August 25, 2025 • 38 mins
On October 21, 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of the film Rust, a tragedy that shook Hollywood and the world.
In this episode, we explore how a series of missteps, overlooked safety protocols, and human error led to her death. We delve into the history of on-set accidents, the role of unions and armorers, and the legal battles that followed - including the trials of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Alec Baldwin.
Through interviews, court records, and eyewitness accounts, we examine not just what happened that day, but why it could happen in 2021 despite decades of lessons from past tragedies. Most importantly, we remember Halyna - her artistry, her courage, and the legacy she left behind - and consider what Hollywood can do to prevent another life lost.
Support the next generation of cinematographers and honor Halyna’s memory by donating to the Halyna Hutchins Memorial Scholarship Fund:
Halyna Hutchins Scholarship Fund | American Film Institute
***
Method & Madness is researched, written, hosted, & produced by Dawn Cate
Music by Tymur Khakimov from Pixabay
***
Get in Touch!:
methodandmadnesspod@gmail.com
CONNECT:
DIVE INTO MORE:
MethodandMadnessPodcast.com
***
All sources are listed on the website, under each episode description.
MethodandMadnessPodcast.com
Thank you for listening!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/method-madness--6241524/support.
In this episode, we explore how a series of missteps, overlooked safety protocols, and human error led to her death. We delve into the history of on-set accidents, the role of unions and armorers, and the legal battles that followed - including the trials of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Alec Baldwin.
Through interviews, court records, and eyewitness accounts, we examine not just what happened that day, but why it could happen in 2021 despite decades of lessons from past tragedies. Most importantly, we remember Halyna - her artistry, her courage, and the legacy she left behind - and consider what Hollywood can do to prevent another life lost.
Support the next generation of cinematographers and honor Halyna’s memory by donating to the Halyna Hutchins Memorial Scholarship Fund:
Halyna Hutchins Scholarship Fund | American Film Institute
***
Method & Madness is researched, written, hosted, & produced by Dawn Cate
Music by Tymur Khakimov from Pixabay
***
Get in Touch!:
methodandmadnesspod@gmail.com
CONNECT:
DIVE INTO MORE:
MethodandMadnessPodcast.com
***
All sources are listed on the website, under each episode description.
MethodandMadnessPodcast.com
Thank you for listening!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/method-madness--6241524/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey listener, If you enjoy listening to this podcast, consider
leaving a rating or a review on Apple Podcast or
on Spotify. Thank you. Welcome to Method and Madness. This
is preventable. The killing of Helena Hutchins. I'm your host, Dawn.
(00:35):
Helena Hutchins was a brilliant cinematographer, a storyteller driven by
curiosity and adrenaline, and a devoted mother and wife. By
the time she arrived on the Rust set in New Mexico,
she had earned her place as one of Hollywood's rising stars,
ready to bring her unique vision to life. In the desert.
(00:56):
Just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, sits a sprawling ranch
called Bonanza Creek. For filmmakers looking for an authentic Western
town or historic homestead, this privately owned location is ideal
tumbleweeds rolling across dusty roads, an old post office, a saloon,
and panoramic views of open plains and distant mountains. Established
(01:21):
in the nineteen fifties, Bonanza Creek has been the backdrop
for countless films and TV shows, from Butch Cassidy and
The Sun Dance Kid in nineteen sixty nine to Young
Guns in nineteen eighty eight. To TV's Walker Texas Ranger.
It's a place of make believe, But on October twenty first,
(01:42):
twenty twenty one, reality turned tragic. That afternoon, Helena Hutchin's
phone pinged with texts from friends and family, just checking in.
Are you okay? Just heard about the accident? I'm thinking
of you. Answer me and say that you are alive.
I love you, Please be okay. The news at first
(02:04):
was vague. A woman was killed and a man injured
when a prop gun misfired on the set of the
Alec Baldwin film Rust, but by the end of the
day details emerged. The injured man was Joel Sousa, the director,
the woman was Helena Hutchins, the cinematographer, and the gun
had been fired by actor Alec Baldwin. In this episode,
(02:27):
we'll explore a history of tragedy in film and television,
how negligence, cost cutting, and the pressure of deadlines can
have deadly consequences, how we like to think it won't
happen to us until it does, and how in twenty
twenty one, in the modern era of filmmaking, someone could
still be accidentally shot and killed on set. But at
(02:50):
its heart, this is about one person, a mother, a wife,
an artist, who woke up one morning, went to work
and never came home. This is Helena's story. There's a
(03:20):
saying that goes. Every safety standard is written in blood.
Too often, industries move from chaos to regulation only after
tragedy strikes. Take Tailanol. Up until nineteen eighty two, bottles
could be easily tampered with, and seven people died after
ingesting cyanide LEASD capsules in a mass murder that has
(03:41):
gone unsolved. That crisis led Johnson and Johnson and other
manufacturers to adopt tamper resistant packaging. It's a simple principle.
Identify a risk, then adjust processes to protect people. The
television and film industry follows the same path. Early incidents
(04:01):
showed just how far we didn't know better excuses can go.
In some cases, actors were handed firearms with little or
no training, and yes, sometimes live rounds were included. In
nineteen fifteen, during filming of Cecil b De Mills, the
captive extras were directed to pound guns against a locked
(04:22):
door for realism. They were instructed to replace live rounds
with blanks, but one gun still contained a live bullet.
The shot struck an actor in the head, killing him instantly.
Accounts differ on whether it was Bob Fleming or Charles Chandler,
but the lesson is the same. The seeds of modern
(04:44):
safety regulations were born from tragedy. Even over a century later,
we still have to ask, how can deadly mistakes continue
to happen on set when the data, the warnings and
the history are all right there at our fingertips. How
(05:06):
can we make it better? That was Helena's mantra on
every set, guiding how she approached each shot. Helena Anna
Taliva Androsovich was born on April tenth, nineteen seventy nine,
in herodits Ussr, now the Ukraine. She was born to
Olga and Anatoli and grew up on a Soviet military
(05:28):
base in the Arctic Circle, surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines,
with a younger sister, Svetlana. With little to do outside,
she watched films, some propaganda, some World War II dramas,
but her favorite was nineteen fifty seven's The Cranes Are Flying,
a poignant tale of lovers torn apart by war. Helena
(05:50):
fell in love with storytelling rooted in real life After
studying journalism at Kiev National University, Helena moved to Los Angeles,
working as a production assistant and exploring fashion photography, learning
how lighting could shape emotion. Two years at the American
Film Institute Conservatory honed her craft further, and she graduated
(06:14):
in twenty fifteen. By then, she'd been married to Matthew
Hutchins for ten years, and together they had a two
year old son andros Friends described the family as deeply supportive,
a partnership built on friendship and shared dreams. Helena's talent
quickly drew attention. She worked on indie films, building a
(06:35):
reel that captured mood, atmosphere, and dreamlike imagery. AFI teacher
Bill Dill noted how her unique background shaped a distinctive
cinematic vision. In twenty eighteen, she was selected as one
of the first eight female cinematographers for the twenty first
century Fox DP Lab and was named one of American
(06:57):
cinematographers Rising Stars in twenty nineteen. That recognition led Joelsusa,
the writer and director of Rust, to hire her as
director of photography. A self described adrenaline junkie, Helena was
thrilled to be working on a Western shooting in the
picturesque New Mexico Desert. For her, it was more than
(07:21):
a job. It was a career milestone, earned not just
through immense talent, but through generosity, mentorship, and a collaborative
spirit that set her apart in a competitive industry. It
started with a screenplay. Joel Susa shared his vision with
Alec Baldwin, and together they set out to make a
western called Rust. Baldwin would play the title character and
(07:44):
also act as one of the producers. The story follows
a man on the run with his estranged thirteen year
old grandson, a child sentenced to execution after an accidental killing.
