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lawandcrime.com: The armorer and props assistant for the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” on Wednesday evening filed a civil lawsuit against a New Mexico prop supplier who allegedly provided the ammunition that played a role in the film’s deadly Oct. 21, 2021 on-set shooting.
3 comments:
Olivia Curry
said...
This article has very thorough coverage of the events leading up to the shooting and what happened afterwards. What seems very strange is the sudden appearance of the full box of ammo and Sarah Zachry’s lack of explanation of where it came from, especially when it was just days after she had an accidental/negligent discharge of a weapon on set. Then the fact that she and Nicole were tasked with watching the guns for just a few minutes and still walked away and left them unattended. The article mentioned that another huge contributing factor was the hectic atmosphere on set, where things were rushed and not abiding by all the necessary procedures to prevent this type of tragedy. Not only were unqualified people handing dangerous props, these same people were working within an environment which served to amplify their issues. It seems there needs to be a thorough investigation into exactly where the ammo came from and who handled it.
This article is extremely extensive in terms of breaking down every detail of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s lawsuit against Seth Kenney and PDQ Arm and Prop LLC for being the ones responsible for the live ammunition on set of Alec Baldwin’s tragedy-ridden film Rust. And while it was an immense amount of new information, to be quite honest, it still seems as if both Gutierrez-Reed and Kenney are still focused on deflecting blame and pointing fingers rather than taking accountability for the irresponsibility of the whole of production the day of Halyna Hutchins’ death. There is far less meaning in accusing one another than enforcing stricter safety protocols and practices on sets that deal with such dangerous props and weapons moving further; the larger problem is not singling out a single person to blame but rather how the film industry handles and ensures safety when it comes to working with firearms and ammunition.
Reading the details of the case, this lawsuit seems like nothing more but an attempt to deflect blame from someone who has a pretty cut and dry case against them. Gutierrez Reed, as the film’s armorer, is ultimately responsible for any firearms and ammunition on set. Not only is she supposed to check it herself, but to assume anyone else on the set is capable of doing her highly specialized work that she trained years to do, would be extremely irresponsible. Actors’ responsibilities are to perform and focus on their craft. Without any training, they have to be able to assume that the props handed to them are props. Beyond Gutierrez Reed’s oversights, it seems the entire production bears a responsibility for how many corners were cut throughout the process. A number of crew members had walked off set due to the poor working conditions and pay, only to be replaced with non-Union workers with little to no experience. That wasn’t even the first time the gun had discharged on set (it had multiple times previously). It seems like this is both an individual failure caused by irresponsible individuals, and a systemic failure caused by cost-cutting and cheapness on the part of the producers.
3 comments:
This article has very thorough coverage of the events leading up to the shooting and what happened afterwards. What seems very strange is the sudden appearance of the full box of ammo and Sarah Zachry’s lack of explanation of where it came from, especially when it was just days after she had an accidental/negligent discharge of a weapon on set. Then the fact that she and Nicole were tasked with watching the guns for just a few minutes and still walked away and left them unattended. The article mentioned that another huge contributing factor was the hectic atmosphere on set, where things were rushed and not abiding by all the necessary procedures to prevent this type of tragedy. Not only were unqualified people handing dangerous props, these same people were working within an environment which served to amplify their issues. It seems there needs to be a thorough investigation into exactly where the ammo came from and who handled it.
This article is extremely extensive in terms of breaking down every detail of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s lawsuit against Seth Kenney and PDQ Arm and Prop LLC for being the ones responsible for the live ammunition on set of Alec Baldwin’s tragedy-ridden film Rust. And while it was an immense amount of new information, to be quite honest, it still seems as if both Gutierrez-Reed and Kenney are still focused on deflecting blame and pointing fingers rather than taking accountability for the irresponsibility of the whole of production the day of Halyna Hutchins’ death. There is far less meaning in accusing one another than enforcing stricter safety protocols and practices on sets that deal with such dangerous props and weapons moving further; the larger problem is not singling out a single person to blame but rather how the film industry handles and ensures safety when it comes to working with firearms and ammunition.
Reading the details of the case, this lawsuit seems like nothing more but an attempt to deflect blame from someone who has a pretty cut and dry case against them. Gutierrez Reed, as the film’s armorer, is ultimately responsible for any firearms and ammunition on set. Not only is she supposed to check it herself, but to assume anyone else on the set is capable of doing her highly specialized work that she trained years to do, would be extremely irresponsible. Actors’ responsibilities are to perform and focus on their craft. Without any training, they have to be able to assume that the props handed to them are props. Beyond Gutierrez Reed’s oversights, it seems the entire production bears a responsibility for how many corners were cut throughout the process. A number of crew members had walked off set due to the poor working conditions and pay, only to be replaced with non-Union workers with little to no experience. That wasn’t even the first time the gun had discharged on set (it had multiple times previously). It seems like this is both an individual failure caused by irresponsible individuals, and a systemic failure caused by cost-cutting and cheapness on the part of the producers.
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