IA Magazine: NewsViews

My husband and I recently saw the new movie “Thin Ice” with Greg Kinnear (the “unwilling accomplice”), Billy Crudup (the “paranoid ex-con”) and Alan Arkin (the “unsuspecting target”). Entering the theater, we knew the movie was a comedy and that the main character was an insurance agent. I thought: “Maybe, finally, a movie that will show some of the true, humorous stories that happen in the offices and lives of agents.”

As the movie unfolded, I began to whisper to my husband: “This is not funny and looks like an awful depiction of the local independent agent.” By the time the movie was halfway through, I whispered, a bit louder this time, telling my husband he better hold me back because I was ready to jump out of my seat and tell the audience that this movie is a bunch of baloney. I wanted to stand up and shout that insurance agents are honest and caring and that we bend over backwards to help customers and try to do our best for them.

The movie turned out to be about a slick insurance agent, Mickey (Kinnear), who lives in Wisconsin, skirts the edges of ethical behavior and is looking to escape the cold. While at an insurance agent convention, he spies a producer talking to his boss about how much new business he's bringing in. Mickey steals the producer by making him an offer he can't refuse. Then, when the producer is away, Mickey takes over the producer's homeowners insurance prospect, binds the account, does not tell the producer and keeps the commission.

Mickey then discovers the homeowner has a rare violin that may be worth millions of dollars. Mickey tells him to get it appraised and adds a $1-million insurance floater to the policy. Mickey sneaks into the house, replaces the violin with a fake one and tries to sell the authentic one.

The homeowner, an old man played by Arkin, tells Mickey he wants to sell the violin. When the old man tries to sell it, he is told it's a fake and makes an insurance claim for theft. But the whole thing is a con game, unbeknownst to Mickey, the insurance agent. Mickey is conned by Arkin and Crudup’s character, Randy, who went to the convention to find a greedy, predatory insurance agent unscrupulous enough to take the fake bait. In the end, Mickey is hoisted with his own petard and falls victim himself to the criminals.

Just one Hollywood movie like this can have a negative impact on the reputation of the insurance industry and, in particular, insurance agents. All the advertising in the world is not as effective as a movie, for better or worse.

Hollywood likes the insurance industry—but only as a convenient place to find villains. The valuable products, attentive agents and steady claims payments from the insurance industry that work everywhere in the United States just don’t cut it as script material to the people who sit in director’s chairs. Remember 1997’s “The Rainmaker” about “Great Benefit Insurance” and its scheme to deny coverage and boost profits?

It's about time Hollywood makes a movie about the funny and heartwarming things that happen in an agent’s office. We have enough talent in the industry to write a good movie script. We have enough Trusted Choice® agents with contacts in the entertainment industry.

I'm certain the independent agents and carrier executives reading this op-ed have plenty of funny and heartwarming stories to tell. Here’s my modest proposal: Share your good-agent stories with me. As an independent agent community, we can put together a great storyline for a Hollywood blockbuster. Nothing could do more to improve the image of insurance agents and the industry. After all, we do good things. Now we need to tell America about them.

Sharon Emek (sharon.emek@WAHVE.com) is an independent agent and founder and CEO of Work At Home Vintage Employees (www.WAHVE.com), which provides remote outsourced workers to independent agencies and other insurance firms. If you have a funny or heartwarming independent agency story to share, please reach out to Emek via email.