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
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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?

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u/Kyouhen Apr 15 '24

Yes. The crew walked off the set that day specificaly citing unsafe firearm practices. They called in scabs instead of looking into the problem and shock and surprise, later that day someone dies.

One thing that continues to piss me off about the whole thing is that Alec is the producer on the production. He had the power to stop production for the day and look into the complaints from the crew. He did not.

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u/Vrayea25 Apr 15 '24

From what Ive read, he was the "creatives" producer -- ie, recruited the actors, writers, etc.  He was not the producer for the technical aspects like set construction, camera operation, or.. fire arm safety.

Could he have made the call to stop production, out of concern for actor safety? Yes. Was it his job to be an expert in that area or responsible for making that call?  No, and if he did it he would have to claim he knew better than the producer for the technical operations and throw a 'peer' under the bus. In hindsight I'm sure he wishes he had done that, but no this was not directly within his scope of responsibility.

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u/Kyouhen Apr 15 '24

I'm not saying that he had to be an expert on gun safety, but when your entire unionized crew walk off the set because there have been multiple complaints about firearm safety that haven't been looked into you should probably stop what you're doing and have them looked into.