Camera Crew Walked Off Movie Set In Protest Just Hours Before Alec Baldwin Shot And Killed Cinematographer
Details on how exactly Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins still aren’t public, but it’s clear this was entirely preventable, and crew members were sounding the alarm regarding safety conditions on set. Via Los Angeles Times:
Hours before actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of “Rust” with a prop gun, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest working conditions.
The cinematographer who was accidentally killed, Halyna Hutchins, had been advocating for safer conditions for her team, said one crew member who was on the set.
As the camera crew — members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — spent about an hour assembling their gear at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, several nonunion crew members showed up to replace them, the knowledgeable person said.
A member of the producer staff then ordered the union members to leave the set. She said if they didn’t leave, the producers would call security to remove them.
“Corners were being cut — and they brought in nonunion people so they could continue shooting,” the knowledgeable person said.
There were two misfires on the prop gun on Saturday and one the previous week, the person said, adding “there was a serious lack of safety meetings on this set.”
Massive, multi-million dollar lawsuits will undoubtedly be filed soon against the film’s production company, and maybe even Baldwin, too.