By fall of twenty twenty one, production was under but
long hours, budget pressures, delays, and crew conflicts had already
(08:05):
begun to strain the set. Camera operators quit mid production,
yet Helena Hutchins remained focused on her craft. Just two
days before the tragedy, she posted an Instagram video horseback
riding in the New Mexico desert caption one of the
perks of shooting a Western is you get to ride
horses on your day off. She looked happy and in
(08:28):
her element. Thursday, October twenty first, the cast and crew
broke for lunch around twelve thirty pm. When they returned,
they set up a scene inside a small building made
to resemble an old church. The crew inside was minimal Julsusa,
assistant director Dave Halls, Helena, Alec Baldwin, a dolly grip,
(08:52):
and a sound engineer. The scene called for Baldwin to
point a prop revolver at the camera, an image that
would later be edited to look like he was aiming
at an assailant. Helena carefully framed the shot with Sousa
observing from behind her. In rehearsal footage, Baldwin sits in
a pew, head down, occasionally glancing up. He reaches into
(09:15):
his coat, and then, in the span of a heartbeat,
the unthinkable happened. Nothing on camera captured it, and yet
its consequences would be felt forever. It was a close
up on Alec Baldwin. He pulled out the gun, aimed
at the camera and there was a sharp snap, then
a loud pop. Panic erupted. Helena hutchins lay against a dolly,
(09:39):
bleeding from her right side and was heard saying that
is not good. Behind her. Joel Susa was on the
floor also wounded. He would later describe it as feeling
like someone had hit him with a bat. No one
in the room fully understood what had just happened or
had time to process it. Two crew members moved a
pew out of the way and rushed to tend to Helena.
(10:02):
Ross the Dolly Grip immediately treated Joel, wrapping galls around
a bullet wound that protruded from his shoulder, and yelled
for someone to call nine one one.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Accidentally shot on a movie set by a cross gun.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
We need help immediately, A finance free grant come on.
Within minutes, an ambulance arrived. Medics treated both Helena and
Joel on the floor of the church. Joel was conscious
but in pain. Helena was responsive but told Joel she
couldn't feel her legs. Santa Fe Deputy Nicholas Leffleur was
(10:37):
the first officer on scene. His body camera captured Joel
lying on the floor to the left, surrounded by medics,
and Helena straight ahead, oxygen being administered as she tried
to breathe steadily. Deputy LeFleur soon learned who had been
holding the gun.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
How many people you think we're in here? When it happened?
Three maybe four? Four?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Ok so two more other than need to.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Read as soon as I see him he read NEMRA
operators read, yes, sir, okay. Who else did wrestle was here?
Alec Baldwin was the actor on set that pulled the trigger.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Alec Baldwin?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Where's he at? How's going? Sir?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
So?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
My understanding were you were in the room when the
lady went the gun? Yeah, okay, alrighty well, I know
your name, so it's it's uh kay. Let me get
with my lieutenant and see where we want you to,
where we want you to hang out? Okay, whatever you
want to do, yes, sir, all right, give me just
a second.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
It took nearly an hour for Helena to be stabilized.
She was loaded onto a gurney and airlifted to the
nearest trauma center. Joel was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
As more officers arrived and the scene was secured, disbelief
bolts through the crew. Many assumed the injuries were caused
(12:04):
by a fragment of a blank until the truth emerged.
A live round had been loaded into the revolver when
Baldwin drew and fired the bullet struck Helena in the chest,
exited out her back and struck Joel in the shoulder,
but in the aftermath and chaos, nobody realized the gravity
of the situation. Deputy Puentes questioned the film's armorer, Hannah
(12:29):
Guiterrez red as she sat in the back of a
patrol car.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
What's your place of employment here? Here? What's you what's
the name of that uh rest? Is it a video
production or yeah, it's rust Productions out on? What's your
job there with them? I'm the armorer, or at least
(12:55):
I was.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
There would be a lot of questions for the twenty
four year old army, as well as the producers and
Alec Baldwin. While Hannah told sheriffs that there were never
live bullets on set, the dark truth came out, starting
with doctors showing Joel Sousa his X ray with a
bullet in his shoulder. While being interviewed at the Sheriff's department,
(13:18):
Hannah was informed on camera that two live bullets had
been found on top of a prop cart. Joel was
treated and released the next day. Helena tragically was pronounced
dead at the hospital. Let's take a break. Most of
(13:49):
the cast and crew learned of Helena's death online. Alec Baldwin,
in contrast, found out while being questioned at the Santa
Fe Sheriff's Department. The million dollar question remains, how did
this happen? Well, the answer is not simple. It was
a cascade of missteps, oversights, and miscommunications. In March of
(14:12):
nineteen ninety three, tragedies struck the set of The Crow
when twenty eight year old actor Brandon Lee was fatally
shot during filming. The mistake began long before cameras rolled.
The prop crew, with little training and handling firearms, tried
to make their own dummy bullets for close up shots
of a revolver. These were supposed to look real but
(14:33):
be completely harmless. To create them, the crew pulled apart
live rounds, emptied the gunpowder, and reassembled the shells, but
something went wrong. One of the bullet tips separated and
remained stuck inside the barrel of the gun. Later that
same revolver was loaded with blanks, cartridges designed to create
the sound and flash of gunfire without firing an actual bullet.
(14:59):
When the blank was fired, the hidden bullet tip was
propelled from the barrel with deadly force, striking Lee. It
was a scene that was originally written as Brandon Lee's
character Eric comes home to find his girlfriend being assaulted.
A fight ensues and Eric is shot. It was during
the filming of that scene that actor Michael Massey pointed
(15:20):
the gun that was supposed to be a safe prop
and he pulled the trigger. After Brandon's death, that scene
was discarded and the remainder of the film was completed
by using a body double and digital editing. Michael Massey
was so torn apart by the incident that he quit
acting for a year and continued to have recurring nightmares.
