Who Is Responsible for the Death of Sarah Jones?

[Photography by: Randy Thompson]Have you been following the accounts of the tragic death of camera assistant Sarah Jones? If not, read this Hollywood Reporter article, which details for the first time how the incident unfolded using descriptions from other crew members who witnessed it. Warning: reading this article will make you queasy with disgust and anger. It did me. And like many in the film industry and beyond, I keep wondering how in the hell did this happen? And who is responsible? Is it the Director? Producer? Unit Production Manager? Assistant Director? Location Manager? All of the above?

There are two schools of thought on who is ultimately responsible for a film. The first is that the director is responsible because he (or she) is the film version of the Ship Captain, War General, Leader of the Free World, i.e. the person with whom the buck stops. At the beginning of most movies there is title that says, "A (director's name) Film." And if a film bombs, usually the director gets the brunt of the blame.

The other school of thought is that the producer is ultimately responsible for a film. After all, it's the producer who accepts the Academy Award for Best Picture, the producer who finds the money, and the producer who can hire and fire the director, the actors and just about anyone else. If the film is a studio movie, the only one who can fire the producer is the studio. If the film is an independent, most likely, no one can fire the producer.

But a film is the director's vision. The director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision [Wikipedia]. This means once a film is put into production every creative decision comes from the director. He consults with the department heads, but the director has the final creative word.  

Then again, the producer (or studio) has the final financial word.  A Unit Production Manager is usually hired by a film producer or television producer and is responsible for managing the production and regulating the costs of delivering the expected film or television show on budget at the end of principal photography [Wikipedia].

Let's look at it from another angle. Before that fateful day two weeks ago when the crew of Midnight Rider assembled to shoot a dream sequence, this is what probably happened in the days leading up:

- The location manager scouted more than one train tracks and took pictures of each to show the director.

- The director chose the tracks that run over a 110-year-old bridge over the Altamaha River, in Wayne County, Georgia. At this point, if not before, the location manager would have informed him, "These are live train tracks." To which, the director probably replied, "I want to shoot there. Figure it out."

- The location manager attempted to get a location permit for those tracks. The permit was denied (most likely because it's a live train track).

- The location manager informed the director that the permit was denied.

- The director, in consultation with the producer(s), assistant director and/or cinematographer, decided only those tracks would do and suggested, "Let's shoot there anyway, guerilla-style." (According to Hollywood Reporter article, he's done this before.)

- The producer then approved this decision to shoot on a live train track without a permit.

- The crew was informed the morning of the shoot where they'd be filming that day, and what they should do in event a train came hurtling towards them, i.e. "run for your life."

On top of that, these additional things DID NOT happen:

- The producer didn't ask for a schedule of the trains that use those tracks, or calculate how often they come through.

- The producer didn't inform the train company there would be a film crew on the tracks that day.

- The producer didn't insist a production assistant was stationed a few miles away to keep a look out for approaching trains (which might have given the crew more than 60 seconds to get out-of-the-way).

- The producer didn't give the crew a choice of whether or not to participate in this risky scheme.

- The producer didn't hire a set medic or railway safety personnel (the latter, probably because he knew they had no permit). 

The bottom line is they never should have been there in the first place. The fact that they went ahead anyway and took no extra precautions is what really gets me. It's unthinkable and unforgivable because it could have been avoided. If only someone had said, "No film or director's vision is worth putting people's lives at risk. These are not the only train tracks in Georgia. Let's shoot somewhere else." (I know for a fact that every producer I've ever worked with would have absolutely said this to me.)

Time will tell who is ultimately held accountable for this tragic fiasco. The director Randall Miller is also listed as producer, along with 11 other producers, co-producers and executive producers. 

Meanwhile, a bright, energetic, hard-working young lady is dead -- and for what? 

RIP Sarah Jones.