There’s been a lot of anger and tension across the entire industry recently. The IATSE almost went on strike this week. A lot of it has to do with how hard the crews have been getting pushed to make up the production backlog from the Covid-19 shutdowns. The film studios want a whole lot of content to throw on streaming services and they want it now.
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I hope Alec has very good lawyer.
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The assistant director of the western film “Rust” grabbed a prop pistol from a gray cart and handed it to the movie’s star, Alec Baldwin, shouting “cold gun!” — which was supposed to indicate that it did not contain any live rounds, and was safe to handle around the crew huddled by the camera.
But the weapon fired when Mr. Baldwin pulled the trigger a few minutes later, discharging a live projectile that hit the director, Joel Souza, in the shoulder and struck the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, in the chest, killing her.
…
The assistant director “did not know live rounds were in the prop gun,” Detective Joel Cano wrote in the affidavit.
The weapon was “set up” on the tray by the movie’s weapons specialist, or armorer, along with a Western-style gun belt used in the scene. Detective Cano did not say what the armorer told investigators who arrived at the Bonanza Creek resort, where the film was shooting.
Note that a live round is, in cinema parlance, a round that contains gunpowder, including a blank.
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I mean… of course he does. He’s Alec Baldwin… the props people are the ones who need to be worried.
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And perhaps the case for a long while. My first aerospace employer attracted many techs/mechs who once worked for film industry contractors. From what I learned back then, one had to do whatever the directors/producers required in order for one to have any chance for more work in the industry. This not only meant putting in many unpaid hours of accelerated support, but having to work under unsafe conditions. [See Twilight Zone: The Movie, Segment 1] And this from the NPR article: “When you are on set, dealing with creatives, and they are asking for certain circumstances, sometimes these demands are hard to say no to,” Williams said. “A lot of our industry is built on relationships, so sometimes people have to make questionable decisions.” I watch the bonus sections of films that interest me the most, and it’s always fascinating to witness the adoration and praise heaped on the directors and actors – their brilliance, their genius. Of course. All part of doing business.
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The creative genius of Dave Halls (Assistant Director), and Hannah Guitterez (Armorer) leaves something to be desired.
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Ezra is a NYC based theatre artist and teacher.
Why would a theatre artist be using a prop gun?
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I can already see how people are going to spin that as “unions are bad. Clearly it’s the work stoppage by union members that led to this” rather than “union workers would have done a better job”.
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AND “union member have great reasons for walking off the job.”
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This is a bit vague, is this referring to the article author or the theater people involved in the topic of the article
It just seems like a third hand perspective. It would be insane to use prop guns in live theatre, but film and television occasionally do use them, and have elaborate safety regimes around their use.
The regulations were adopted in 2003, so from a safety perspective it would be useful to know if the regulations are being followed, and if they reduced deaths or injury on the set.
Ah well, more work for non-unionized CGI outfits…
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From elsewhere on the net (not my personal story)
"Hi guys! I am a former member of local 480 and I had friends who know people who were on that set. Here are some things that I know for a fact that happened:
The producers were trying to rush the shoot, which was supposed to only take place from October 6 to October 21. It was represented as a tier 2, and thus was paying below-standard wages. However, it seems like it was a complete shitshow since no one had been paid yet, and they refused to pay for hotels in Santa Fe (which would have been a 10-minute drive away, I’ve worked at that ranch) and forced everyone to drive the hour from Albuquerque. The Armorer was an inexperienced 24-year-old daughter of another Union Armorer, this was her second show. The gun in question had misfired twice previously, and should have been removed from rotation as SOON as it misfired.
She had the loaded weapon on her cart, and the AD, IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF EVERY SAFETY STANDARD THERE IS, took the weapon off her cart without her knowing or clearing the weapon beforehand and giving it to Baldwin for rehearsal. In every set I’ve ever been on for rehearsal there’s always a plastic gun. The “real” weapons are not used until it’s time to shoot, and people are cleared from the fire zone. At least three people inspect the gun, and it does not leave the Armorer’s hands until it is time to film the scene. The fact that it was the AD who did this blows my ever-loving mind since they are in charge of set safety.
On top of all of this, there were no safety meetings. They violated COVID safety protocols left, right and center. And the union camera crew goddamn WALKED because of all the safety violations and instead of shutting down the production to investigate, the producers brought in scab labor to keep going. 6 hours later Hutchins was dead."
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See, that’s the sort of perspective that intrigues me. One of the replies to that comment mentions this incident in 2014.
Ms. Jones was killed while helping to prepare a shot that involved placing a bed across the tracks of a CSX railroad line near Doctortown, Ga., about 60 miles southwest of Savannah. After two trains passed, crew members on the film, a biopic about the rock musician Gregg Allman directed by Randall Miller, apparently believed they would have a safe interval to get the shot, for a dream sequence. But a third train appeared, moving at high speed through the set, killing Ms. Jones, injuring others, and nearly adding Mr. Miller to the victims.
The question of whether producers were on the tracks without permission from CSX is under examination, according to people connected with one of the various inquiries, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are incomplete. The inquiries, these people said, are also examining whether the railroad should have slowed or stopped the third train after the first two passed the gathered film crew — if it can be shown that railroad employees should have seen a potential for trouble.
but the reporter asks
These questions may also address a broader issue: Can, or should, independent movie productions, ranging from no-budget student films to star vehicles underwritten by state subsidies, be more closely policed for on-set safety?
Rust was budgeted at $7 million. The beancutters believed that this precluded a union crew, hotel rooms in Santa Fe, and every semblance of safety.
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By going cheap on production that 7 million is likely a total loss. Its doubtful the film will be completed.
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Judging from IMDB data, Baldwin’s production company has lost money on most of its film productions.
e.g. Crown Vic $3600000 budget, $3,868 worldwide gross.
Possibly exists solely to allow Baldwin insider access to film festivals, and for “passion projects”
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Nicholas Cage’s The Old Way
The most troubling incident occurred when Gutierrez-Reed allegedly loaded a gun on the ground where the area was filled with pebbles, then without properly checking the weapon, handed it to child actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong, both sources told The Daily Beast.
Concerned crew members intervened, demanding filming be stopped until Gutierrez-Reed had properly checked the firearm, the two sources said.
“She was reloading the gun on the ground, where there were pebbles and stuff. We didn’t see her check it, we didn’t know if something got in the barrel or not,” one source said, explaining the crew waited until she double checked the gun for barrel obstruction.
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