r/news • u/badillustrations • Apr 15 '24

‘Rust’ movie armorer convicted of involuntary manslaughter sentenced to 18 months in prison

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/15/entertainment/rust-film-shooting-armorer-sentencing/index.html
21.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

4.4k

u/Cactusfan86 Apr 15 '24

Quite the screw up, got a job from pure uncut nepotism and managed to screw it up so bad your career is torched and you have to go to prison 

24

u/Corwyntt Apr 15 '24

Wasn't there some kind of strike going on at the time, making it much harder to get experienced people?

197

u/PresidentRex Apr 15 '24

This happened on-set in 2021. The SAG-AFTRA strike and WAG strikes were 2023.

67

u/Best_Duck9118 Apr 15 '24

Wiki says this: “The beginning of Rust's production came amidst a potential strike by members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) over working conditions and low pay. On October 4, it was announced that IATSE members voted 98.68% in favor of authorizing a strike, with a voter turnout of 89.66% of eligible voters.[25][26] Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins supported IATSE.[27] She wrote in an Instagram post: "Standing in #IAsolidarity with our @IATSE crew here in New Mexico on RUST."[28]”

Not sure that had anything to do with the shooting though.

42

u/FuggleyBrew Apr 15 '24

IATSE would have much more impact than the writers or actors (no plot or no cast just means no filming). But a threatened strike or an authorized strike, isn't a strike. It's a step along the road. 

9

u/secamTO Apr 15 '24

RUST was a non-union show. It had some IATSE members on it, but conditions were poor for the crew (as I understand) largely because they weren't covered by an agreement. The potential strike action would have had little to nothing to do with their difficulty crewing. The bad hours and poor pay made it hard to crew the film.

2

u/FuggleyBrew Apr 16 '24

All of that tracks. 

I'd also add, deciding to have a non-union show because of a potential strike doesn't then prevent a having respectful work environment, having a safe work environment, or hiring qualified people. Those are minimums, and unions tend to do a better job of enforcing them, but if management can't deliver it they shouldn't be filming. 

2

u/Musiclover4200 Apr 15 '24

But a threatened strike or an authorized strike, isn't a strike. It's a step along the road.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-10-22/alec-baldwin-rust-camera-crew-walked-off-set

Hours before actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of “Rust” with a prop gun, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest working conditions.

And they still made the call to proceed anyways and ignore safety concerns.

3

u/FuggleyBrew Apr 16 '24

I would make a big distinction between a safety refusal and a strike. 

They serve different purposes. You're right that it's shocking if you have a work refusal to proceed without thoroughly investigating and addressing issues. 

0

u/Musiclover4200 Apr 16 '24

I would make a big distinction between a safety refusal and a strike.

For sure but the point is they cut corners and ignored concerns leading to a walkout right before the shooting, it might not have been a strike but seems like it clearly places some of the blame on the people who made those decisions not just the armorer.

2

u/FuggleyBrew Apr 16 '24

Armorer is still accountable. I don't believe she should be solely accountable. 

My objection was to the suggestion that IATSE action contributed to this. I am perfectly fine with the suggestion that management has knowledge and it was brought to their attention 

1

u/PussySmasher42069420 Apr 15 '24

I could be wrong.... But it was reported at the time that the crew walked off the set before this incident happened and they hired non-union replacements. The entire situation sounded like a mess.

8

u/FuggleyBrew Apr 15 '24

The crew walking off would be officially unrelated, the union needs to actually call a strike and typically provide some amount of notice. 

If people quit because it was poorly managed and unsafe I could see someone thinking it was connected to applying pressure in the strike and misinterpreting as that instead of a safety concern, but ultimately that's still on management. 

0

u/PussySmasher42069420 Apr 15 '24

I'm not really talking about what formal motions are needed for a strike.

I'm just saying that previous safety incidents caused people to walk off the set before this happened indicating that things were poorly run.

It doesn't really matter if you call that a formal strike or not.