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A very bad day in GA


S Harber

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<<Usually all that it takes to be hired for these out-of-state movie jobs is to know the right person and grease the palm of the I.A. business rep. >>

 

this i find incredible - or maybe not so much. after all, who says everyone in the USA is honest and wont take a buck from under the table? eventually what i feel about this? I feel very sad if this is actually happening out there... 

 

-vin

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Depending on whether you read Daily Variety, http://variety.com/2014/film/news/gravity-frozen-game-of-thrones-top-cinema-audio-society-awards-1201117161/ or The Hollywood Reporter, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/gravity-tops-sound-mixers-awards-680866?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_acouch our good friend Richard Lightstone, CAS, who was there and was, apparently involved in the tragedy is or was injured and or hospitalized along with some or all of his crew.

He has sent out word that they are generally OK, and I'm sure when the time is appropriate, they will share whatever information they can,considering the on-going investigation.  We do love to play the blame game, and in the end, I'm sure there will be plenty of blame to go around...

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I'd be preaching to the choir here regarding safety and speaking out. However, if you are a person that is too scared about how production might view your comments but know the situation isn't right, I'd urge you to take any safety concern, no matter how small, to the shop steward.

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Depending on whether you read Daily Variety, http://variety.com/2014/film/news/gravity-frozen-game-of-thrones-top-cinema-audio-society-awards-1201117161/ or The Hollywood Reporter, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/gravity-tops-sound-mixers-awards-680866?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_acouch our good friend Richard Lightstone, CAS, who was there and was, apparently involved in the tragedy is or was injured and or hospitalized along with some or all of his crew.

He has sent out word that they are generally OK, and I'm sure when the time is appropriate, they will share whatever information they can,considering the on-going investigation.  We do love to play the blame game, and in the end, I'm sure there will be plenty of blame to go around...

 

Thanks for the update.

 

All our best wishes for Richard and his crew.

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A Hollywood Reporter article on the incident is linked below.

 

They mention Richard Lightstone and his crew:  "Additionally, sound mixer Richard Lightstone and his production sound team were "banged up" but are OK. Lightstone is a past president of Cinema Audio Society, which held its annual awards on Saturday, where society president David E. Fluhr made the announcement."

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-was-denied-permission-682670

 

It doesn't look too good for the producers who, if this article is correct, were denied permission to film on the tracks.

 

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 I have put my self in dangerous but controlled environment "The tunnels under Lake Mead" surrounded by professionals. Every day It was required to take 45 minutes safety class. 

On the other hand I have been asked to put myself in dangerous "uncontrolled" situation plenty of times. I always refused. Got fired once. Plenty of times people thought I am being a jerk. 

JUST SAY NO. 

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another article suggesting reporting the producers were denied permission to film on the tracks...

The sheriff’s office of Wayne County, Ga., released an incident report that suggests the production company did not have permission from CSX to shoot a scene on a train trestle and in fact may have been denied such clearance.

In the incident report, released  to local reporters on Monday, Wayne County Sheriff Sergeant Ben Robertson writes that he witnessed a conversation between executive producer Jay Sedrish and and employee of CSX. “In my presence, Mr. Sedrish was asked by an employee of CSX if he had permission to be on the trestle or tracks and Mr. Sedrish replied, ‘That’s complicated.’

“According to the CSX employee, the production company had previously been denied permission to film on the trestle, and there was electronic correspondence to verify that fact
,”

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midnight-rider-fatality-sherrif-report-says-csx-denied-permission-for-shooting-1201119180/

Edited by studiomprd
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A Hollywood Reporter article on the incident is linked below.

 

They mention Richard Lightstone and his crew:  "Additionally, sound mixer Richard Lightstone and his production sound team were "banged up" but are OK. Lightstone is a past president of Cinema Audio Society, which held its annual awards on Saturday, where society president David E. Fluhr made the announcement."

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-was-denied-permission-682670

 

It doesn't look too good for the producers who, if this article is correct, were denied permission to film on the tracks.

If that in fact is true... He is DONE... and further, should do TIME!!... That's criminal...

 

 He is not even smart enough to stop talking and get some legal assistance.... opening his mouth further does his situation no good whatsoever..   " thats complicated"  he says?   any answer other than "yes we had permission" means shut up... what a....  **** ** ****...

