After the tragic death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, last October on the set of Rust, several voices have reported negligence on the set. What is being refuted today in an open letter by part of the technical team.
On October 21, an accidental shooting of Alec Baldwin on the set of the western Rust claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Since then, the actor but also the producer of the project has been accused of negligence in the use of firearms on the set. Complaints have even been filed against him.
It was also revealed shortly after the tragedy, that members of the technical team had resigned shortly before the fatal shot, in particular because of a lack of security on the set. But other people who worked on that shoot tell a whole different story in a letter posted by Alec Baldwin on Instagram.
The 25 members of the film crew who signed this message “feel that the public narrative surrounding the tragedy in (their) workplace is inadequate and wish to express a more accurate account of (their) experience“They also state that the letter was not.”endorsed or influenced in any way by producers“. It reads in particular:
Descriptions of Rust as a chaotic, dangerous and exploitative workplace are false and distract from what matters most: the memory of Halyna Hutchins, and the need to find modern alternatives to the industry’s outdated practices in firearms and security.
But also : “Unfortunately, in the film industry it’s common to work on unprofessional or hectic productions to gain experience and credit. Many of us have worked on these types of productions. Rust was not one of them. Rust was professional. We recognize that no plateau is perfect, and like any production Rust had some shiny areas and some more difficult areas.”
Two visions are therefore clearly opposed on the working conditions on the Rust set: that of this group of people who also evoke a shoot full of “laughter and optimism“, and that of other collaborators including the script writer Mamie Mitchell who filed a complaint against Alec Baldwin for”aggression“,”intentional infliction of emotional distress” and “deliberate infliction of damage“.
It is now up to investigators from the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office to establish the truth and find out how someone may have died on this set.