(15:41):
After Brandon Lee's death, there was a greater focus on
safety in Hollywood. Visual effects were used in place of
practical effects like prop guns, But as Benjamin Mays once said,
the tragedy of life is often not in our failure,
but rather in our complacency. Just five days before Helena
was killed, tension on set was already high. On October sixteenth,
(16:06):
prop master Sarah Zachary reportedly misfired a gun, shooting a
blank into her foot. Minutes later, Baldwin's stunt double accidentally
discharged another weapon inside a cabin when armorer Hannah Guzzara's
reed confronted Sarah about these misfires. An argument erupted. Hannah
wanted to inform the producers, while Sarah later claimed she
(16:29):
wanted to fire Hannah for being difficult. The situation was
further complicated by the man who supplied the prop guns
and ammunition, Seth Kenny, a PDQ arm and prop He
was also Sarah's boss and had known Hannah for years
through her father. Her father was veteran armorer cl Reid,
who trained Hannah in her craft. Following the argument between
(16:52):
Hannah and Sarah, Seth Kenny admonished Hannah in text messages,
insisting that that missfire was an act accident in advising
her not to push it. On October twentieth, several crew
members quit walking off the set after safety concerns were
not addressed. There were emails sent that cited lack of
COVID restrictions, lack of gun safety, a special effects explosion
(17:17):
that had affected a crew member's ear. The list went
on the next day. October twenty first, twenty twenty one,
Social media buzzed with news of Helena's death. In the US,
people were just beginning to feel safe gathering again after
COVID restrictions, and across Twitter, Reddit and other platforms, many
(17:37):
were hearing her name for the first time. As details emerged,
outrage spread. Investigators had found six live bullets on the
Rust set, one even in Baldwin's belt. When Hannah was questioned,
she said she didn't know how live rounds ended up
on set and denied practicing shooting Baldwin, and separately said
(18:01):
he assumed the gun was safe a cold prop and
denied pulling the trigger. Assistant director Dave Halls reportedly could
not believe live ammunition was present. Julsusa, while hospitalized, demanded
to see his X ray, unable to comprehend that a
bullet had struck him. With the crew and armorer in shock,
(18:22):
one question dominated how did the live rounds get onto
the set and who was responsible for Helena's death. The
answers are tangled. Imagine the meme of several spider men
pointing at each other, fingers pointed at Hannah Guitera's reed,
the armorer tasked with insuring firearms were safe at Dave Hall's.
(18:43):
The assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun and declared
it cold despite prior safety complaints at Baldwin himself for
pulling a gun and pointing it at a person, At
Sarah Zachary, who discarded live rounds after the shooting and
pushed Hannah away from firearm duties, and at Seth Kenny,
owner of PDQ Arm and Prop, who supplied the ammunition
(19:06):
and had oversight of the props department. Every pointed finger
told part of the story, but none offered a simple
explanation for the tragedy that unfolded that October afternoon. The
tragedy unrust didn't happen in a single moment. It was
the result of a chain of missteps, small errors that
compounded until they became fatal. Weeks before October twenty first,
(19:28):
there were warning signs. The crew members had expressed concerns
that the set was very done heavy there wasn't enough
safety training, but those warnings were dismissed, argued over, or minimized.
Hannah had attempted to raise these issues and was met
with resistance, pressure to stay silent, and conflicting directions from
(19:49):
her supervisors and suppliers. The prop supplier Seth Kenny, had
provided dummy rounds for the production, but somewhere in that system,
live ammunition intended never to appear on set was introduced,
whether through mislabeling, human error, or improper oversight. A single
live round ended up in a revolver that would later
(20:11):
be handled by Baldwin. On the day of the shooting,
the chain of errors converged. Assistant director Dave Halls handed
the gun to Baldwin, declaring it cold. He told investigators
that he did not check each individual round of ammunition
that day. Baldwin, trusting the armorer and props team, believed
(20:32):
the firearm was safe. No one in that small church
questioned it again, and in that brief, unguarded moment, the
live round fired, striking Helena and Joel. It was a
catastrophic alignment of negligence, miscommunication, and more than one person
played a role, however, unintended, in the events that led
(20:53):
to a life lost in an instant. The chain of
errors on the rust set raises a question that lingers
for anyone watching this tragedy unfold. How is it supposed
to go? What processes are in place to ensure this
(21:14):
doesn't happen. To understand that, we need to look at
how safety is supposed to work in Hollywood The Screen
Actors Guild was founded in nineteen thirty three, originally to
protect actors from grueling work hours and restrictive studio contracts.
It later merged with the American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists, forming SAG AFTRA. Decades of progress have been made,
(21:39):
but one thing remains clear. Safety on sets often comes
down to recommendations, not strictly enforced rules. SAG primarily protects
actors and performers. They issue safety bulletins, provide guidance, and
include contractual rules around dangerous work, but they if you
(22:00):
do not directly control how firearms are handled on set,
that responsibility falls largely to the International Alliance of Theatrical
Stage Employees or IATSEE. They represent mostly crew members, camera operators,
set designers, special effects teams, customers, armorers. Guns are no
(22:22):
exception on a set. The armorer or weapons master is
supposed to be the ultimate authority on firearms. They perform
safety checks and sure guns are either disabled or loaded
only with blanks or dummy rounds, and they train actors
on proper handling. In theory, gun safety is a shared responsibility.
(22:43):
The armorer controls the weapons, the assistant director double checks
before handing them to the actor, and the actor handles
the gun responsibly. But above all, it is the producer's
duty to make sure the right people are in place
and the rules are foiled. Followed with the chain of
responsibility laid out, questions naturally arose about accountability. Would anyone
(23:07):
be criminally liable for the events that day? The answer
would eventually land in the courtroom. Safety coordinator and assistant
director Dave Halls was facing charges of unsafe handling of
a firearm. He agreed to a plea deal he would
plead guilty and testify in any other court proceedings. He
was convicted and sentenced to six months probation, twenty four
(23:31):
hours of community service, and must pay a five hundred
dollars fine and complete gun safety training. While researching this case,
it became clear that Dave Hall's is one of the
few people that have made no excuses for what happened
that day. In the documentary made by Helena's friends, Last
Take Rust and the Story of Helena, he is obviously
(23:53):
riddled with guilt. In all of his interviews. Hannah Gitzhara's
read was adamant that she only put dumb and the revolver,
but wished she'd done a more thorough check. She was
charged with negligent homicide and faced up to three years
in prison. Her trial became a focal point. Prosecutors presented
evidence suggesting that live ammunition had been brought onto the
(24:16):
set by Hannah herself. A photograph dated October tenth, twenty
twenty one, eleven days before the shooting, showed Hannah holding
a box labeled forty five long Cult dummies. An identical
box was later found on set, and according to prosecutors,
it originally contains six live rounds that were then eventually
(24:38):
scattered around the rust set. Additional evidence included a photo
on Hannah's phone sent by her father of a matching
box of dummies he kept at home. Hannah's defense countered.
They said the live rounds came from seth Kenny of
PDQ Arm and Prop, but the box Kenny had sent
over to the set arrived two days after the photo
(25:00):
of Hannah with a box in her lap, making it
unlikely that he provided the live rounds. Still, Kenny's role
and the worry he may have felt about being implicated,
remained part of the story. In the chaos immediately after
Helena's death, Sarah, Zachary and Seth Kenny spoke on the phone.
(25:20):
Sarah disposed of bullets that day, and other items were
moved from the prop cart into a truck. Ross Adiego,
the Dolly Grip present during the shooting, testified at Hannah's trial.
He described the set as rushed, with two misfires occurring
before the fatal incident, and safety meetings not happening daily,
(25:42):
which deviated from standard practice. He noted that Hannah often
had other duties as assistant prop master, rolling Cowboy cigarettes,
for example, and that he'd seen the gun and ammunition
storage cart left unattended multiple times. There was also testimony
that Hannah had pulled lanks or dummies from her Fannie pack,
(26:02):
a sloppy move that was seen as unorthodox for an armorer.
Armorers are often described in the industry as militant. In fact,
they're often members of the military and their presence on
set is all business, as they carried the weight of
their immense responsibility. In court, the prosecution clarified that Hannah
(26:23):
Guitera's read was not charged with intentional homicide, but with
homicide by negligence. They argued that a series of lapses
on her part created multiple opportunities for a live round
to end up on the set. Detectives and witnesses presented
circumstantial evidence suggesting the live ammunition could have originated from
(26:45):
the armorer herself. So while detectives and witnesses were presenting
the circumstantial evidence suggesting Hannah was the one who brought
the live ammunition on set, the defense had a different
possibility that they were suggesting. They said someone intentionally placed
a live round in the box of dummy rounds, citing
disgruntled crew members who'd walked off set the day before
(27:08):
the shooting. They highlighted the window between eleven a m.
