As more details emerge, the accidental shooting by actor Alec Baldwin last week on the set of the movie “Rust” was rife with problems and an accident waiting to happen.
Entertainment
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured late last week when actor Alec Baldwin accidentally fired a gun he believed was merely a prop while filming a movie in New Mexico. Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in which he draws a revolver from his holster and points it at the camera when the gun discharged real bullets. Although the shooting has been ruled an accident by authorities — and actor/producer Alec Baldwin is understandably distraught — new details reveal that problems on the set and with members of the crew led to the eventual outcome.
“Rust” assistant director David Halls, who handed Alec Baldwin the gun and told him it was a “cold revolver” (meaning it didn’t hold any bullets) was fired from another movie set in 2019 after a gun “unexpectedly discharged” in what was detailed as unsafe conditions.
If that wasn’t enough, The LA Times is reporting that a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set of “Rust” prior to the fatal shooting in protest of working conditions.
The crew members, who did not wish to be identified for fear of industry reprisal, said they were concerned for the safety of crew and cast members on set before the gun misfired and quit on the spot in the interest of protecting their own safety.
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“He was a person with enough red flags that his career should have been done with already. Yet he was still out there, putting crew into outrageous situations.” – Anonymous crew member on David Halls
Additionally, The New York Times says that guns and bullets were sitting out unmarked and unsupervised on a table on the set of “Rust.” Traditionally, most movie sets involving firearms have a prop master watching the weapons at all times and the bullets are labeled for safety. Also, the person in charge of the guns was inexperienced and admitted she didn’t really know what she was doing.
“There should have been an investigation into what happened,” a crew member said. “There were no safety meetings. There was no assurance that it wouldn’t happen again. All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush.”
A colleague was so alarmed by the prop gun misfires that he sent a text message to the unit production manager. “We’ve now had 3 accidental discharges. This is super unsafe,” the message said.
“The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company,” Rust Movie Productions said in a statement. “Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down. We will continue to cooperate with the Santa Fe authorities in their investigation and offer mental health services to the cast and crew during this tragic time.”
Now, many questions remain: Why were guns and bullets left unattended on set? Why was the person in charge of the guns inexperienced? Why were real bullets on set at all instead of only blanks?
Perhaps if we knew the answers to those questions, Halyna Hutchins would still be alive today!
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WATCH EXPERT PROP MASTER EXPLAIN WHAT WENT WRONG:
New York Times: An assistant director grabbed one of three prop guns that the film’s armorer had set up outside on a gray cart, handed it to Mr. Baldwin, and, according to an affidavit signed by Detective Joel Cano of the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office, yelled “Cold Gun!” — which was supposed to indicate that the gun did not have any live rounds in it. When Mr. Baldwin fired the gun, law enforcement officials said, it struck and killed the film’s cinematographer and wounded its director — and raised new questions about firearms safety on film sets. The assistant director “did not know live rounds were in the prop-gun” when he gave it to Mr. Baldwin, according to the affidavit, which was made as part of a search warrant application. The affidavit did not specify what kind of ammunition the gun had been loaded with. The results were deadly:… Read more »