Rust assistant director ‘was subject of safety complaint’ | First Thing
Prop maker Maggie Goll says she raised concern about Dave Halls in TV series Into the Dark. Plus, worst of the pandemic may be over in US
Good morning.
A TV crew member has disclosed that she raised safety concerns in the past about the assistant director who authorities say unwittingly handed Alec Baldwin the prop gun that killed the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set in New Mexico last week.
How did the shooting happen? The exact circumstances are not yet clear but a court filing describes how Halls grabbed a gun off a cart and handed it to Baldwin, indicating that the weapon was safe by yelling cold gun". But it was, unknown to Halls, loaded with live rounds, according to the records.
Were there problems on set beforehand? Just six hours before that, half a dozen crew members had walked off the Rust set to protest against poor conditions and safety concerns, including gun safety amid reports of incidents of a prop gun being accidentally misfired earlier in filming.
Are prop guns safe? Propmasters say when rules are followed correctly, prop guns are truly very safe". For scenes with more than one firearm, sets normally use an armourer who is responsible for the safety and security of any guns. The last time anyone was fatally shot on set in the US was in 1993.
Does that mean Covid measures have been working? While there's been some controversy around mask mandates, it seems vaccines have been working and the drugs used to treat Covid have got considerably better, improving survival rates.
What does the future hold? William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the US could move from pandemic to endemic", meaning the virus would stay in the community but is not a big strain on public health.
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