Remembering Halyna Hutchins

What we know about the Alec Baldwin incident

What to know

• Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dies on set of Alec Baldwin movie… By now you’ve probably heard about this horribly tragic story. According to reports, Alec Baldwin accidentally fired a live round using a prop gun on the set of Rust in New Mexico. (NOTE: Prop guns are often real guns but get the label “prop” because they are being used as props.) The gunfire killed 42-year-old DP Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. Hutchins was named a rising star by American Cinematographer magazine in 2019, CNN has a nice write up about her.

  In a statement, Alec Baldwin expressed his “shock and sadness” over the incident and confirmed he is fully cooperating with the police investigation. The latest reports indicate that the set of Rust was “chaotic” and that union camera crew members had walked off set hours prior to the gun firing in protest of poor working conditions. That was the very thing IATSE was threatening to strike over. Needless to say, this is an unspeakable tragedy and underlines the need for proper safety protocols on film and TV productions.