Sarah Jones’ Father Calls For Safety Coalition To Address Unsafe Conditions & Accountability On Films & TV Shows
deadline.comOn the eve of the eighth anniversary of Sarah Jones’s death on a railroad trestle in Georgia, her father is calling for the creation of a Safety Coalition to address safety issues, prevention, and accountability in the film and television industry.Jones, a 27-year-old camera assistant, was killed on Feb.
20, 2014, on the set of the doomed film Midnight Rider, when she was struck by a speeding freight train. Seven others were injured on that first day of shooting, and the film’s director, Randall Miller, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and spent a year in jail.Sarah’s father, Richard Jones, a tireless campaigner for set safety, tells Deadline that civil and criminal penalties for reckless and dangerous behavior are one thing.
But “it’s too late by the time it gets into the court system.” Accidents like the one that took his daughter’s life, and last October’s shooting death of Halyna Hutchens on the New Mexico set of Rust, “shouldn’t occur to start with,” he said.A Safety Coalition, he said, would enhance the industry’s long-established Safety Bulletins, focus on prevention, and hold those responsible accountable. “The Safety Bulletins are in place, and they should be adhered to – those and common sense and respect for human life.
But the guilds also need to hold people responsible if they are convicted of a criminal act while doing their jobs. I think expulsion is appropriate.
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