The family of Halyna Hutchins is ready to lay the beloved cinematographer to rest a month after she was accidentally shot and killed while filming Rust in New Mexico. A private ceremony with just Hutchin’s close family and friends is holding a private ceremony to bid their farewells. The location of the ceremony is unknown. Following the ceremony, her ashes will be interred.”Halyna was the love of my life, and our loss of her has devastated our family’s dreams,” the late director of photography’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, said Friday, Nov. 19 in a statement to Deadline. Matthew also shared a photo of the grave marker with the outlet.
“We feel the silence of her being forever gone as a suffocating stillness in our home,” Matthew continued on behalf of he and their 9-year old son, Andros. “Our love and adoration for her grows as we tell her story, and we hope her work can inspire filmmakers and storytellers around the world. We thank the many generous supporters who have been so thoughtful in our time of loss.”
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Actor Alec Balwin, who discharged the gun that was thought to be a prop and empty that killed Hucthins, is fully cooperating with the Sante Fe investigators. No arrests have been made. As the investigation continues, crew members on the set of the film have spoken out about the alleged unsafe environment they were subjected to.
David Halls, the first assistant director on Rust, admitted to police during one interrogation interview that he did not properly check the 1880s-era gun ahead of him declaring it a “cold gun.” He then handed the gun over to Baldwin for the fatal “quick draw” rehearsal.
A camera assistant who quit the day prior to the fatal accident spoke with Good Morning America regarding the multiple complaints he filed leading up to his resignation. He sent a detailed email on the day he quit listing out the safety concerns he says he encountered while filming.
“What I put in my resignation letter was: lax COVID policies, the housing situation — driving to and from Albuquerque — and specifically gun safety, a lack of rehearsals, a lack of preparing the crew for what we were doing that day,” Lane Luper said, as reported by Yahoo News. He says there were very few safety meetings, recalling just one or two before he quit.
In his resignation letter, Luper said gunfights on the set were played “very fast and loose” adding there had been “two accidental weapons discharges and one accidental [sound effects] explosives that have gone off around the crew between takes.” He wrote: “In my 10 years as a camera assistant, I’ve never worked on a show that cares so little for the safety of its crew.”
