The production company behind the movie “Rest” on Monday challenged a fine issued by New Mexico state regulators, who cited the production for “clear indifference to the recognized dangers associated with the use of firearms on set,” which resulted in the death of the shooting film cameraman, Halyna Hutchins.
The company, Rust Movie Productions, LLC, said in a filing Monday that it has “not ‘intentionally’ violated any security protocol and in fact enforced all applicable security protocols.” The producers also denied that the film’s gun master, who was responsible for weapons, was overloaded with other duties, as her lawyers claimed.
Last month, the state fined the manufacturing company out of the maximum allowable fine — $136,793 — alleging that the company had shown indifference to the dangers of firearms. In a report, the Occupational Health & Safety Bureau of the New Mexico Environment Department said manufacturing had not responded well when there were two inappropriate gun discharges on the blank-round set, and that manufacturing failed to properly hold safety meetings or distribute safety bulletins.
In a filing with the agency, attorneys for the production company wrote that the discharges were “handled appropriately,” including safety briefings for the cast and crew, and said none of the discharges related to violations of firearms safety protocols. “Rest” assistant directors were told to hold security meetings on the days firearms would be used, the filing said.
“In fact, a security meeting was held on the morning of the incident,” it said.
On October 21, actor Alec Baldwin was practicing with an old-fashioned revolver that he believed had no live ammunition when the gun fired a bullet that killed Ms. Hutchins and injured Joel Souza, the film’s director. Mr. Baldwin has sought protection from financial responsibility in the legal disputes arising from the incident.
In its report, the New Mexico agency also accused the production of “failing to ensure that lethal weapon handling was given the time and effort necessary to keep the cast and crew safe,” citing claims. from the film’s gun master, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, that her extra duties as a props assistant sometimes took her away from her job overseeing the firearms on set. The agency also said production did not give staff enough time to inspect ammunition to make sure no live bullets were present.
The production company denied that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was overloaded, writing that her armor duties “always took precedence” over her prop duties and that, according to their file, she was given adequate time to inspect the ammunition.