Force Majeure

What this is about

Storms, strikes, public restrictions, a location that burns down: events nobody caused still cost money once a production is running. The clause decides whether costs already incurred stay where they fell, get shared or are refunded, and whether obligations are postponed or ended. After the pandemic years many contracts name specific events instead of relying on a generic phrase, and insurers read that same wording closely. Treat the paragraph as a cost allocation rule rather than an escape hatch, and let a qualified lawyer check yours against the way you actually work.

A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.

What runs differently here

In planning terms, that means:

• The clause allocates costs already incurred; it is not a general release from the contract
• Generic wording ages badly, which is why many contracts now name the events they mean
• Insurance treatment and contract wording have to be read together, not one after the other

With TillyGen

TillyGen documents what was committed and when, which makes the cost picture clear the moment a shoot has to stop.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.