I've heard that major media companies won't work with my post-production company without an Errors and Omission policy in place. Why does that matter if I'm a post house?
Luke, CA
It only matters if you're involved with the film at a higher level than just post work, Luke. 'Most major film distributors won't distribute a movie unless the primary production company has at least 10 years of E&O coverage in place.', says Randy Frankel of Frankel & Associates , California's largest provider of production insurance . 'We usually provide that coverage in the form of a 3 year policy that comes with 7 years of what's called 'rights endorsement' coverage. That makes sure that if someone sees the film on DVD 5 years later and says, 'Hey! They used my song without my permission', the distributors' legal costs are covered.' Frankel went on to add that companies doing just a small portion of the post work on a film can sometimes avoid the need for an E&O policy by requesting that their name simply be added to the production company's policy. 'Not many post production companies know that.', Frankel said.
