‘Rust’ Production Appeals Fine for Cinematographer’s Death

The production company behind the movie “Rust” on Monday appealed against a fine issued by New Mexico state regulators, which said the production resulted in a shooting death due to “a clear indifference to the known dangers associated with the use of firearms on set.” The cinematographer of the movie is Halyna Hutchins.

Rust Movie Productions, LLC said on Monday it did not “intentionally” violate any security protocols and in fact enforced all applicable security protocols. The producers also denied that the film’s battleship in charge of weapons was overloaded with other duties. As his lawyers claim.

Last month, the state fined the construction company The maximum fine allowed – $136,793 – claimed that the company was indifferent to firearm safety hazards. In a report, the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, affiliated with the New Mexico Department of the Environment, said the production did not respond appropriately when two inappropriate gun discharges containing empty shells were on set, and the production did not properly hold safety meetings or distribute safety bulletins. .

In a filing to the agency, the production company’s lawyers wrote that the evictions were “appropriately handled”, including safety briefings for the cast and crew, and said none of the evictions involved violations of firearm safety protocols. “Rust” deputy directors were instructed to hold safety meetings on days when firearms would be used, the file said.

“Actually, there was a safety meeting on the morning of the incident,” he said.

On October 21, while actor Alec Baldwin was practicing with an old-fashioned handgun, he was told it contained no real ammunition when the gun fired a bullet that killed Ms. Hutchins and injured the film’s director, Joel Souza. Mr. Baldwin asked for protection is exempt from financial responsibility in legal disputes arising from the event.

The New Mexico agency also accused the production of “not being sure that the use of deadly weapons met the time and effort needed to keep the cast and crew safe,” citing the allegations of the film’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, in its report. said that her extra duties as a stage assistant sometimes distracted her from her job overseeing firearms on set. The agency also said that the production did not give its personnel sufficient time to inspect the ammunition to ensure that no live bullets were found.

The production company denied that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was overloaded, writing that armor duties “always took precedence” over support duties and that she was given ample time to inspect the ammunition, according to her filings.