Midnight Rider in jeopardy over insurance crisis

Bosses of the Allman Brothers biopic Midnight Rider fear the project may have to be abandoned unless insurance company officials agree to honour their policy. Shooting on the film, based on veteran rocker Gregg Allman’s autobiography, halted after production assistant Sarah Jones was struck and killed by a train while working on location in February (14).
The biopic is still on hold while movie bosses battle legal issues and help with police investigations relating to director Randall Miller and producers Jody Savin and Jay Sedrish, who were all indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass last month (Jul14).
Officials at production company Film Allman are hoping to restart the project, but bosses at insurance firm New York Marine, who covered the original shoot, will no longer honour their policy when filming resumes so movie chiefs have filed a legal complaint.
The papers, lodged at the Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday (12Aug14), state, “This action arises from New York Marine’s bad faith refusal to honour its obligations to pay for losses incurred by Film Allman, its insured… Even worse, New York Marine unjustifiably has taken the position that the policy no longer will insure Midnight Rider on a forward-going basis and has threatened to cancel the policy altogether, thereby leaving Film Allman without any insurance coverage for the restarted production. As a result, Film Allman is now saddled with over $1.6 million in losses and the prospect of having to abandon Midnight Rider entirely in light of New York Marine’s stated intention of cancelling the film’s insurance policy.”
Bosses at Film Allman want at least $1.6 million (£941,200) in damages and ongoing insurance coverage.