Manslaughter case video shows actor Wyatt Russell running for life as train hurtles toward movie set
The movie was never completed. But a video clip showing actor Wyatt Russell and crew members, who had been filming Midnight Rider, running for their lives down a train trestle high above a Georgia river in real life, as a whistle-blowing train barreled down on them at 55 mph, became public this week. Three executives took plea deals in a manslaughter case.
Director Randall Miller pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass in the death of a crew member as his trial loomed. He is now banned from working as a director or assistant director for a decade, in addition to being sentenced to spend up to two years behind bars. Assistant director Hillary Schwartz and executive producer Jay Sedrish also took pleas and got 10-year terms of probation. A Hollywood Reporter article links to the video, which was was entered into the public record by prosecutors. Another Hollywood Reporter article provides further details.
The Wayne County case is the first time in more than 30 years that a film industry executive has been charged with manslaughter over a movie-set death and possibly the first time ever, entertainment lawyers tell the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.), that a filmmaker pleaded guilty to criminal charges concerning an on-set fatal accident.
The Associated Press, the Daily Mail, Variety and the Washington Post (reg. req.) also have stories.
The disastrous Midnight Rider scene last year involved a dream sequence in which actor William Hurt, portraying singer Gregg Allman in a biopic, lies on a hospital bed across the train tracks on a railroad bridge. The movie makers had gotten permission from the landowner but CSX Transportation had refused in writing to allow filming on the tracks. Nonetheless, filming proceeded without permission, at a time when those in charge of the set reportedly thought the last train for the day had already passed by.
They were wrong, as those on the set found out, when a train hurtled toward them. Almost everyone managed to scramble out of the way, some reportedly clinging to the railroad bridge, but they didn’t have time to bring all the set equipment with them. The train struck the hospital bed, the Hollywood Reporter explains, and as it came apart, a piece pushed camera assistant Sarah Jones, 27, into the path of the train where she was fatally struck by its fuel tank, according to police and a prosecutor.
“I think it’s easy to call this an accident. This is a very preventable tragedy,” said district attorney Jackie Johnson after proceedings in the case ended on Tuesday.
Related coverage:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Feds announce forum on railway safety following “Midnight Rider” guilty pleas”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Will two women who escaped injury when run over by train be prosecuted for trespassing?”
