Legal problems for Baldwin expose a minefield for workers

Soon after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the "Rust" set, I opined to a journalist that I found the incident both shocking and avoidable, especially in light of Brandon Lee's death on the set of "The Crow" 28 years prior. I also said one thing seemed guaranteed: litigation. As of this writing, two lawsuits related to the incident have been filed against A-list actor and producer Alec Baldwin, as well as other "Rust" producers and staff.

Years of practicing personal injury law in Los Angeles have taught me that the public pays little attention to these lawsuits. Moreover, lobbies for tort reform have stigmatized such claims, painting legitimate legal matters as greedy cash-grabs.

Yet this incident may result in landmark jurisprudence. Since Baldwin was holding the gun, these lawsuits will likely attract substantial attention and media scrutiny. And because Baldwin's participation in this picture also highlights the danger for all cast and crew, let's seize this moment of heightened awareness to put a spotlight on workplace safety. It's time for the film industry to implement much-needed reforms like committing to higher, universal safety standards and eliminating "hot guns" from sets.

While film studios in foreign countries must hire a designated staffer to handle safety, in the United States, no such requirement exists. Also, federal law does not require productions to have written safety plans or follow routine standards for overseeing safety on sets in the United States. This oversight means that safety standards vary widely on different sets in different states, and enforcement is similarly inconsistent.

While California requires employers -- including movie studios -- to supply a safety plan, the law's vague language reads like a suggestion rather than a mandate. While it requires systems for ensuring that safety procedures are followed; and employees can report problems, there are no guidelines for what those "systems" should entail. These lapses may tempt productions, especially low-budget pictures, to relax their safety standards.

As a result, according to a 2016 report in the Associated Press, "since 1990, at least 43 people died on US film sets; more than 150 more have been left with life-altering injuries."

In the case of "Rust," shot in New Mexico, safety checks failed. Any guidelines that may have been in place for the safe handling of prop guns and firearms appear to have been ignored, since reports indicate live ammunition on set. Inexperienced workers replaced experienced ones who had walked off due to concerns about the production -- after the weapon misfired multiple times. Negligence appears obvious.

The film industry must strengthen its safety protocols through significant reform. Otherwise, tragedies akin to these will occur again. At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the film's producer, and producers in general, to ensure safety on set. Producers individually, as well as the Producers Guild, need to commit to higher and universal safety standards.

In the past 12 years alone, the number of TV shows being made has nearly tripled, as have the number of films released. How can such an industry operate safely with a patchwork of state and local regulations? It cannot. Action must be taken on the federal level so that studios and filmmakers cannot "state shop" for jurisdictions with lesser expectations and more loopholes than others.

In addition, no "hot gun," defined as a functional weapon loaded with "blanks," should be on sets. VFX technology has advanced to the point that Martin Scorsese was able to de-age actors in "The Irishman." Despite the rise of impressive digital technology like this, TV and film production remains mired in previous eras. While one might argue that such visual effects are not perfect, the technology exists to avoid potentially dangerous firearms on set. No data exists that indicates audiences prefer real weapons to CGI or rate a movie lower if gun violence occurs away from the camera. There is no excuse for bringing a lethal weapon onto the set of a motion picture, thereby risking the lives of cast and crew.

Mandated safety plans should leave no room for error. Even on low budget films like "Rust," editors should employ CGI or other available technology, even if that means cost-cutting elsewhere or reducing the number of scenes containing gunfire. Safety must to come first.

The world lost a talented young woman with a family. Had the gun not been fired by a well-known celebrity, the bullet that killed her and injured director Joel Souza could have been another shot in the darkness. Instead, it could be a new "shot heard around the world." May this tragedy fuel reform. Comprehensive, specific and mandatory standards should be required on every film set nationwide, and "hot guns" should be banned. 