So many shortcuts. What a crime:
How 'Midnight Rider' Victim Sarah Jones Lost Her Life: A Train, a Narrow Trestle and 60 Seconds to Escape (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-accident-sarah-jones-death-gregg-allman-685976)

I heard about this a few days ago. It was tragic and worse...totally preventable. They were blocking the shot and it seems that a number of people involved in this were quite stupid. They're investigating whether the production company had permits, they certainly didn't have a safety crew from the railroad and for the love of God, to put people on an active track without even the most basic safety equipment or plan is to my mind, bordering on criminal. In my opinion the entire production should be shut down until these deficiencies are addressed.

It is a real disgrace that a bright, energetic young woman had to lose her life because of others ignorance and stupidity.

CSX is quoted in the story as having denied access to the tracks. The film crew were trespassing. That would also explain the absence of railroad safety personnel, coordinators, etc.

Hmmm, I didn't see that in the story I read yesterday. That would answer a lot of questions but in any case someone got real stupid about this. Very sad.

Hmmm, I didn't see that in the story I read yesterday. That would answer a lot of questions but in any case someone got real stupid about this. Very sad.
From the original link:
CSX, the Florida-based railway company that owns the tracks, easement and trestle where Jones died, told the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office in the early hours of the investigation that it never granted Midnight Rider’s producers permission to film on the tracks in the first place.

“According to the CSX employee,” Sgt. Ben Robertson wrote in a report obtained by the media, “the production company had previously been denied permission to film on the trestle, and there was electronic correspondence to verify that fact.” Robertson’s report noted that a member of Miller’s crew, when asked whether permission was granted, replied, “It’s complicated.”
"Real stupid" almost seems an understatement after reading the full story -
The crew was filming a dream sequence, and they had placed a twin-size metal-framed bed and mattress in the middle of the tracks. Then, Gilliard looked up and saw a light in the distance, followed by the immense howl of a locomotive. It was a train — and it was hurtling toward them.

...........
The only viable escape route to the closest shore lay in running toward the approaching train, now traveling, by one estimate, at almost 60 mph. Gilliard tried to make her way onto the metal gangplank parallel to the tracks. Miller and another crewmember began tugging at the bed, trying to remove it from the train’s path, fearing it might cause a derailment. But as the train approached, Gilliard says, they abandoned their efforts.
Yes, not only were they trespassing on a live train track, it was in the middle of a bridge, barely wide enough for a train itself, and they'd put a metal framed bed and mattress on the tracks...........

The death of the camera assistant and the injury to the hairstylist are bad enough, but it could have been even worse - a catastrophic train accident over a river.

It's hard to believe anyone can have been so stupid........ and someone deserves to go to prison for a very long time.......

David,
Unless my eyes stopped working the story I read had all the information EXCEPT the part about CSX NOT giving permission to the production company so maybe I read an earlier version of the story OR it had been redacted for what ever reason.
Again in any case it seems to me that this young woman and others were not only placed in harms ways but it was done so carelessly and without reason or cause. IMO the production company, the director and everyone involved is at fault but as to whether anyone will go to jail...I doubt it. Not that they shouldn't if they committed a criminal act but doubtful.

Still in anycase a very sad and tragic case where stupidity has cost someone their life and others hurt.
NO ONE should die making a movie. :-(

I don't even have words to comment... Beyond irresponsible, that's criminal.

IMO the production company, the director and everyone involved is at fault but as to whether anyone will go to jail...I doubt it. Not that they shouldn't if they committed a criminal act but doubtful.
In the UK, I'm pretty sure it would likely lead to a charge of "Involuntary Manslaughter", which Wikipedia defines as "Involuntary manslaughter arises where the accused did not intend to cause death or serious injury, but caused the death of another through recklessness or criminal negligence.".

If I was on a jury, and if the circumstances were as described, I'd have no problem with finding beyond reasonable doubt that "recklessness or criminal negligence" were present. I find it difficult to think of anything more reckless than placing a metal bed and a 20 strong film crew on a live railway track, without the knowledge or consent of the railway company, and doing such on the track well across a narrow bridge over water. The stupidity beggars belief.

Also from the posted link, it states:
Georgia law enforcement authorities are treating the investigation into Jones’ death as a negligent homicide, setting the stage for the biggest safety-related scandal to rock Hollywood in at least a decade.
so I'm assuming "negligent homicide" is the US equivalent to "Involuntary Manslaughter"?

