The accidental shooting that left Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead and director Joel Souza wounded may wind up changing the entertainment industry. According to The Hollywood Reporter, in the wake of the tragic incident, a group of cinematographers are demanding that “functional firearms” be banned from sets, for fear of another such catastrophe.
Over 200 cinematographers signed a letter disseminated on Tuesday, among them Rachel Morrison (Black Panther), Bradford Young (Arrival), and Dana Gonzales (Fargo).
“We are Halyna Hutchins’ fellow directors of photography and we vow to not let her death be in vain,” the letter read. “We are calling for immediate action from our union leadership, our producers and our lawmakers to affect unified change on our behalf: BAN all FUNCTIONAL FIREARMS on set.”
Until the industry obeys their demands, the signees vowed that none of them would “knowingly work on projects using FUNCTIONAL FIREARMS for filming purposes.” They added, “We won’t sit back and wait for the industry to change. We have a duty to effect change within the industry ourselves.”
There’s already change afoot in the industry. Days after the accident, The Rookie, the cop show starring Nathan Fillion, banned “live” weapons from their set. Actor/director Olivia Wilde and performer Holland Taylor both advocated for a ban on “real firearms.”
In the nearly two weeks after the incident, one harrowing revelation after another has emerged. Crew members have admitted to not thoroughly checking the deadly prop gun and confessed they didn’t know where the live rounds came from. Meanwhile, star Alec Baldwin, who wound up unwittingly pulling the trigger of a prop weapon containing ammo, has spoken about how Hutchins was his “friend.”
(Via THR)
Source: https://uproxx.com/movies/rust-cinematographers-ban-functional-firearms-sets/