Star Insurance

Owen Wilson's alleged suicide attempt has left executives at Paramount and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox in a bind. His health aside, the Wedding Crashers star has two films in production and another two to promote for their studios.

But there is one group that stands to benefit from the funnyman's troubles: the insurance companies. While it isn't the sexy story that sells tabloids, a star's downfall translates to higher premiums for the firms that agree to underwrite them.

In order for any film to be made, its stars--track record or not--must be insured. The rationale: With production costs on a typical feature film already at exorbitant sums, any delay--be it from weather, an injury or a star's poor health--can set movie makers back between $100,000 and $400,000 per day. The more likely a star is to cause that delay, the more costly he or she will be to insure.

But just how much more is a decision left up to insurance or underwriting companies. With only a handful in the business, including Fireman's Fund and the Chubb Group, these firms make it their business to understand the film industry and its players. Among other things, each has confidential files on every actor, which include everything from prior medical certificates to claims histories to newspaper or Web clippings pertaining to the star. With that information, and the medical exam and affidavit a star must complete some 30 days before the cameras roll, firms are able to assess the risk.

Advocating on behalf of the production companies are insurance brokerage firms, a similarly small cadre, which include AON/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services and D.R. Reiff & Associates. Often brought on board before any actor is ever hired, the role of these companies is to compile a list of what they believe are necessary coverages associated with the film. After the insurance carriers quote their terms and conditions for those risks, the brokerage firm selects and recommends the best proposal to the production company.

So while Wilson's example may be garnering greater media attention than troubles past, his behavior, and the insurance implication it carries, is nothing new. From Robert Downey Jr. to Courtney Love to the more recent Lindsay Lohan, underwriting companies have long been feasting on Hollywood's wayward.

The way Ross Miller, a partner with New York-based insurance brokerage firm D.R. Reiff sees it, no actor is actually uninsurable. Or that's what he'd like to believe, since it's his job is to find underwriters to take on the risk that stars pose. "If a studio wants something, or somebody has enough money to throw at a project, then they will make it work," he says.

Brian Kingman, the director of strategic account management at AON/Albert G. Ruben Insurance, agrees: "If you've got enough time, talent and money, anything is insurable."

The reality is this: While the conditions for hiring errant stars may be unappealing--too expensive or too risky--it is almost always possible.

"Some people like to declare [trouble-prone stars] uninsurable, but I think that's way too easy an answer," says Joe Finnegan, vice president of entertainment at Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, the film industry's leading underwriter. Instead, he says it's companies like his that look to find solutions for the production companies. After all: no insurance, no film--or not with the star of choice, anyway.

More often than not, those solutions entail higher deductibles. Miller says production companies are often looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars as opposed to a typical deductible, which can range from $25,000 and $100,000, depending on the movie.

And while most underwriting experts hesitate to provide exact figures--they vary greatly depending on the picture's budget, a star's past, etc.--insurance rates for these troubled types can range from 85 cents to $3 for every $100 of a film's production budget.

The stars can also be asked to put their salary in escrow, making them personally accountable for any losses if their actions were to cause production delays. And if the troubles are drug-related, regular testing can also be required, and chaperones, or "minders," as they're called in the business, can be placed on set to ensure a star doesn't slip up.

Now, whether the star is worth all of this is a question the movie maker must weigh heavily. While that star's record is a critical piece to consider, the box-office potential of the film is worth factoring in as well. As in, are we dealing with The Life Aquatic or Wedding Crashers?