Workers get killed and injured every day on the job: just the daily toll the "free market" exacts for the glory of CEOs and their enrichment. Mostly, no one goes to jail--sound familiar?--because the laws of the country make it virtually impossible to hold anyone criminally liable when a worker dies. Today, a small tiny bit of justice was done in the case of Sarah Jones.
Sarah was a camera assistant on the production of "Midnight Rider", a biopic of the musician Gregg Allman. On February 20th 2014, she was killed when she was struck by a train during a movie shoot on a trestle over the Altamaha River in Wayne County, Georgia. What was different about her death is that a local prosecutor filed charges against the director and several others for involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing charges, claiming she died because they filmed a scene despite not having obtained permission.
How it happened, in brief:
Pre-shooting was originally intended for camera tests and one-off shots like establishing vistas, but is now commonly used to extend shooting schedules and curb costs. The railroad line on which the production set up for shooting that afternoon is one of the busiest freight lines in Georgia. The crew was on a narrow walkway meant only for maintenance workers. As setup began, the crew was warned they would have a minute to clear the tracks should a train come. In fact they had less time than that when the train sounded its whistle, and were unable to clear the bed from the tracks, and many did not have time to get off the bridge to safety.
The train hit the metal hospital bed, shattering it, and flying debris hit several crew members. One piece hit Jones and knocked her toward the train, which struck and killed her. Other crew members were also injured by debris, some seriously.
The Hollywood Reporter has a much longer, very good investigation
here.
Today, the director copped a plea:
The director of a movie about musician Gregg Allman pleaded guilty Monday in a train crash that killed a camera assistant and injured six film workers, and prosecutors in exchange dropped charges against his wife and business partner.
As part of the plea deal, Director Randall Miller will spend two years in the county jail and another eight on probation on involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing charges. He also will pay a $20,000 fine.
Enormous credit goes to Sarah's parents who, in their grief, continued to push, in conjunction with film industry unions, to use the loss of their daughter to improve safety on movie sets. In a statement today, her father
said:
"I do not seek revenge, but rather I seek healing from all those involved, including those responsible for my daughter’s death. At the same time, we cannot send a signal to the film industry that it is ok to disrespect life, to commit such selfish, dangerous acts for the sake of so called cinematic immunity," said her father.
“There needs to be accountability. It’s not about payback, it’s about drawing boundaries. It’s about not giving permission to the film industry to be so careless with the safety and lives of their cast and crew," he continued.
Check out
Safety for Sarah.