And one pm when firearms were unattended, as a potential
opportunity for tampering. Hannah maintained that she never brought any
live rounds on set, though photographs and interviews complicated that claim.
A box of her own ammunition shown to a sheriff's
(27:30):
officer appeared identical to the box found on the rust set,
forming a central piece of the prosecution's case. After deliberating
for less than three hours, the jury returned a verdict.
Hannah was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to
eighteen months in prison. She served thirteen months and remains
(27:51):
on parole until May of twenty twenty six. Jolsusa, reflecting
on the sentencing, expressed the complicated emotions that lingered. There
is no win here, He said, I feel awful that
she's going to prison for Helena's loved ones. The outcome
offers little comfort. Her friend Alicia, capturing the grief that
(28:13):
no verdict can fully resolve, said quote, justice doesn't give
me my friend back. In January of twenty twenty two,
Hannah filed a civil lawsuit against Seth Kenny and his
business p d Q Arman prop, claiming he introduced live
rounds onto the set by providing a box of dummies
that was secretly mixed with real bullets. She argued that
(28:36):
she relied on his materials being safe and that his
mishandling attempts to shift blame after the tragedy contributed to
Helena Hutchins's death. As an actor, Baldwin had reason to
trust the gun was safe once the assistant director called
it cold, but as a producer, he also carried responsibility
for hiring the right people and enforcing safety protocols, and
(28:59):
that's the lines of blame start to blur. Baldwin has
maintained he was told the revolver contained no live rounds.
He has consistently denied pulling the trigger, though forensic reports
later indicated otherwise. In the summer of twenty twenty four,
Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and faced the possibility
(29:21):
of eighteen months in prison. The defense argued that it
was not Baldwin's responsibility to check the gun, but rather
to handle it correctly once handed to him. On July twelfth,
twenty twenty four, the case was dismissed. The judge found
merit in the defense's claim that the prosecution had failed
to provide evidence showing how the live rounds arrived on set,
(29:43):
dismissing the charges with prejudice, meaning Baldwin could not be
charged again for the incident. For Helena's husband, Matthew, the
outcome was difficult to accept. He has expressed frustration with
the notion that Baldwin bore no legal responsibility, emphasize zing
that accountability lies with multiple people on set, including the actor.
(30:05):
In the aftermath of the shooting, New Mexico authorities also
took action. OSHA reached a settlement with Rust Production for
one hundred thousand dollars citing violations of onset safety regulations.
In February twenty twenty two, Helena Hutchins family filed a
civil lawsuit against Rust Productions and others involved, including Alec
(30:26):
Baldwin and Hannah Guatetra's read. The suit claimed that Helena's
death was the result of reckless cost cutting, ignored safety violations,
and failures in onset oversight. The family argued that the
armor was unqualified and that Baldwin had acted carelessly. Baldwin's
defense countered that actors must be able to rely on
(30:48):
trained crew to ensure a firearm is safe before it's
ever handed to them. Still, a trained actor knows to
never point a gun at another person. Ultimately, the parties
reached a confidential settlement, leaving many of the details undisclosed.
(31:11):
So what's changed in Hollywood since Helena's death? Some low
budget productions have already felt the impact. Insurance companies are
denying coverage to films that want to use real firearms
on set. Meanwhile, union reps and major studios are carefully
reviewing regulations and guidelines around on set safety. In twenty
(31:33):
twenty three, The New York Times reported that the TV
show Walker had decided to stop using real guns entirely
props head Scott Reader opted for replicas, rubber guns, and
gas powered alternatives. Actor Dwyane Johnson also announced that his
company's Seven Bucks productions would no longer use real firearms
(31:54):
for any of their projects. Yet, despite these high profile examples,
industry wise, change remains limited. Joel Susa said, quote, You'll
talk to people who have been on other sets, and
they say it's on their minds, but there's also the
feeling that it could never happen to them. They say,
sometimes a hurricane lands where it lands. Last year, Susan
(32:18):
met a veteran cinematographer who described a recent Los Angeles
set where Live Ammo had nearly made it through initial
safety checks, only to be caught at the last moment.
People aren't changing, the cinematographer told him. They all feel
like you guys were just unlucky. Veteran armorer John Navarro,
(32:39):
who oversaw blank fire on Killers of the Flower Moon,
emphasized that blanks can enhance storytelling. He said it provides
realism and gives actors something to respond to, and if
used properly, it's utterly safe. Still, by twenty twenty five,
the question remains, why take the risk at all? If
(33:00):
George Clooney can float through space and Saraj Sharma contain
a tiger on a lifeboat, why rely on live or
blank gunfire for realism? In businesses and on set, assessing
risk is key. You've identify the potential hazards, you determine
the likelihood and the impact, and you choose how to respond.
(33:21):
Now you can accept the risk and reduce it through
your safety standards, or avoid it entirely, such as eliminating
real firearms. Helena's husband Matt, has become an advocate for
gun safety on set. In twenty twenty one, a law
was proposed to ban operational firearms on set, but it
(33:41):
faced pushback from Hollywood. Armorers insisted that blanks were essential,
and California State Senator Dave Cortes ultimately backed down, proposing
an alternative bill instead. The question of how the live
bullets got on the set remain unanswered. Did they come
from the prop supplier? Did Hannah bring them on set
(34:03):
because she intended to do target practice? After work was
its sabotage. For now, that remains a mystery. After Helena
was shot and killed, production on Rust came to an
immediate halt. Crew members that had walked off set the
(34:26):
day before the shooting expressed guilt. They felt that if
they had stayed on site, the tragedy would have never happened.
Eighteen months later, filming resumed, though the location had moved
from New Mexico to Montana. Completing the film was deeply
important to Helena's family. Her mother wanted the movie to
be finished so her daughter's work and vision could be
(34:49):
seen her younger sisters. Felana reflected in twenty twenty three quote,
to lose my sister for me personally, it was a
horrible experience. It is one of the biggest losses of
my life. It is for this reason that I would
like those who are at fault to carry that responsibility.
Bianca Klein stepped in as the director of photography for
(35:12):
the reshoots, completing roughly half of what Helena had yet
to film. The finished movie received a limited release, grossing
just twenty five thousand dollars across one hundred and fifteen theaters,
and it carries a five point four rating on IMDb.
For Joel Susa, the experience changed him forever. He said, quote,
(35:34):
I would never again be around a gun that fires.
He used rubber guns for the reshoot. Reflecting on the
ripple effects of that tragic day, he added, talk about
the butterfly effect. I wish I never wrote the damn movie.
Helena's story is a stark reminder of both the beauty
and fragility of life. Her life was full of curiosity, courage,
(35:59):
and a real, lentless drive to tell stories through her lens.
She brought artistry, care, and heart to every set she
worked on. In October twenty first, that life was tragically
cut short in a way that still reverberates through Hollywood.
Her death forced the industry to confront some uncomfortable truths,
the hidden risks on sets, the consequences of cutting corners,
(36:23):
and the human cost when safety is overlooked. Some studios
and productions have changed their practices, some have learned through tragedy,
and some remains stubbornly the same. But Helena's legacy is
bigger than rules or legislation. It's in the work she
left behind, in the students and cinematographers. She continues to
(36:45):
inspire and in the reminder that safety, respect, and vigilance
are not optional their obligations as viewers, listeners, and storytellers.
