Paramount’s Covid Safety Insurance Win Gives Film Industry Hope

Paramount Global’s recent Covid-19 insurance win against a W.R. Berkley unit lays out a roadmap for other film and TV production companies seeking reimbursement for pandemic safety costs.

Formerly known as ViacomCBS, Paramount won a California federal court ruling that its insurer, Great Divide Insurance, must indemnify it for measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 during a TV production.

Those costs, including daily testing and the creation of additional spaces to facilitate social distancing, represent a meaningful chunk of pandemic-related expenses the company incurred during filming.

The ruling, which applies to the filming of the Nickelodeon show “Goldie’s ...