Oscars, Film Safety

Police Report: 'Midnight Rider' Was Denied Permission to Film on Railroad

27-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Jones, a second camera assistant, was identified as the victim killed in the accident. Director Randall Miller himself fell on the tracks but he was pulled to safety by a photographer. At least seven others were injured, including one who was airlifted to a local hospital due to serious injuries to her arm and wrist. Rumor has it, among the injured victims are Joyce Gilliard and Izabeau Giannakopoulos who were taken to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, and Zachary Graber, James C. Dewet, Margery Kimbrough and Tonya Verna who were treated at Wayne Memorial Hospital. Their condition is not known. Sound mixer Richard Lightstone and his production sound team were also "banged up" but they are OK.

Will Death on the Midnight Rider Set Be a Reckoning for Filmmakers?

Rythym & Hues - VFX Protest at the Oscars

Documentary explores collapse of visual effects company that worked on ‘Life of Pi’ - During the Academy Awards on Sunday, visual effects artists again will march to draw attention to their plight. They hope to end the tax rebates and others subsidies — both foreign and in U.S. states like Georgia — that have turned the business into a “pathetic race to the bottom,” said Rand, a Calabasas resident who used to live in Manhattan Beach. 


Oscars 2014: Why Are Special Effects Wizards Planning to Protest at the Ceremony? - The visual-effects industry wants to keep jobs in the U.S. - Video - the entire documentary.

After Gravity, is the British film industry rocketing or crashing to Earth? - Visual effects firm Framestore is behind the acclaimed space movie, but is UK film making a giant leap, or is funding falling? - Behind all these dramas is the distinctly unstarry HM Revenue and Customs. Film tax relief, introduced in 2007 and extended to blockbuster TV and animation last April, has been heralded by the industry as a game changer. It was worth £202m to film studios in the last financial year; £227m to television companies. According to consultancy Oxford Economics, these subsidies mean it is now 38% cheaper to shoot a film in the UK than the US – while the generosity of the UK's regime has prompted gripes from the LA film world.

Oscar night no gala for film, TV workers hit by runaway production - The Oscar nominees themselves are stark evidence of this so-called runaway production. Among the nine best picture contenders, only Spike Jonze's "Her" was filmed mainly in California   ...   Even major features set in California are often filmed elsewhere. The Google Inc.-themed comedy "Internship" was filmed mainly in Georgia instead of Silicon Valley. The Dwayne Johnson disaster movie "San Andreas," about a massive earthquake that strikes California, is set to film in Australia to take advantage of that country's tax credits.

Sarah Jones

Oscars 2014 : Sarah Jones ('Midnight Rider') unlikely for tribute segment - LATimes

‘Midnight Rider’ Death: Sarah Jones Becomes a Symbol as Bizzers’ Emotions Surge - Variety

Film crew worker's tragic death prompts Hollywood movement - CNN

Top Sarah Jones Articles - LATimes



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'Midnight Rider' May Have Been Denied Permission to Shoot on Train Tracks, Suggests Incident Report

Expert: No Way Movie Crew Had Permission To Shoot On Railroad Tracks

'Midnight Rider' Death: DGA Says Employers 'Ultimately Responsible for Ensuring a Safe Set' - The DGA said the film's production company had no permission to be on the train tracks, only in their vicinity, assuming what the DGA calls "cinematic immunity." "This is a stark reminder that it is truly a false premise. There is no immunity. Instead, there is jeopardy, risk and the potential for lost lives," the guild said of film and TV shoots that venture beyond the boundaries of permits or location contracts.


‘Midnight Rider’ Homicide Probe Focusing on Who Put Crew on Bridge - Variety - The “Midnight Rider” call sheet for Feb. 20, obtained by Variety, calls the day “Pre-Shoot Day 1 of 1.” It has become a common practice in film production to use “pre-shoot” or “camera test” days to grab vistas, inserts, and other miscellaneous shots at locations where it would be inconvenient to bring the entire company during a normal day of shooting. “Pre-shoot” or “test” days require a smaller crew and keep the cost for the shooting day down.