The death of Halyna Hutchins is devastating news. I cannot even imagine the trauma of everyone who was there, who witnessed it. Horror.
Hutchins was just getting started.
A graduate of AFI – just 6 years ago! – and part of the inaugural class of the Fox DP lab for women cinematographers (just 8 people), Hutchins hailed from the Ukraine, and grew up on a military base above the Arctic circle, surrounded by obsolete Soviet nuclear warheads and etc. She started out in documentary.
She worked hard to get where she was – in her career, and geographically – a long long way from the Arctic Circle. Her Instagram feed is a testament to her joy and enthusiasm in being a part of this crazy business, loving the sunsets, the lights, the location scouting, the camaraderie and collaboration.
After the tragedies of Jon Erik Hexum and Brandon Lee – and all of the safety protocols put in place afterwards – this should not have happened. My heart goes out to her family and friends and everyone who was there when it happened, and to Alec Baldwin who must be shattered.
Hutchins was DP on last year’s Archenemy as well as Rust, two typically male-dominated genre films (superhero/Western). She was quietly breaking down barriers by doing good work. American Cinematographer magazine named her a ‘rising star’ in 2019.
She was a valued collaborator. Listen to the tributes from the actors and directors who worked with her. They speak of her dedication, sensitivity, enthusiasm and talent. The DP works closely with everyone: director, actors, production designer, set decoration … everyone. It’s a huge job, requiring intersection and collaboration with every department involved in making a movie. (Stay away from the appalling NY Times piece about her death which ends in a litany of Alec Baldwin’s problems in the past, as though this was somehow deliberate on his part. Disgusting.) I know so many people have been affected by this, and I hope there are counselors on the scene, but I am thinking in particular of Jensen Ackles, who just joined the cast, and who was so excited about this opportunity, his first film in years. Trauma. All of them. They will need care and support.
I send out prayers to director Joel Souza who was also injured and is currently in the hospital. The three of them, Souza, Baldwin and Hutchins, were probably in a huddle of collaboration when this happened.
I know about the safety protocols in re: guns on set. My cousin’s husband, a retired LAPD police officer, was a weapons supervisor on various sets for years. I know how gun safety on set works and how careful the “gun people” are in terms of weapons. They take their job very very seriously, for good reason. Something broke down here in that process and it’s just devastating.
RIP Halyna. This should not have happened.
the details that are starting to emerge paint an appalling and infuriating picture; what a terrible and avoidable tragedy. I hope everyone who needs support is getting it right now. Such a horrid, horrid loss.
Jessie – it’s so interesting and strange that just last week Jensen basically laid out how improperly run this set was in terms of guns – in his casual comments at the convention! I’m sure you’ve heard about it – it was picked up by “the wires” and he was even trending yesterday – for a real reason, not a “we are still mad about the finale” reason. It’s tragic because – he could tell, with his experience, that this was not as professional as it should be. He told it in a joking way but all the information was there.
It’s just terrible.
I don’t think you can tell much from Jensen’s story about how they treated guns on set. He told a funny story about how he pretended not to have experience with guns. He told very briefly about how she showed him how to handle the gun but it wasn’t the point of his story, he didn’t talk about gun safety, so it could have taken longer in reality.
Obviously, they hadn’t followed the protocols about handling guns on set but I don’t think you can learn this from an anecdote about a prank he pulled.
This is such a horrible accident. My heart break for everyone there, Halyna Hutchins and her family, Alec Baldwin which I don’t know how one can recover from something like this, and the rest of the cast and crew that witnessed this terrible event. So, so sad.
I can tell a lot from Jensen’s story, actually. I’m not blaming him, I’m saying it’s interesting that just 5 or 6 days before this happened, he gives a long answer about guns on set. It’s all relevant. I’m glad he told that story – with all the talk of gun protocols in the past few days, he really knows his stuff – and the fact that the person who handed him the gun didn’t know his experience speaks volumes about the corners that were being cut. Like I said, my cousin’s husband is a weapons supervisor and he knows each and every person who has to handle a gun on set – he knows their experience – if they have no experience, then he trains them at the gun range so they can feel comfortable – he is fully aware of all of it. This person not knowing Jensen’s long experience with guns on Supernatural is unprofessional. JENSEN should have been the armorer, considering his experience with guns. and that was one of my takeaways from the story he told, which is 100% relevant to this tragedy.
and yeah I keep thinking about Baldwin and everyone who was there and witnessed it. The devastation must be beyond words. It’s just tragic and my heart breaks too.
I didn’t think you blame him, sorry if it came of that way.
I saw the story as just about a prank he played, the part about the gun training sound like he skimmed through it, it can be that he omitted parts of it. He did mention that she taught him how to check the gun is safe.
Just how I took it, I could be wrong. The stories from the set and obviously the tragic accident clearly show that the people in charge weren’t treating safety as the most important thing, to say the least. Such a nightmare ☹
I also wasn’t aware that they were actually filming a scene – and he was pointing the gun at the camera – I think it was a close-up of the gun barrel. Horrifying.
This is the most detailed and actually REPORTED story I’ve seen. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-10-23/alec-baldwin-shooting-assistant-director-dave-halls
I had seen that Jensen’s name was getting dragged into it sadly — I’m not experienced enough to hear all the red flags in that anecdote but I did think it was weird at the time that the armorer didn’t know his background — you would expect there to be some research! And it also seems suspect in retrospect that the role opened up in this way at the last minute. Evidently, in some ways, a very unhappy set.
The details in that story are heartbreaking and damning and raise even more questions. What a terrible thing.
It seems like it all comes down to the AD, and what the heck was the AD doing that allowed this to happen. This isn’t just one of those unavoidable errors, you know?
and yeah, that LA Times article is interesting in re: how rushed they were, and how everyone felt the rush of that set – racing through the day and obviously cutting corners. Plus the walkout.
I’m most curious now about the AD. The armorer situation is also sketchy. How on earth did that gun even get there with ammo in it. Ugh it is so infuriating.
More on the AD. It’s really bad. https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/24/entertainment/rust-shooting-assistant-director-halls-complaints/index.html
Jesus that is horrifying. Long term open and vocal dismissiveness and disregard of core principles of set safety? How on earth was he still working?!?! What could he bring to a production that was worth the risk when there were clear and consistent signals something wasn’t right (complaints, misfires)? Awful.
// How on earth was he still working?!? //
This is the most dismaying part. In any normal company with a normal HR department he would hopefully have been shown the door. Looks, too, like he was trying to get around the union – not sure I understand the nuts and bolts of that – but I wonder about that backstory.
How many people need to complain? But the thing is … where do you even complain TO? Producers? The company? The whole thing is so precarious and everyone is afraid of losing their job.
It’s terrible that a tragedy might bring about change – but if you think about it, the Sarah Jones thing didn’t bring about meaningful change. It’s so upsetting.
I didn’t ee the NYT story. But the HEADLINE of the Newsmax story (which I SURELY did not read) starts “Rageaholic Alec Baldwin shoots…”
It’s disgusting.