We can honor her by remembering her artistry, advocating for
safer sets, and supporting those who carry forward her vision.
Because at the heart of it, this isn't just a
(37:07):
story about a movie set. It's about a human life
and the care we owe to one another. Here is
your call to action. You can support the next generation
of cinematographers by donating to the Helena Hutchins Memorial Scholarship
Fund at Helena HUTCHINSDP dot com. More information is available
(37:27):
in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening.
Method and Madness is a completely independent podcast, written, produced
and hosted by me. To find out more about the show,
including access to all episodes, visit Methodanmadness podcast dot com.
(37:48):
To support the show, consider leaving a rating or a
review on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify. To connect, I'm
on Instagram at Method and Madness Pod, and you can
find me on on TikTok and Facebook as well. To
chat to just a case or to discuss the episode,
reach out to me at method and Madness Pod at
(38:09):
gmail dot com. That's it for this week. Until next time,
take care of yourself. You matter. For crisis support, text
hello to seven four one seven four one
Hey listener, If you enjoy listening to this podcast, consider
leaving a rating or a review on Apple Podcast or
on Spotify. Thank you. Welcome to Method and Madness. This
is preventable. The killing of Helena Hutchins. I'm your host, Dawn.
(00:35):
Helena Hutchins was a brilliant cinematographer, a storyteller driven by
curiosity and adrenaline, and a devoted mother and wife. By
the time she arrived on the Rust set in New Mexico,
she had earned her place as one of Hollywood's rising stars,
ready to bring her unique vision to life. In the desert.
(00:56):
Just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, sits a sprawling ranch
called Bonanza Creek. For filmmakers looking for an authentic Western
town or historic homestead, this privately owned location is ideal
tumbleweeds rolling across dusty roads, an old post office, a saloon,
and panoramic views of open plains and distant mountains. Established
(01:21):
in the nineteen fifties, Bonanza Creek has been the backdrop
for countless films and TV shows, from Butch Cassidy and
The Sun Dance Kid in nineteen sixty nine to Young
Guns in nineteen eighty eight. To TV's Walker Texas Ranger.
It's a place of make believe, But on October twenty first,
(01:42):
twenty twenty one, reality turned tragic. That afternoon, Helena Hutchin's
phone pinged with texts from friends and family, just checking in.
Are you okay? Just heard about the accident? I'm thinking
of you. Answer me and say that you are alive.
I love you, Please be okay. The news at first
(02:04):
was vague. A woman was killed and a man injured
when a prop gun misfired on the set of the
Alec Baldwin film Rust, but by the end of the
day details emerged. The injured man was Joel Sousa, the director,
the woman was Helena Hutchins, the cinematographer, and the gun
had been fired by actor Alec Baldwin. In this episode,
(02:27):
we'll explore a history of tragedy in film and television,
how negligence, cost cutting, and the pressure of deadlines can
have deadly consequences, how we like to think it won't
happen to us until it does, and how in twenty
twenty one, in the modern era of filmmaking, someone could
still be accidentally shot and killed on set. But at
(02:50):
its heart, this is about one person, a mother, a wife,
an artist, who woke up one morning, went to work
and never came home. This is Helena's story. There's a
(03:20):
saying that goes. Every safety standard is written in blood.
Too often, industries move from chaos to regulation only after
tragedy strikes. Take Tailanol. Up until nineteen eighty two, bottles
could be easily tampered with, and seven people died after
ingesting cyanide LEASD capsules in a mass murder that has
(03:41):
gone unsolved. That crisis led Johnson and Johnson and other
manufacturers to adopt tamper resistant packaging. It's a simple principle.
Identify a risk, then adjust processes to protect people. The
television and film industry follows the same path. Early incidents
(04:01):
showed just how far we didn't know better excuses can go.
In some cases, actors were handed firearms with little or
no training, and yes, sometimes live rounds were included. In
nineteen fifteen, during filming of Cecil b De Mills, the
captive extras were directed to pound guns against a locked
(04:22):
door for realism. They were instructed to replace live rounds
with blanks, but one gun still contained a live bullet.
The shot struck an actor in the head, killing him instantly.
Accounts differ on whether it was Bob Fleming or Charles Chandler,
but the lesson is the same. The seeds of modern
(04:44):
safety regulations were born from tragedy. Even over a century later,
we still have to ask, how can deadly mistakes continue
to happen on set when the data, the warnings and
the history are all right there at our fingertips. How
(05:06):
can we make it better? That was Helena's mantra on
every set, guiding how she approached each shot. Helena Anna
Taliva Androsovich was born on April tenth, nineteen seventy nine,
in herodits Ussr, now the Ukraine. She was born to
Olga and Anatoli and grew up on a Soviet military
(05:28):
base in the Arctic Circle, surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines,
with a younger sister, Svetlana. With little to do outside,
she watched films, some propaganda, some World War II dramas,
but her favorite was nineteen fifty seven's The Cranes Are Flying,
a poignant tale of lovers torn apart by war. Helena
(05:50):
fell in love with storytelling rooted in real life After
studying journalism at Kiev National University, Helena moved to Los Angeles,
working as a production assistant and exploring fashion photography, learning
how lighting could shape emotion. Two years at the American
Film Institute Conservatory honed her craft further, and she graduated
(06:14):
in twenty fifteen. By then, she'd been married to Matthew
Hutchins for ten years, and together they had a two
year old son andros Friends described the family as deeply supportive,
a partnership built on friendship and shared dreams. Helena's talent
quickly drew attention. She worked on indie films, building a
(06:35):
reel that captured mood, atmosphere, and dreamlike imagery. AFI teacher
Bill Dill noted how her unique background shaped a distinctive
cinematic vision. In twenty eighteen, she was selected as one
of the first eight female cinematographers for the twenty first
century Fox DP Lab and was named one of American
(06:57):
cinematographers Rising Stars in twenty nineteen. That recognition led Joelsusa,
the writer and director of Rust, to hire her as
director of photography. A self described adrenaline junkie, Helena was
thrilled to be working on a Western shooting in the
picturesque New Mexico Desert. For her, it was more than
(07:21):
a job. It was a career milestone, earned not just
through immense talent, but through generosity, mentorship, and a collaborative
spirit that set her apart in a competitive industry. It
started with a screenplay. Joel Susa shared his vision with
Alec Baldwin, and together they set out to make a
western called Rust. Baldwin would play the title character and
(07:44):
also act as one of the producers. The story follows
a man on the run with his estranged thirteen year
old grandson, a child sentenced to execution after an accidental killing.
