'Resident Evil' stuntwoman wins lawsuit after on-set crash
Alice couldn't save this one, but production insurance may have.
The stuntwoman who suffered horrific injuries on-set of the 2016 film “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” won her legal battle against a company involved in a South African court last month.
While standing in for Milla Jovovich, star of the “Resident Evil” film franchise, U.K.-based Olivia Jackson was severely injured when her motorcycle collided with a crane-mounted camera on the movie’s Cape Town set. As a result of the collision, Jackson was in a coma for 17 days, suffered spinal fractures, broken ribs, punctured lungs, nerve damage, and had to have her left arm amputated above the elbow, said The Hollywood Reporter (THR).
The High Court in South Africa ruled that Jackson’s accident was a result of negligence on the part of Bickers Actions SA, a local company operating the camera and filming vehicle. The court also dismissed claims by the defendants that Jackson’s stunt-performing was to blame.
The judge stated that Jackson did not voluntarily assume the risk of the accident. Also, “she was unaware that director Paul W.S. Anderson had given the uninsured driver, [Roland Melville with Bickers Actions], instructions to decrease the safety margin from the rehearsal run to the incident run in order to get a more exciting shot,” said THR.
Jackson initially filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against the movie’s producers, Anderson and Jeremy Bolt, and their production companies, alleging their actions caused her horrific injuries. However, that case was dismissed.
The importance of production insurance
Film and TV insurance offers necessary protection against liability claims for producers, directors, crew, production gear and filming locations. However, most production insurance packages exclude coverage for stunts because insurers consider the risk to be too unpredictable, according to Film Emporium, a brokerage specializing in film productions and special events. But there is specialized stunt insurance coverage that does insure such performances, including aerial scenes, falls, fight scenes, recreational vehicles, water scenes, weapons, precision driving, and animals.
If stunts are part of a production, filmmakers must declare them, in detail, on polices or risk jeopardizing their entire insurance coverage, says a broker specializing in production insurance.
Insurance can even cover the most tragic of production incidents.
At the end of 2019, the estate of a stuntman who died after an accident on the set of “The Walking Dead” was awarded $8.6 million. Although AMC Networks were found to not be negligent in the stuntman’s death, the $8.6 million was awarded as civil damages. The Networks’ insurance reportedly covered the losses.
It is uncertain whether insurance was in place for the production of “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.”
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