Losing a day’s shooting if a star fails to turn up can cost film makers almost £200,000. Studios insure performers against injury and even death to cover these huge sums. The death of Glee actor Cory Monteith, 31, from an overdose last month has exposed the spiralling sums studios and networks are having to pay.
Yesterday Los Angeles-based media analyst Mike Raia revealed: “Premiums have been skyrocketing and Corey’s sad case will push them even higher. On a big budget movie, the cost of premiums can stretch well into millions of dollars.
“Celebrities known to indulge in a party lifestyle are becoming virtually uninsurable.”
Prior to Monteith’s death, the cost to Fox TV of insuring him had already doubled after he admitted his heroin problem. A senior source on the set of TV hit Glee confirmed: “Somehow, Cory managed to function despite his habit and rarely missed a day but when news leaked that he was in rehab, the price of insuring him went up a little over 100 per cent.”
Though Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr, 48, has bounced back, he was considered “untouchable” by major studios following drug arrests for cocaine and heroin possession.
Brian Kingman, boss of film insurance brokerage Gallagher Entertainment, said: “Before I can get companies like Lloyd’s of London to underwrite a policy, stars face medical exams and questionnaires that ask them everything, from how often they fly to whether they drink or do drugs. Most are honest as they have to swear an affidavit and the insurer can sue them if they lie.”