I’ve made two films that I am most proud of. “Dr. Ded Bug”, my film school thesis project (10 minutes), and “Interviewing Norman” my feature length film (shot on 16mm). Both times, I ended up in the emergency room because of an accident on the set (luckily I was not the unlucky one in either accident). The first time, my lead actor was going to show me how he was going to slide on the floor. Of course we had no stunt doubles, it being a student film and all. The main character (a chef) was chasing a cockroach in a restaurant kitchen and had to “dive” and slide across the floor trying to nab the bug. My Assistant Director got one of those trash can dollies, so while I was rehearsing with the other actors they decided to go down the hall and “practice” jumping on the trash dolly and rolling down the hall at 15 mph. Sounds safe, huh? After a few goes, the actor decided to try it “just one more time” and ended up scraping his chin on the floor pretty badly. He wasn’t even phased as he stood up and looked at me and my A.D. and blurted out with wide-eyes, “How was that?” Production was shut down for the day and he got 9 stitches.
Years later, I finally got the means to make my first feature film, “Interviewing Norman”. One of the actors was climbing down a hill carrying a long branch, waving it in the air as he came down… yeah… here it comes… My D.P. was shooting him – backing up as he came down the hill – and… stick in the eye. Yeah. That’s what I said. STICK IN THE EYE OF MY D.P. Luckily it was only a scratch, and he was back behind the camera the next day.
What do these experiences tell me? Make sure you have insurance (at least Worker’s Comp) before you are in production. Luckily, both times I had Workers Comp. My film school (and probably most reputable ones) require Workers Comp when making a student production. The second time around, my producer insisted on it. So even if you are on a $10,000 film, do yourself a favor and spend the $100 it costs to get Workers Comp. You won’t regret it.
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