ABC’s police drama, “The Rookie, will no longer allow the use of live weapons on set, following the fatal prop gun shooting on Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” last week.
The showrunner of the Nathan Fillion starrer sent a memo to the series’ cast and crew, explaining that their physical safety was too important to risk using live weapons while filming the show.
The show has primarily utilized CGI to add muzzle flashes to fake weapons, but employed the use of quarter and half loads during “big, outside set pieces.” Going forward, the actors playing cops and criminals will only use AirSoft guns during filming.
AirSoft guns are near identical replicas of handguns and rifles that shoot slow moving pellets instead of actual bullets. Special effects will be utilized during the post-production process to make the non-lethal weapons look like they have fired actual bullets.
“There will be no more “live” weapons on the show,” executive producer Alexi Hawley wrote. “The safety of our cast and crew is too important. Any risk is too much risk.”
The policy change came one day after Alec Baldwin misfired a prop gun on the set of his upcoming western, “Rust,” fatally shooting the film’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring director Joel Souza.
Two other shows that feature prominent gun violence have followed “The Rookie’s” lead. “No more guns with blanks on any of my sets ever. We’ll use VFX muzzle flashes. Who’s with me?” Tweeted Eric Kripke, the showrunner of Amazon Prime’s anti-superhero thriller, “The Boys.”
“There’s no reason to have guns loaded with blanks or anything on set anymore,” wrote HBO’s “Mare of Eastown” director Craig Zobel. “Should just be fully outlawed. There’s computers now.”
Liberal actress Rosanna Arquette voiced that the policy changes were welcomed in the industry. “I hope this wakes people up. Because there should be no live round anything ever on a movie. We have enough CGI, we have enough — it’s absurd,” she said. “All of us are shaken to the core in the industry about this.”
A petition to create “Halyna’s Law,” which would ban the use of real firearms on all television and movie productions, is being circulated by celebrities and has garnered more than 60,000 signatures.
Hollywood: It’s time to create "Halyna's Law", which will ban the use of real firearms on film production sets and create a safe working environment for everyone involved. – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/HH4J6EfJHG via @Change
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) October 24, 2021
wpDiscuz
RANK IDIOCY!!!
I said two days ago that Hollywood would Immediately begin the process of sanitizing the incident, shaving the perceptions of the witnesses, and redirecting responsibility toward lower level employees. Sho ’nuff.