AU: Public Liability Insurance and Council Permits.

spoQn

spoQn

So my brother an I will be shooting a short film in the coming months, and he's asked me to produce.

not ever having done this before, i'm in way over my head and then some.

We are able to get a FREE permit (free for local residents) to film on council property in our local city council, pending approval (, i.e. no conflicts with already scheduled events), however, the kicker is that in order to get the FREE permit, we need to have public liability insurance. the cost of which is prohibitive (AU$1000+).

so the obvious solution here is NOT to film on council property :( which is a real shame

if anyone has any other info on obtaining cheap/free liability insurance (keeping in mind we are in Queensland Australia) it would be most appreciated.


Of course the other option is to get permission to film on private property. If anyone has any advice on how to approach a complete stranger to ask them if you can film a movie on their property, that would be appreciated too :D
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Liability insurance isn’t cheap. I can’t speak for Queensland but
here in the states, liability insurance is just about the same in
all cities.

Most beginning filmmakers and all no budget filmmakers regardless
of their experience level always need to find alternatives. So
shooting on private property is a very viable option.

They way you approach a complete stranger to ask them if you can
film a movie on their property is so simple it might have eluded
you. You walk up to them, introduce yourself and ask.

I’m sure you know to be professional and prepared. Exact dates and
times, the exact number of people who will be there, exactly what
you will be doing there, that kind of thing.

Very often if you shoot outside of city limits there is no permit
(and no insurance) required. Perhaps not completely legal, but if
you aren’t shooting with a full lighting and grip package and 15
people you can usually shoot undistrubed. Your little JVC, a
tripod, a reflector or two and four or five people total won’t
draw too much attention.

Time to get creative Mr. Producer!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey, I'm also shooting in Australia and have had problems in the past with public liability insurance, except no one can tell me where to get it. I've called around the larger insurance agents and have found no one to be of any help. Have you found any agent to do it at all, even if they're not cheap?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Maybe it varies from city to city (and country). In Canada I did shooting for a short film on city property, and it was free. They didn't even ask for insurance. All they asked is to be notified in writing ahead of time, that way if anyone called them to inquire, they would know about it (people appearing camera, ect). Same with a public library I shot in.

Mind you, there was no one else in the shots save the character-maybe that was part of it. I did spell that out in the letters. Maybe that's where the liability comes in.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top