And this is before we even consider civil law........

Needless.

Sad.

As a safety professional myself, I have been following this story from the beginning.

Putting together the various stories, it appears they were filming on private property beside the track (with permission) and they wanted to set up the set on the track itself. They were denied permission by the railroad, and they were reminded of this fact in an email from the Location Manager the night before. In another email, they called the Location Manager a "stick in the mud."

Part way through the day, they set up on the railroad bridge itself - without permission; without a safety rep from the railroad on set; without any safety guidelines in the Call Sheet; even without a first aid or set medic person on set. (They were a 20 minute drive out of town for the ambulance to respond.)

They were basically hoping to "steal" a shot without permission. It is obvious the producers, director and 1st AD were in full knowledge of this, and concealed it from the crew.

They tried to tell the crew that there were only 2 trains scheduled that day and it would be safe once the second one had passed. They lied. It was a busy main line, that saw 10 to 14 freight trains a day, all traveling in a rural area at close to 60 mph. When the train appeared, the crew's only escape was running TOWARD the train. Eight didn't make it. Seven were severely injured and 2nd Assistant Camera Sarah Jones was killed.

This is a story about one of the crew that day, hairstylist Joyce Gilliard:
Before Gilliard knew it, the train was upon her. She found herself clinging to one of the girders. But the blast of pressure and wind from the train’s passing ripped Gilliard’s left arm away from her body and straight into the train. It snapped like a stick. With one hand still on the girder, Gilliard looked down and saw bone sticking out of her sweater. And then she saw blood. She grabbed a sheet that had come loose from the mattress and wrapped her bleeding arm inside it. With the train howling past just inches behind her, Gilliard threw herself onto two metal wires that stretched between the girders and along the gangplank, thrust her head out over the river below and shut her eyes. “I saw my life, my kids, my family, all of it before me,” she says. “I was sure I was going to die.”

One of the first things she saw when she opened her eyes again was a lifeless Jones, her body and face mangled. Like Gilliard, Jones had tried to find shelter on the gangplank. But when the train hit the bed and mattress, it sent debris flying. Something may have hit Jones, possibly propelling her into the train’s path.

Picture in your mind the panic that that crew must have felt, watching the train bearing down on them, knowing it can't stop in time, knowing they were not going to make it off that trestle before it arrived and knowing there was no room on the bridge for a person in between the train and the girders. A rocky shallow river was 100 yards below them, and they had no escape whatsoever.

This was not an accident. This was gross negligence and you can understand the worldwide anger building over this death. We are witnessing a watershed event in the film industry today and the name of Sarah Jones will not be forgotten for a long long time.

Her name appeared at the Academy Awards, and several of the award winners wore black ribbons in her honour.

We will be hearing a LOT about this story in the coming months and years. Professional crews around the world are remembering her name.

It doesn't change the nature of this tragic incident in anyway, but just to point out a typo, it's closer to 10 yards to the river than 100 yards,

I shoot a lot of training videos for CSX and I can assure you, they are very strict when it comes to safety. There's no way they would have allowed a movie crew on an active train track. Certainly not without a CSX safety officer on site.

Every morning when we went to shoot a CSX video, we had a safety meeting. Everybody had to participate and then sign a paper saying you had attended the meeting and were aware of the safety parameters. This was done even if the shoot was in a quiet office building. We had another safety meeting if we changed locations. We always had a safety officer with us and had to wear proper safety equipment. Even when we were surrounded by CSX personnel, we were never allowed to shoot on an active train track.

If the crew really had permission from CSX, they would have all had to wear a helmet, safety vest and eye protection. No exceptions.

To say they had permission to build a SET on an active train track is absurd.

It is difficult to believe that they had permission to shoot on the private property adjacent to the track. There would be a significant safety burden imposed by CSX for even that level of access and the resultant monitoring would have prevented placing a set on active tracks. Hopefully the investigators will have instigated drug and IQ tests on the director and his staff in hopes of determining how the diminished capacity occurred.

It's hard to believe that the decisions leading up to this were arrived at by a group of professional adults. I agree that the idea seems mind-bogglingly stupid. But stepping off the high-horse, it's also a sobering reminder of our mortality in the face of our hubris.

