Since October 2020, and to give a much-needed boost to the UK’s revered film and television production Industry, the Government unveiled a new £500million Film and TV Production Restart Scheme. In March 2021, it was announced the scheme will be extended to the end of December.
Updated 5 March 2021
The Film and TV Production Restart Scheme was designed to resume those filming and productions which were halted or delayed due to Covid-19. In the UK, the film and television production industry contributes over £12 billion each year to the Economy and supports more than 180,000 jobs. During the UK’s first lockdown, a lack of insurance to protect against future losses incurred from Covid-19 halted production across the industry.
The Restart Scheme sought to fill the gap left by productions’ standard insurance policies. It provides a guarantee to underwrite coronavirus-related losses for cast member and crew illnesses and filming delays or disruptions caused by the UK’s lockdown measures.
The Scheme is available to compensate productions after they have restarted. It will only cover costs incurred due to delays or abandonment as a result of Covid-19. For more information about the Scheme see here.
Qualifying productions and what to expect
Productions qualifying for the Scheme are those which:
- Commence filming before the end of the calendar year and who have coronavirus-related losses through to the end of June 2021. It will be possible to back date any future claims for eligible losses to 28 July 2020.
- Are made by companies where at least half of the production budget is spent in the UK.
Productions will also need to:
- Purchase insurance to cover non-coronavirus risks to ensure their production is adequately insured.
- Provide evidence that they cannot return to work because of a lack of insurance.
- Pay an appropriate excess when seeking to claim under the scheme.
- Pay an appropriate fee when joining the scheme.
The Government has indicated:
- Eligible productions will receive compensation for costs caused by coronavirus delays up to 20% of the production budget
- Abandonment of productions due to coronavirus will be covered up to 70% of the production budget, upon agreement with the Government that abandonment was necessary.
- There will be a cap on claims per production of £5m.
Comprehensive details about the scheme, its eligibility process and claims system can be found here.
Get in touch with our specialists
For more information contact our Film and TV Production specialist advisers – Steve Joberns, Stewart Jell and Gurvir Cheema.