 

 Filming in an empty lot without permission is wrong, but not dangerous.... Filming on the Railroad tracks without permission?... I can't even imagine doing something like that... with other peoples lives at stake... I really can't believe someone would do that...  Other people must of known about the no permission thing, they too will have to answer to it...

What a shame..

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Who knew is clearly the issue. And further to that, did they lie to the crew to get them on the track.

 

There doesn't have to be a lie, all that has to take place is an AD saying, "next shot is on the track"  and the un-experienced, ever too eager to please crew follows those word to their death.

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AFMY: " Other people must of known about the no permission thing "

“According to the CSX employee, the production company had previously been denied permission to film on the trestle, and there was electronic correspondence to verify that fact,” Robertson wrote.... According to the incident report, the e-mail was between location manager Charlie Baxter and CSX employee Carla Groleau.

 

criminal charges would seem like a very real probability, as well as OSHA actions and civil suits.

like the Twilight Zone... and others.

and Mirror is right: " There doesn't have to be a lie, all that has to take place is an AD saying, "next shot is on the track" "  as crew folks, all to usually, "assume" that everything is in order...  Maybe even the AD thought is was approved

Edited by studiomprd
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There doesn't have to be a lie, all that has to take place is an AD saying, "next shot is on the track"  and the un-experienced, ever too eager to please crew follows those word to their death.

   The problem is, the film worker is trying their best to do the best job possible, at least the good ones... and in doing so relies on those making the decisions to be doing their job.. the best way possible... It is this reliance on those putting things together that created the problem, because of that, those injured had to suffer.  Everyone THOUGHT that of course protocol had been followed, permits and such were in order and safety precautions were all in FULL effect.... It is strange to say that they simply followed instructions to" their death"..  They did what they do believing things were in order... there is a bit of a difference... not much, but if it were not on a professional set, I would say "followed".

 Film crews  doing dangerous things on set seldom spell out every detail... a brief meeting mostly, but most of us like in this accident take for granted that those in "control" have thought this through and did what was necessary to protect folks from harm..

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Production suspended...

Cameras were rolling as the train approached the bridge. The digital camera has been impounded as evidence by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Dept.

There is dispute about whether railroad CSX gave permission to “Midnight Rider” to be on its property, but it appears the production did not follow the safety procedures typical of a film shoot that has the cooperation of the railroad. The Sheriff’s office is conducting a homicide investigation. Personnel from “Midnight Rider” could face criminal charges on numerous fronts even aside from Jones’s death, including putting an obstruction on a railroad line and criminal trespass.

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midnight-rider-suspends-production-after-fatal-train-accident-exclusive-1201121666/

 

While he may not wish to, or be able to talk about it,  I'm sure many of us would appreciate a word from our good friend Richard, when he is able, that the sound crew is OK...

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At least one person stood up and asked.

CrewC

 

 

Exactly the same thing happened with me years ago. The very same night the girl died on the tracks, the entire crew was summoned to appear for a 'meeting' at the production office and exactly this was said 'XXX would have wanted us to complete the film'. 

 

Oh man, this is making me relive the event. Not good... 

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Here's some more to add to Gary's list above:

 

SarahSlates2-2014_zps51cd5c1d.png

 

Some pretty huge shows up there. This is such a sad thing, but I can think of a dozen times in the last couple of years where crewmembers I worked with were inches from a serious accident, but nothing happened... so we shrugged and carried on. It only takes five seconds for things to go horribly wrong, and it all starts from bad judgement and bad decisions on the parts of the producers and director.

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I wish this thread was titled simply "A Very Bad Day" - 

though It did happen here in Georgia, such behavior could have occurred anywhere.

The frequent use of "cinematic license" with reckless abandon is indeed a worldwide endangerment problem.

 

As the details unfold, clearly there was no permission granted to be on these railroad tracks, and it appears that the locations department, in emails, informed and advised production management properly to that effect. 

That it occurred in Georgia is only incidental, as this could have happened anywhere, where there are railroad tracks and filming is to occur, where management thinks that, because "it's a movie", that they have "cinematic license" to do whatever they want to without the mere thought of negative consequences - and despite the wisdom and advisement of experienced locations people already on their payroll.

 

MF

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