We are all capable of the kind of arrogant disregard that could lead to this loss of life and limb, and few believe that it could ever happen to them until it does. I, for one, will think on this tragedy the next time I consider the safety of my crew when planning for a shoot (or acting on an impulse).

It's a sad situation. It doesn't make sense though that the producer's did not get proper permits and acquire the necessary paperwork/train's schedule prior to shooting. It makes one wonder if it was a spontaneous decision to shoot the scene sort of gorilla style.

The story I read related that appearently Sarah Jones, the young lady who lost her life, had said something to her family that she thought it was strange that some of the people that were working on the film who were supposed to be in high positions, seemed to have less experience than she did in film production. she had been involved in some series and other films for about 5+ years. Also according to the article that I read this production was a pretty low budget operation.

It just seems like there were a bunch of people in various management positions that either didn't know what they were doing or they felt that since they were in a rural area they didn't feel the rules of common sense at least, needed to be followed. Add to that that every minute of production time was based on limited dollars, that is a very bad very volatile combination.

I'm sorry but I have no sympathy for the people that were running this operation, it just seems like it was a criminal act or at least close enough they should be charged.

NO ONE SHOULD DIE MAKING A MOVIE!

It is difficult to believe that they had permission to shoot on the private property adjacent to the track. There would be a significant safety burden imposed by CSX for even that level of access ............
There's a lot of devil in the detail, but it's CONCEIVABLE that the private property next to the track may not even have been owned by CSX? In which case, CSX would have no jurisdiction?

Hence, it's quite possible to see a situation where the director puts in a request for filming to CSX and the owner of the adjacent land. CSX refuse, but they get permission to be on the adjacent land.

From there, I can see a situation developing where those in charge decide to chance things, especially if there was not much fencing between the track and where they had permission to be? The attitude of "I've got away with things in the past, so .....?"

There's some further detail in a report from a local TV station here: New details surface on fatal train incident with film crew - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports (http://www.wtoc.com/story/24828504/new-details-surfacing-about-fatal-train-wreck-involving-film-crew) and in particular:
A new incident report out of Wayne County shows the producers were denied permission to be on the tracks.

"I think that puts you on notice not to go on the tracks. I can't even imagine the decision to go on the tracks without assurance of safety and there wouldn't be train traffic during the time you would be there," Schiavone said.

While investors may want the movie to continue, we've been told crew may not be willing to continue. Some questioned the producers at a meeting over the weekend and were not given the answers about the permits when asked directly.

This is an account from one Facebook post:
JAY SEDRISH, Producer.... In yesterday's crew gathering "Sarah would want us to finish this film".... Unidentified crew member stands and says "no, Sarah would want to be with us in this room now". He went on to ask "show us the permit"..... (Silence)......"please, just show us the permit and explain how this happened"..... (Silence)...."somebody answer me....how did this happen?"....
JAY SEDRISH ... "We can't answer that right now". As he glances toward their Attorney.....

Schiavone says the producers may have their hands full with a multitude of legal consequenses from what happened, from worker's comp, to liability...and possibly more.

They were on a bridge with very little room on either side of the tracks. The bridge itself might not have been owned by CSX but the tracks were and I might be wrong here but if the bridge was not owned by CSX they would have some type of agreement with the municipality that owned the bridge. In any case there was no permission by anyone of the authority to anyone from the production company to use either the tracks or the bridge, hence someone died. There is plenty of blame to go around and honestly, this production company should be and I'll bet will be smacked with numerous law suits and frankly because of their stupidity, should be put out of business but not before they are criminally charged.

If you can't tell, I'm quite upset by this incident. I didn't know Sarah Jones or any of the others who were injured. I had no idea this movie was even being made but when stupid is as stupid does and someone either get badly hurt (as 7 others did) or worse, someone dies for no reason other than someone elses stupidity, I get pissed off and honestly, I hope the producer and director spend some time in jail. I doubt they will but one can hope.

No One Should Die Making a Movie!

There's a lot of devil in the detail, but it's CONCEIVABLE that the private property next to the track may not even have been owned by CSX? In which case, CSX would have no jurisdiction?

Hence, it's quite possible to see a situation where the director puts in a request for filming to CSX and the owner of the adjacent land. CSX refuse, but they get permission to be on the adjacent land.



