her, so for now she's insured and still with the movie,” commented a consultant for the production company, according to The New York Times.
For a broker, finding coverage for difficult situations in the film business is part of the job and can range from getting insurance to cover risks involved in shooting stunts in difficult mountainous terrain to a giant “Waterworld” set built out in the ocean.
“My job is to advocate for the filmmaker and the artist to get the cover they need,” Mr. Kingman said.
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