Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” shooting, depicting an actor choking to death on a golf club, drew ire after a fight broke out over security and safety near the shooting location.
I have received so many calls and emails expressing concerns about tonight’s scenes for our movie “Rust.” I think it would be prudent of you to give me your thoughts first, in order to help me determine how to proceed.
Here is the scene you are discussing, that, from what I understand, will be shot on a golf course in New York tonight. It will be disturbing. For those who will see the film, please know that our intent was never to create an uncomfortable viewing experience for the audience. We feel it’s important to tell this story because, in our opinion, it can help shed light on gun violence. We have taken every precaution to protect the actors and our cast and crew, especially on location, but that doesn’t stop people from being disrespectful or taking actions that go against our intentions. We’ve had people climb fences, that had no reason to be there, film actors we had brought to the set, walk through security blindfolded. During our set visit, a man had a gun and was shot down by our security team, then came back and started screaming that we brought violence to the set.
Our entire cast and crew have a lifelong commitment to the safety of firearms and have gone through extensive training and gun safety for “Rust.” We feel that we have done everything we can in order to achieve a production that is safe and respectful of the real lives and families of victims of gun violence.
It is our hope that you will believe us when we say that we cannot do better. The crew, cast and I have invested an enormous amount of our time, energy and patience into this story. The truth is, to make a film on this topic is to take on the risk of upsetting people, to offend people. We have lived with this risk since we began making the film. Every single day since we started, we’ve tried to be respectful of and sensitive to everyone’s sensibilities. We cannot succeed in this endeavor if everyone behaves responsibly. The only way to create a safe production environment is by being responsible and mindful of everyone’s safety and needs.
The production has taken every reasonable precaution to make this production as safe as possible. I have been in touch with both the New York City Police Department and the Fire Department regarding tonight’s shoot, and will remain in constant contact. I am unable to provide further comment today because we have no knowledge of what’s happening around the shoot, but will be in touch when more information becomes available.
In the interest of full transparency, I want you to know that the handling of this production and other similar productions has been supervised and supervised by the following men:
Safety Director: Bryan Sullivan
Director of Safety: Ted Edwards
Assemble Stage Manager: Colin Dibble
Direction in the production has been supervised by two very experienced outside directors. Jack Gyllenhaal is a shoot veteran of over 200 film and television productions. Henry Burger is a co-director of the Directors Guild of America, and has worked with over 500 people on productions such as “Wonder Woman” and “Grown Ups 2.”
In the event of safety concerns, in accordance with the production safety agreement, our Director of Safety may request any production member to leave the premises.
On behalf of all my cast and crew, I say it is my hope that everyone involved in tonight’s shoot will proceed with good conscience and respect for one another. I also ask that you remain patient as the situations develop as the footage is currently being shot.
Sincerely,
Woody Harrelson
Director of “Rust”
