First off, take a look at your budget. If you're working with less than $1 million, legally you're going to need at least the basic coverage. This typically doesn't cover very much, but if anything, legally, goes wrong, you're safe. Though, if that $20 thousand dollar camera gets dropped or your star actor walks off the set, you're toast.

There are many different types of production insurance. Blowing up a motorcycle midair over a highway? There's insurance for that. How about shooting a scene on a boat? You may want to look into movie boat insurance. Yes, no matter what you're doing, there's probably a company out there wanting to cover you.

Is film insurance really that important or useful? Well, if you've just sold your house, maxed out 3 credit cards, and used all your savings to make sure your movie gets made, then yes. You'll most likely be sorry if you don't have some sort of insurance. If you're able to get professional actors, you can get insurance to cover them. If they're well known and they leave half way through filming (due to death or illness or such) then you can be reimbursed so your movie won't be a total loss.

What about if you make a lot of movies? There are annual types of insurance, too. Making a movie is technically running a business, so if it's something that you keep up year after year, it's best to keep insurance and not just pay for it per film.

Okay, I've been talking about a lot of big budget corporate type work. But what if you're just the little guy; maybe you're a film student out of college wanting to make his first feature. Well, the answer is yes, you do need insurance. Legally, you need permits, releases, permission, and at least $1 million coverage of film production insurance. If anything were to happen during your production, then you'll be sorry.

So how do you go about obtaining film insurance? How do you go about getting permits? How do you go about obtaining permission? Well, you ask. You can't get a permit unless you have permission first. And you probably shouldn't buy insurance if you don't know if your have a permit or permission. The best thing is to just simply go down to the city and talk to whoever's in charge. From there, go to all of your scouted locations and talk to the property owners and make sure that they're okay with you filming. You'll most likely need to get some sort of release form signed by them as well as let them know the exact times and dates you'll be filming. Just be friendly and courteous. Don't try to force yourself and tell them you're filming there no matter what. There's always another barn or another freeway overpass.