David, I commute on CSX owned tracks and have done so since 1993. We have had numerous incidents with people and vehicles on the tracks and even with the lighter passenger trains, it doesn't end well. When I supported the FRA at-grade database project in the late 1970's, there were over 50,000 reported accidents a year. People often mis-estimate the distance and speed of trains or try to race the train through a crossing.

That said, and I am not a transportation attorney, CSX owns or has right-of-way control of ground for a certain distance around the tracks. They need this for maintenance, repair, upgrades, etc. to the tracks and switches. There may be fences or not, but signage is used to warn pedestrian traffic away. Undoubtedly a defense attorney may attempt to construct a defense for this horrible tragedy, but the best lesson here is to not put your talent or crew in harm's way for any reason.

[CNN has a tribute page for Sarah Jones here: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/showbiz/midnight-rider-production-halted/index.html ]

That said, and I am not a transportation attorney, CSX owns or has right-of-way control of ground for a certain distance around the tracks. They need this for maintenance, repair, upgrades, etc. to the tracks and switches. There may be fences or not, but signage is used to warn pedestrian traffic away. Undoubtedly a defense attorney may attempt to construct a defense for this horrible tragedy, but the best lesson here is to not put your talent or crew in harm's way for any reason.
Don't get me wrong - I don't think any defence attorney is likely to be able to construct much of a defence, not a workable one, anyway, and in no way am I trying to excuse what happened. Wherever they did have permission for, they'd been refused access to the tracks themselves, (let alone on the bridge!) it was stupid to take a crew on to them - end of story.

Maybe I'd have been clearer wording to suggest that they were on private land next to the land owned by CSX, rather than next to the track itself? I don't know how far either side of the actual track it's typical for a company to own rights to in the US - I was assuming just a matter of yards most of the time?

They were on private property owned by Rayonier Paper. In the past there has been a guard posted near where the track crosses Doctortown Road, before the trestle. A Google Maps view of the road, trestle, tracks and river:

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.6537587,-81.8284954,108m/data=!3m1!1e3

Scroll down through these Flickr photo notes for a brief history of the Doctor Town area including Civil War:

Doctortown, GA | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/milkaway/4542326908/)

Nothing specific about rights-of-way, easements, etc.

The Train Orders site has a good collection of comments and opinions.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,3330673

It's plain stupid on all levels.

I'm trying to put myself in the mind of one of these idiots to see how in their brains they came to decision to go out there...

Level 1: risky
"we'll film near the track, but not on it, quick, easy, no trains to worry about"

Level 2: dumb
"ya know what, let's film on the track, we can see over a mile in each direction, and we can just hop off in a matter of seconds if we see it coming"

Level 3: Idiotic
"ya know what, we're pretty sure no train is coming and heck it looks like we can see for at least a few miles in both directions, let's go out onto the bridge a bit, just a few feet out so we can cheat the shot to look like it's over open bridge, and we can still get off the track in maybe a minute if we see a train coming."

level 4: facepalm
"Ya know what, i checked google and it says no more trains today, let's get out into the middle of the track and get this sweet shot, let's bring the steel frame for the mattress too, that'll really sell it."

After reading the article I was reminded of when I worked in news & operated microwave live trucks. I am thankful that when I was trained on the live trucks at the first two stations I worked at my boss & the engineers were very firm about safety when it came to operating the trucks.

I had my boss & chief engineers say in very plain words "I don't care if it is the general manager of the station yelling at you to put the mast up to get the shot, if you think it is unsafe don't do it and I will back you up."

That really taught me that safety is #1. Your safety & the safety of your co-workers & the safety of other around you is more important than the shot, than the production, than anything else. And the #1 person who is in charge of keeping you safe is you.


a voice shouted to the crew that in the event a train appeared, everyone would have 60 seconds to clear the tracks. “Everybody on the crew was tripping over that,” says Gilliard. “A minute? Are you serious?”

The #1 person in charge of keeping you safe is you. Even if you have safety crew around you, if you feel unsafe you need to do what you need to do.

I feel sad that the crew was nervous, but no one stood up & said "nope."

We work in video, in TV, in films... we're not saving lives, we're not on the bomb squad trying to defuse a nuclear bomb under the super bowl, none of our productions are worth the loss of a life.