By fall of twenty twenty one, production was under but
long hours, budget pressures, delays, and crew conflicts had already
(08:05):
begun to strain the set. Camera operators quit mid production,
yet Helena Hutchins remained focused on her craft. Just two
days before the tragedy, she posted an Instagram video horseback
riding in the New Mexico desert caption one of the
perks of shooting a Western is you get to ride
horses on your day off. She looked happy and in
(08:28):
her element. Thursday, October twenty first, the cast and crew
broke for lunch around twelve thirty pm. When they returned,
they set up a scene inside a small building made
to resemble an old church. The crew inside was minimal Julsusa,
assistant director Dave Halls, Helena, Alec Baldwin, a dolly grip,
(08:52):
and a sound engineer. The scene called for Baldwin to
point a prop revolver at the camera, an image that
would later be edited to look like he was aiming
at an assailant. Helena carefully framed the shot with Sousa
observing from behind her. In rehearsal footage, Baldwin sits in
a pew, head down, occasionally glancing up. He reaches into
(09:15):
his coat, and then, in the span of a heartbeat,
the unthinkable happened. Nothing on camera captured it, and yet
its consequences would be felt forever. It was a close
up on Alec Baldwin. He pulled out the gun, aimed
at the camera and there was a sharp snap, then
a loud pop. Panic erupted. Helena hutchins lay against a dolly,
(09:39):
bleeding from her right side and was heard saying that
is not good. Behind her. Joel Susa was on the
floor also wounded. He would later describe it as feeling
like someone had hit him with a bat. No one
in the room fully understood what had just happened or
had time to process it. Two crew members moved a
pew out of the way and rushed to tend to Helena.
(10:02):
Ross the Dolly Grip immediately treated Joel, wrapping galls around
a bullet wound that protruded from his shoulder, and yelled
for someone to call nine one one.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Accidentally shot on a movie set by a cross gun.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
We need help immediately, A finance free grant come on.
Within minutes, an ambulance arrived. Medics treated both Helena and
Joel on the floor of the church. Joel was conscious
but in pain. Helena was responsive but told Joel she
couldn't feel her legs. Santa Fe Deputy Nicholas Leffleur was
(10:37):
the first officer on scene. His body camera captured Joel
lying on the floor to the left, surrounded by medics,
and Helena straight ahead, oxygen being administered as she tried
to breathe steadily. Deputy LeFleur soon learned who had been
holding the gun.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
How many people you think we're in here? When it happened?
Three maybe four? Four?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Ok so two more other than need to.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Read as soon as I see him he read NEMRA
operators read, yes, sir, okay. Who else did wrestle was here?
Alec Baldwin was the actor on set that pulled the trigger.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Alec Baldwin?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Where's he at? How's going? Sir?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
So?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
My understanding were you were in the room when the
lady went the gun? Yeah, okay, alrighty well, I know
your name, so it's it's uh kay. Let me get
with my lieutenant and see where we want you to,
where we want you to hang out? Okay, whatever you
want to do, yes, sir, all right, give me just
a second.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
It took nearly an hour for Helena to be stabilized.
She was loaded onto a gurney and airlifted to the
nearest trauma center. Joel was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
As more officers arrived and the scene was secured, disbelief
bolts through the crew. Many assumed the injuries were caused
(12:04):
by a fragment of a blank until the truth emerged.
A live round had been loaded into the revolver when
Baldwin drew and fired the bullet struck Helena in the chest,
exited out her back and struck Joel in the shoulder,
but in the aftermath and chaos, nobody realized the gravity
of the situation. Deputy Puentes questioned the film's armorer, Hannah
(12:29):
Guiterrez red as she sat in the back of a
patrol car.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
What's your place of employment here? Here? What's you what's
the name of that uh rest? Is it a video
production or yeah, it's rust Productions out on? What's your
job there with them? I'm the armorer, or at least
(12:55):
I was.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
There would be a lot of questions for the twenty
four year old army, as well as the producers and
Alec Baldwin. While Hannah told sheriffs that there were never
live bullets on set, the dark truth came out, starting
with doctors showing Joel Sousa his X ray with a
bullet in his shoulder. While being interviewed at the Sheriff's department,
(13:18):
Hannah was informed on camera that two live bullets had
been found on top of a prop cart. Joel was
treated and released the next day. Helena tragically was pronounced
dead at the hospital. Let's take a break. Most of
(13:49):
the cast and crew learned of Helena's death online. Alec Baldwin,
in contrast, found out while being questioned at the Santa
Fe Sheriff's Department. The million dollar question remains, how did
this happen? Well, the answer is not simple. It was
a cascade of missteps, oversights, and miscommunications. In March of
(14:12):
nineteen ninety three, tragedies struck the set of The Crow
when twenty eight year old actor Brandon Lee was fatally
shot during filming. The mistake began long before cameras rolled.
The prop crew, with little training and handling firearms, tried
to make their own dummy bullets for close up shots
of a revolver. These were supposed to look real but
(14:33):
be completely harmless. To create them, the crew pulled apart
live rounds, emptied the gunpowder, and reassembled the shells, but
something went wrong. One of the bullet tips separated and
remained stuck inside the barrel of the gun. Later that
same revolver was loaded with blanks, cartridges designed to create
the sound and flash of gunfire without firing an actual bullet.
(14:59):
When the blank was fired, the hidden bullet tip was
propelled from the barrel with deadly force, striking Lee. It
was a scene that was originally written as Brandon Lee's
character Eric comes home to find his girlfriend being assaulted.
A fight ensues and Eric is shot. It was during
the filming of that scene that actor Michael Massey pointed
(15:20):
the gun that was supposed to be a safe prop
and he pulled the trigger. After Brandon's death, that scene
was discarded and the remainder of the film was completed
by using a body double and digital editing. Michael Massey
was so torn apart by the incident that he quit
acting for a year and continued to have recurring nightmares.
(15:41):
After Brandon Lee's death, there was a greater focus on
safety in Hollywood. Visual effects were used in place of
practical effects like prop guns, But as Benjamin Mays once said,
the tragedy of life is often not in our failure,
but rather in our complacency. Just five days before Helena
was killed, tension on set was already high. On October sixteenth,
(16:06):
prop master Sarah Zachary reportedly misfired a gun, shooting a
blank into her foot. Minutes later, Baldwin's stunt double accidentally
discharged another weapon inside a cabin when armorer Hannah Guzzara's
reed confronted Sarah about these misfires. An argument erupted. Hannah
wanted to inform the producers, while Sarah later claimed she
(16:29):
wanted to fire Hannah for being difficult. The situation was
further complicated by the man who supplied the prop guns
and ammunition, Seth Kenny, a PDQ arm and prop He
was also Sarah's boss and had known Hannah for years
through her father. Her father was veteran armorer cl Reid,
who trained Hannah in her craft. Following the argument between
(16:52):
Hannah and Sarah, Seth Kenny admonished Hannah in text messages,
insisting that that missfire was an act accident in advising
her not to push it. On October twentieth, several crew
members quit walking off the set after safety concerns were
not addressed. There were emails sent that cited lack of
COVID restrictions, lack of gun safety, a special effects explosion
(17:17):
that had affected a crew member's ear. The list went
on the next day. October twenty first, twenty twenty one,
Social media buzzed with news of Helena's death. In the US,
people were just beginning to feel safe gathering again after
COVID restrictions, and across Twitter, Reddit and other platforms, many
(17:37):
were hearing her name for the first time. As details emerged,
outrage spread. Investigators had found six live bullets on the
Rust set, one even in Baldwin's belt. When Hannah was questioned,
she said she didn't know how live rounds ended up
on set and denied practicing shooting Baldwin, and separately said
(18:01):
he assumed the gun was safe a cold prop and
denied pulling the trigger. Assistant director Dave Halls reportedly could
not believe live ammunition was present. Julsusa, while hospitalized, demanded
to see his X ray, unable to comprehend that a
bullet had struck him. With the crew and armorer in shock,
(18:22):
one question dominated how did the live rounds get onto
the set and who was responsible for Helena's death. The
answers are tangled. Imagine the meme of several spider men
pointing at each other, fingers pointed at Hannah Guitera's reed,
the armorer tasked with insuring firearms were safe at Dave Hall's.
