Producers of the indie western “Rust” are suspending production as sheriffs investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last week.
The film’s production company says in a statement: “As we go through this crisis, we have made the decision to wrap the set at least until the investigations are complete.”
In addition the film’s producers reiterate that they are conducting an internal review of safety protocols. In-person and virtual grief counselors for cast and crew members have also been arranged.
The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office has set a news conference regarding the investigation on Wednesday. The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau is also reportedly looking into the cast and can impose civil penalties for workplace accidents.
Hutchins’ father, ex-military man Anatoly Androsovych, tells UK outlet The Sun he doesn’t blame what happened on Baldwin but rather the film’s props team for handing Baldwin a loaded weapon.
Attention has turned toward both the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and first assistant director David Halls – the former responsible for firearms safety, the latter for safety issues overall on-set.
An affidavit on Friday (via The New York Times) reportedly indicates Halls handed one of a trio of prop guns from a nearby cart prepared by Gutierrez-Reed to Baldwin and shouted to the set the prop was a ‘cold gun’ that did not have any live rounds in it and was safe to fire.
In the wake of the incident, an online petition launched by filmmaker Bandar Albuliwi to ban real guns on film sets has raced past 23,000 signatories on Change.org. Calls to ban real firearms and ammunition on sets have also been growing within the industry over the weekend.
Eric Kripke, showrunner for Amazon Prime’s “The Boys,” tweeted out that there will be: “no more guns with blanks on any of my sets ever. We’ll use VFX muzzle flashes. Who’s with me?”
Source: Deadline, The Daily Mail
