Count on the Count

Moore started college at Denison University as a studio art major and graduated with a B.A. in English. He has always loved art (especially photography, which he still practices and collects), but quickly learned he couldn't make a living in the field. So he decided to emulate famous artists like Andy Warhol, Robert Rauchenberg and industrial designer Raymond Loewy and found a job doing window displays just as they created. "But it was still an artistic career, and it's hard to quantify a window display," he says.

Looking to parlay this creative background into a more lucrative career, he landed a job at Chubb in the early 1980s, handling art insurance.

Back then, fine-art insurance fell under the purview of the inland marine department, because art was considered movable property. "There were no rate guidelines or book listings; it was strictly seat-of-the-pants underwriting," he says. In lieu of formal training, Moore relied on his own street smarts and art knowledge and advice from the savvy insurance people at nearby desks.

He counts three mentors as his early influences: Jack Hicks, then zone manager for the New York City area at Chubb, who stressed the importance of underwriter relationships; Walter Tomenson, managing director of FINPRO at Marsh, who taught Moore the value of teamwork; and Pamela Newman, founder of Marsh's entertainment and media division, who instructed him in organization and client communications.

Moore quickly learned that to make coverage happen required knowledge both of art and the vagaries involved in protecting it, and a close working relationship with the underwriters. "There are a thousand ways not to do a risk, but only one or two ways to do a risk that's acceptable," he says.

After honing his chops at Chubb, Moore went on to Marsh & McLennan's entertainment practice, which he managed for more than 20 years. He joined DeWitt Stern in 2004.

Moore counts himself lucky to have worked with some very unique clients over the last 30 years. He handled coverage for the NFL when Super Bowl XXXVI was postponed after 9/11; designed coverage for every Presidential inaugural celebration since Ronald Reagan; arranged for insurance for several popes, including one of the largest claims in his career when Pope John Paul II cancelled a trip to New York after falling and breaking a hip; and handled performance coverage for artists including Madonna, Whitney Houston, U2 and Lady Gaga, as well as coverage for the late Lady Diana on her first U.S. visit.

Not surprisingly, Moore has big plans for DeWitt Stern's art and entertainment division. The brokerage recently underwent a brand redesign to set it apart in the marketplace and has wooed top talent to Moore's staff, many with high-level backgrounds in the art and entertainment industry.

"As business becomes more complicated, it's more important than ever to specialize," Moore says. "If you call me with an entertainment risk, I probably haven't seen a risk exactly like what you're doing, but my team probably has come across similar unusual things. The fact that we have experienced that risk before helps us to pre-underwrite and help the underwriters get a clear understanding of what the risk is."

For example, account executive Sarah Zhu, who handles insurance for music videos, came to DeWitt Stern from Universal Music's insurance department. Art division manager and VP Mary Pontillo, who used to work for the Hirshhorn Museum and AON, specializes in all things fine art, from insuring loading and transporting art to protecting gallery exhibits.

Because of the volatility of the entertainment world, things can change at the last minute and coverage details must come together at the speed of light. This means Moore's team members must always be accessible, including the underwriters.

"We know the bars they hang out in, their cellphone numbers, and their girlfriends' and parents' cell phone numbers, in case we have to find them ASAP," Moore says. "This business doesn't work 9-to-5. It's 24/7. I won't take credit away from an emergency room doctor, but like them, we're also always on call."

In spite of the rapid advancement and codification of specialty business in the past 30 years, one thing hasn't changed: The art and entertainment insurance field is still more of an art than a science, Moore says. "There's still no program business for art; my specialty is art and entertainment, and there's still no book for that," he says. "You can't really be sent away to school to learn this business because every risk is different."

A big misperception on the insurance side is that people in arts and entertainment field are not as "buttoned up" as financial folks. This is a fallacy, Moore says: "The behind-the-scenes people may not dress in Brooks Brothers suits, but they are extreme professionals who don't want a loss. The specialization that they bring to their industry, we bring to the insurance end."

And make no mistake, the stakes are high. The typical cost of making a music video can range from $60,000 for an easy, small-scale shoot to more than $1 million for a big production. Gross production costs directly relate to complexity, which includes expenses such as pyrotechnics, stunts, sports talent and celebrity appearances, and onscreen jewelry.

Insurance costs can range from $1,800 to $25,000. Coverage is secured through a music video wrap-up package, similar to a construction wrap-up, including general liability, auto for all vehicles, travel accident coverage and film coverage, extra expense, cast coverage or nonappearance, prop coverages, set, wardrobe, cameras, negative film and faulty stock coverage. "The only thing that's not covered is artistic temperament, in the event the talent walks off the set or doesn't show up," Moore says.

An example of how things can turn on a dime: When Miley Cyrus filmed the "Wrecking Ball" video, production originally called for just that: a wrecking ball, stationary, that wouldn't move during video shooting. Four hours later, representatives on the set called Moore and said that the director not only wanted the wrecking ball to swing, but that it would be swinging with the artist on it. Naked. "We had to talk to the underwriter," Moore says unflappably.

It's this sort of unpredictability that makes The Count's job both challenging and rewarding. "The rewarding part is where you have a tough risk come down on Friday at 3 p.m. when all of your underwriters are going home and the clients are shooting tomorrow in L.A. at noon," he says. "So you e-mail your team to get the insurance so you can declare the production to the underwriter, and one of your staff who's been on the phone for an hour and a half wants to leave at 11:30 to go out dancing with her boyfriend and another team member picks up the job to get it done by midnight.

"That's the most rewarding thing, telling the clients that they can blow things up," he adds. "It's not glamorous, but none of these risks can go on without us. You can do any creative thing you want; it might be more than what you budgeted, but we can always get insurance to match the creative shot you want to get."

Still an artist at heart

Still true to his fine arts roots, Conte Moore collects photography, "because when I was younger, it was affordable." He also still practices photography, shooting in both digital and 35mm, in black and white and color. He's influenced by photographers Lee Friedlander, Dennis Hopper and Stephen Shore.

On the collector side, Moore works closely with Santa Fe art dealers Schienbaum & Russek, a husband-and-wife team that's taught him a lot about the stories behind the photographs he collects. And yes—his collection is insured by DeWitt Stern and underwritten by Chubb.