(18:43):
The assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun and declared
it cold despite prior safety complaints at Baldwin himself for
pulling a gun and pointing it at a person, At
Sarah Zachary, who discarded live rounds after the shooting and
pushed Hannah away from firearm duties, and at Seth Kenny,
owner of PDQ Arm and Prop, who supplied the ammunition
(19:06):
and had oversight of the props department. Every pointed finger
told part of the story, but none offered a simple
explanation for the tragedy that unfolded that October afternoon. The
tragedy unrust didn't happen in a single moment. It was
the result of a chain of missteps, small errors that
compounded until they became fatal. Weeks before October twenty first,
(19:28):
there were warning signs. The crew members had expressed concerns
that the set was very done heavy there wasn't enough
safety training, but those warnings were dismissed, argued over, or minimized.
Hannah had attempted to raise these issues and was met
with resistance, pressure to stay silent, and conflicting directions from
(19:49):
her supervisors and suppliers. The prop supplier Seth Kenny, had
provided dummy rounds for the production, but somewhere in that system,
live ammunition intended never to appear on set was introduced,
whether through mislabeling, human error, or improper oversight. A single
live round ended up in a revolver that would later
(20:11):
be handled by Baldwin. On the day of the shooting,
the chain of errors converged. Assistant director Dave Halls handed
the gun to Baldwin, declaring it cold. He told investigators
that he did not check each individual round of ammunition
that day. Baldwin, trusting the armorer and props team, believed
(20:32):
the firearm was safe. No one in that small church
questioned it again, and in that brief, unguarded moment, the
live round fired, striking Helena and Joel. It was a
catastrophic alignment of negligence, miscommunication, and more than one person
played a role, however, unintended, in the events that led
(20:53):
to a life lost in an instant. The chain of
errors on the rust set raises a question that lingers
for anyone watching this tragedy unfold. How is it supposed
to go? What processes are in place to ensure this
(21:14):
doesn't happen. To understand that, we need to look at
how safety is supposed to work in Hollywood The Screen
Actors Guild was founded in nineteen thirty three, originally to
protect actors from grueling work hours and restrictive studio contracts.
It later merged with the American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists, forming SAG AFTRA. Decades of progress have been made,
(21:39):
but one thing remains clear. Safety on sets often comes
down to recommendations, not strictly enforced rules. SAG primarily protects
actors and performers. They issue safety bulletins, provide guidance, and
include contractual rules around dangerous work, but they if you
(22:00):
do not directly control how firearms are handled on set,
that responsibility falls largely to the International Alliance of Theatrical
Stage Employees or IATSEE. They represent mostly crew members, camera operators,
set designers, special effects teams, customers, armorers. Guns are no
(22:22):
exception on a set. The armorer or weapons master is
supposed to be the ultimate authority on firearms. They perform
safety checks and sure guns are either disabled or loaded
only with blanks or dummy rounds, and they train actors
on proper handling. In theory, gun safety is a shared responsibility.
(22:43):
The armorer controls the weapons, the assistant director double checks
before handing them to the actor, and the actor handles
the gun responsibly. But above all, it is the producer's
duty to make sure the right people are in place
and the rules are foiled. Followed with the chain of
responsibility laid out, questions naturally arose about accountability. Would anyone
(23:07):
be criminally liable for the events that day? The answer
would eventually land in the courtroom. Safety coordinator and assistant
director Dave Halls was facing charges of unsafe handling of
a firearm. He agreed to a plea deal he would
plead guilty and testify in any other court proceedings. He
was convicted and sentenced to six months probation, twenty four
(23:31):
hours of community service, and must pay a five hundred
dollars fine and complete gun safety training. While researching this case,
it became clear that Dave Hall's is one of the
few people that have made no excuses for what happened
that day. In the documentary made by Helena's friends, Last
Take Rust and the Story of Helena, he is obviously
(23:53):
riddled with guilt. In all of his interviews. Hannah Gitzhara's
read was adamant that she only put dumb and the revolver,
but wished she'd done a more thorough check. She was
charged with negligent homicide and faced up to three years
in prison. Her trial became a focal point. Prosecutors presented
evidence suggesting that live ammunition had been brought onto the
(24:16):
set by Hannah herself. A photograph dated October tenth, twenty
twenty one, eleven days before the shooting, showed Hannah holding
a box labeled forty five long Cult dummies. An identical
box was later found on set, and according to prosecutors,
it originally contains six live rounds that were then eventually
(24:38):
scattered around the rust set. Additional evidence included a photo
on Hannah's phone sent by her father of a matching
box of dummies he kept at home. Hannah's defense countered.
They said the live rounds came from seth Kenny of
PDQ Arm and Prop, but the box Kenny had sent
over to the set arrived two days after the photo
(25:00):
of Hannah with a box in her lap, making it
unlikely that he provided the live rounds. Still, Kenny's role
and the worry he may have felt about being implicated,
remained part of the story. In the chaos immediately after
Helena's death, Sarah, Zachary and Seth Kenny spoke on the phone.
(25:20):
Sarah disposed of bullets that day, and other items were
moved from the prop cart into a truck. Ross Adiego,
the Dolly Grip present during the shooting, testified at Hannah's trial.
He described the set as rushed, with two misfires occurring
before the fatal incident, and safety meetings not happening daily,
(25:42):
which deviated from standard practice. He noted that Hannah often
had other duties as assistant prop master, rolling Cowboy cigarettes,
for example, and that he'd seen the gun and ammunition
storage cart left unattended multiple times. There was also testimony
that Hannah had pulled lanks or dummies from her Fannie pack,
(26:02):
a sloppy move that was seen as unorthodox for an armorer.
Armorers are often described in the industry as militant. In fact,
they're often members of the military and their presence on
set is all business, as they carried the weight of
their immense responsibility. In court, the prosecution clarified that Hannah
(26:23):
Guitera's read was not charged with intentional homicide, but with
homicide by negligence. They argued that a series of lapses
on her part created multiple opportunities for a live round
to end up on the set. Detectives and witnesses presented
circumstantial evidence suggesting the live ammunition could have originated from
(26:45):
the armorer herself. So while detectives and witnesses were presenting
the circumstantial evidence suggesting Hannah was the one who brought
the live ammunition on set, the defense had a different
possibility that they were suggesting. They said someone intentionally placed
a live round in the box of dummy rounds, citing
disgruntled crew members who'd walked off set the day before
(27:08):
the shooting. They highlighted the window between eleven a m.
And one pm when firearms were unattended, as a potential
opportunity for tampering. Hannah maintained that she never brought any
live rounds on set, though photographs and interviews complicated that claim.
A box of her own ammunition shown to a sheriff's
(27:30):
officer appeared identical to the box found on the rust set,
forming a central piece of the prosecution's case. After deliberating
for less than three hours, the jury returned a verdict.