If someone says "you have 60seconds to live" on the set of a production, that is your sign to give 60 seconds of notice that you're quitting & walking back to your car.

Her seniors better be doing time in jail for this ... ridiculous reason to die.

In the UK, I'm pretty sure it would likely lead to a charge of "Involuntary Manslaughter", which Wikipedia defines as "Involuntary manslaughter arises where the accused did not intend to cause death or serious injury, but caused the death of another through recklessness or criminal negligence.".

If I was on a jury, and if the circumstances were as described, I'd have no problem with finding beyond reasonable doubt that "recklessness or criminal negligence" were present. I find it difficult to think of anything more reckless than placing a metal bed and a 20 strong film crew on a live railway track, without the knowledge or consent of the railway company, and doing such on the track well across a narrow bridge over water. The stupidity beggars belief.

Also from the posted link, it states:

so I'm assuming "negligent homicide" is the US equivalent to "Involuntary Manslaughter"?

And this is before we even consider civil law........

In the UK the charge would be at least Gross Negligence Manslaughter https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/h_to_k/homicide_murder_and_manslaughter/#gross any employer has a duty of care to their employees which includes not putting them in risky situations.

‘Midnight Rider’ Filmmakers Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in Sarah Jones Death

Midnight Rider Sarah Jones Manslaughter | Variety (http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midnight-rider-filmmakers-charged-with-involuntary-manslaughter-in-sarah-jones-death-1201257716/)

Here's hoping they get the 10 year maximum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4BausdKnZc0

recent events around this:
Charges could prompt film industry to take crew safety more seriously*-*Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-sarah-jones-death-midnight-rider-20140704-story.html)

The long hours are another safety consideration. I gather the largest cause of death in the industry is people driving home and falling asleep at the wheel of their car.

Australian media have finally carried the story.

Midnight Rider train crash death footage aired (http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/video-shows-moments-before-tragic-midnight-rider-train-crash-death/story-fnihm796-1227111063937)

Andrew

EPILOG: Guilty and sentenced

Movie director gets 2 years for train crash that killed crew member | New York Post (http://nypost.com/2015/03/09/movie-director-gets-2-years-for-train-crash-that-killed-crew-member/)

What a terrible tragedy for all involved. If the director was going to wing it and go ahead and film on the trestle / tracks after having been denied permission you would think he would at least have made the effort to find out the train schedule to make sure one would not be coming. If that was not possible they could have placed spotters a mile or so up and down the track from where they were at with radios to warn them in case of a train.

I have spent some time on various film location shoots and have always witnessed an extreme amount of professionalism and concern for safety.

I do respect that the director has taken responsibility for his actions and cut a plea deal to spare his wife jail time.

IMO It's really too bad that the prosecutor felt his case wasn't strong enough to go after the wife and other producer. I'm sorry but I have no respect for any of them nor do I have a single ounce of empathy for any of them. They broke the rule if not the law and caused injury and death and KNEW that their action might cause harm. Those freight trains (according to information I read earlier) are not on a particular schedule and since the freight company said NO to them not once but TWICE, their actions were inexcusable. They should ALL serve 10 years and be banned from even working in the industry. PERIOD!

Would it have even been a good shot, not having permission? If the low budget had become a blockbuster and the train company had sued, reputations would have rolled and maybe some bucks.

This was a tragic loss of life and needless injury. We all want to do a great job, but putting lives at risk to do that great job is incomprehensible. 2 years was not enough, and why did so many people get 0 years?

New footage of the accident released
'Midnight Rider': The Moments Before the Train Crash - YouTube

That footage is absolutely chilling!

Hard to believe any director would put anyone into that kind of danger!

Wow! And they even edited the scene even though someone was killed? The footage I found says "not public" so I am not going to share the link showing the edited scene, but nothing was stopping the editing, not even this tragedy. You would think it all would have ended on the tragic day... If the director had been that sorry HE would have ended it, but the scene I found shows a very edited scene with everyone on place on the tracks.

From the scene posted, it looks like people could not get by the idots who were clogging escape by trying to drag the hospital bed. This is really bad!

Hollywood discovers a new theme/plot for a horror movie in 5, 4, 3 ...

Andrew

Would it have even been a good shot, not having permission?

'Midnight Rider' Footage - YouTube

-- peer