As Hollywood returns to business after a recent strike by writers and actors, industry figures are calling for health and safety to be made a priority to avoid more lives being put at risk.
A series of major accidents has raised questions about the dangers actors and crew members face while filming movies and TV shows.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed by a live bullet fired from a prop gun used by actor Alec Baldwin on the set of the film Rust in 2021.
In the UK, filming of the BBC motoring series Top Gear was suspended following a crash which injured presenter Freddie Flintoff.
The UK’s Health and Safety Executive, which is the national safety regulator, investigated the crash and said it would not carry out any further investigations. Flintoff and the BBC reached an agreement last month.
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BBC News uncovered widespread concerns about poor safety practices in the UK film and TV industry.
Hollywood star Rory Kinnear’s father, actor Roy Kinnear, died after being thrown from a horse while filming The Return of the Musketeers in 1988. Rory was only 10 years old when the incident occurred.
He told the BBC: “Thirty years later, things haven’t changed.
“There are a lot of young people who want to enter an industry that they know is dangerous, both financially and in terms of employment, but don’t necessarily realize how dangerous the practices on set can be.
“Now is the time to seize this opportunity with the understanding that we don’t need to set aside joy or creativity or discovery for the sake of safety, that the two can and must work together.”
The president of the British Society of Cinematographers, Christopher Ross, said the dangers posed by the production of increasingly ambitious projects needed to be addressed.
“Simply put, you’re just filming a few people in a room and there are no health and safety requirements,” he told BBC News, adding: “We need to act.
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