Hannah was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to
eighteen months in prison. She served thirteen months and remains
(27:51):
on parole until May of twenty twenty six. Jolsusa, reflecting
on the sentencing, expressed the complicated emotions that lingered. There
is no win here, He said, I feel awful that
she's going to prison for Helena's loved ones. The outcome
offers little comfort. Her friend Alicia, capturing the grief that
(28:13):
no verdict can fully resolve, said quote, justice doesn't give
me my friend back. In January of twenty twenty two,
Hannah filed a civil lawsuit against Seth Kenny and his
business p d Q Arman prop, claiming he introduced live
rounds onto the set by providing a box of dummies
that was secretly mixed with real bullets. She argued that
(28:36):
she relied on his materials being safe and that his
mishandling attempts to shift blame after the tragedy contributed to
Helena Hutchins's death. As an actor, Baldwin had reason to
trust the gun was safe once the assistant director called
it cold, but as a producer, he also carried responsibility
for hiring the right people and enforcing safety protocols, and
(28:59):
that's the lines of blame start to blur. Baldwin has
maintained he was told the revolver contained no live rounds.
He has consistently denied pulling the trigger, though forensic reports
later indicated otherwise. In the summer of twenty twenty four,
Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and faced the possibility
(29:21):
of eighteen months in prison. The defense argued that it
was not Baldwin's responsibility to check the gun, but rather
to handle it correctly once handed to him. On July twelfth,
twenty twenty four, the case was dismissed. The judge found
merit in the defense's claim that the prosecution had failed
to provide evidence showing how the live rounds arrived on set,
(29:43):
dismissing the charges with prejudice, meaning Baldwin could not be
charged again for the incident. For Helena's husband, Matthew, the
outcome was difficult to accept. He has expressed frustration with
the notion that Baldwin bore no legal responsibility, emphasize zing
that accountability lies with multiple people on set, including the actor.
(30:05):
In the aftermath of the shooting, New Mexico authorities also
took action. OSHA reached a settlement with Rust Production for
one hundred thousand dollars citing violations of onset safety regulations.
In February twenty twenty two, Helena Hutchins family filed a
civil lawsuit against Rust Productions and others involved, including Alec
(30:26):
Baldwin and Hannah Guatetra's read. The suit claimed that Helena's
death was the result of reckless cost cutting, ignored safety violations,
and failures in onset oversight. The family argued that the
armor was unqualified and that Baldwin had acted carelessly. Baldwin's
defense countered that actors must be able to rely on
(30:48):
trained crew to ensure a firearm is safe before it's
ever handed to them. Still, a trained actor knows to
never point a gun at another person. Ultimately, the parties
reached a confidential settlement, leaving many of the details undisclosed.
(31:11):
So what's changed in Hollywood since Helena's death? Some low
budget productions have already felt the impact. Insurance companies are
denying coverage to films that want to use real firearms
on set. Meanwhile, union reps and major studios are carefully
reviewing regulations and guidelines around on set safety. In twenty
(31:33):
twenty three, The New York Times reported that the TV
show Walker had decided to stop using real guns entirely
props head Scott Reader opted for replicas, rubber guns, and
gas powered alternatives. Actor Dwyane Johnson also announced that his
company's Seven Bucks productions would no longer use real firearms
(31:54):
for any of their projects. Yet, despite these high profile examples,
industry wise, change remains limited. Joel Susa said, quote, You'll
talk to people who have been on other sets, and
they say it's on their minds, but there's also the
feeling that it could never happen to them. They say,
sometimes a hurricane lands where it lands. Last year, Susan
(32:18):
met a veteran cinematographer who described a recent Los Angeles
set where Live Ammo had nearly made it through initial
safety checks, only to be caught at the last moment.
People aren't changing, the cinematographer told him. They all feel
like you guys were just unlucky. Veteran armorer John Navarro,
(32:39):
who oversaw blank fire on Killers of the Flower Moon,
emphasized that blanks can enhance storytelling. He said it provides
realism and gives actors something to respond to, and if
used properly, it's utterly safe. Still, by twenty twenty five,
the question remains, why take the risk at all? If
(33:00):
George Clooney can float through space and Saraj Sharma contain
a tiger on a lifeboat, why rely on live or
blank gunfire for realism? In businesses and on set, assessing
risk is key. You've identify the potential hazards, you determine
the likelihood and the impact, and you choose how to respond.
(33:21):
Now you can accept the risk and reduce it through
your safety standards, or avoid it entirely, such as eliminating
real firearms. Helena's husband Matt, has become an advocate for
gun safety on set. In twenty twenty one, a law
was proposed to ban operational firearms on set, but it
(33:41):
faced pushback from Hollywood. Armorers insisted that blanks were essential,
and California State Senator Dave Cortes ultimately backed down, proposing
an alternative bill instead. The question of how the live
bullets got on the set remain unanswered. Did they come
from the prop supplier? Did Hannah bring them on set
(34:03):
because she intended to do target practice? After work was
its sabotage. For now, that remains a mystery. After Helena
was shot and killed, production on Rust came to an
immediate halt. Crew members that had walked off set the
(34:26):
day before the shooting expressed guilt. They felt that if
they had stayed on site, the tragedy would have never happened.
Eighteen months later, filming resumed, though the location had moved
from New Mexico to Montana. Completing the film was deeply
important to Helena's family. Her mother wanted the movie to
be finished so her daughter's work and vision could be
(34:49):
seen her younger sisters. Felana reflected in twenty twenty three quote,
to lose my sister for me personally, it was a
horrible experience. It is one of the biggest losses of
my life. It is for this reason that I would
like those who are at fault to carry that responsibility.
Bianca Klein stepped in as the director of photography for
(35:12):
the reshoots, completing roughly half of what Helena had yet
to film. The finished movie received a limited release, grossing
just twenty five thousand dollars across one hundred and fifteen theaters,
and it carries a five point four rating on IMDb.
For Joel Susa, the experience changed him forever. He said, quote,
(35:34):
I would never again be around a gun that fires.
He used rubber guns for the reshoot. Reflecting on the
ripple effects of that tragic day, he added, talk about
the butterfly effect. I wish I never wrote the damn movie.
Helena's story is a stark reminder of both the beauty
and fragility of life. Her life was full of curiosity, courage,
(35:59):
and a real, lentless drive to tell stories through her lens.
She brought artistry, care, and heart to every set she
worked on. In October twenty first, that life was tragically
cut short in a way that still reverberates through Hollywood.
Her death forced the industry to confront some uncomfortable truths,
the hidden risks on sets, the consequences of cutting corners,
(36:23):
and the human cost when safety is overlooked. Some studios
and productions have changed their practices, some have learned through tragedy,
and some remains stubbornly the same. But Helena's legacy is
bigger than rules or legislation. It's in the work she
left behind, in the students and cinematographers. She continues to
(36:45):
inspire and in the reminder that safety, respect, and vigilance
are not optional their obligations as viewers, listeners, and storytellers.
We can honor her by remembering her artistry, advocating for
safer sets, and supporting those who carry forward her vision.
Because at the heart of it, this isn't just a
(37:07):
story about a movie set. It's about a human life
and the care we owe to one another. Here is
your call to action. You can support the next generation
of cinematographers by donating to the Helena Hutchins Memorial Scholarship
Fund at Helena HUTCHINSDP dot com. More information is available
(37:27):
in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening.
Method and Madness is a completely independent podcast, written, produced
and hosted by me. To find out more about the show,
including access to all episodes, visit Methodanmadness podcast dot com.
(37:48):
To support the show, consider leaving a rating or a
review on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify. To connect, I'm
on Instagram at Method and Madness Pod, and you can
find me on on TikTok and Facebook as well. To
chat to just a case or to discuss the episode,
reach out to me at method and Madness Pod at
(38:09):
gmail dot com. That's it for this week. Until next time,
take care of yourself. You matter. For crisis support, text
hello to seven four one seven four one
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!