After the Hollywood Reporter broke a story based on anonymous crew comments about how hellish and dangerous it was to shoot The Revenant, a union representative is speaking about how his complaints to Hollywood execs on their behalf fell on deaf ears. THR quotes IATSE 212 president Damien Petti on this issue:
“It’s not clear to me that, when crew members raised concerns, they were taken seriously,” he said. Petti added he was speaking out on-set safety concerns on behalf of whistle-blowers that feared retribution. “I feel a need to represent my members because I feel the position taken in the article was one of ‘it’s all worth it because the picture looks really good.’ That’s a very dangerous road for any of us to be on and to buy into,” he said.
Petti said around 15 to 20 crew members were fired from or quit The Revenant production, while adding: “A lot of people were fired and some of them raised safety issues.”
Here’s the production company, New Regency’s side of the story:
For its part, New Regency said it hired specialists to ensure overall safety while shooting in harsh conditions. “We hired experts who worked with us in swift-water, mountain-climbing, bear behavior, helicopter operations and cold-weather safety to complement the U.S. production management team,” the company said.
“We also cooperated with Canadian H&S agencies as well as labor organizations and appointed labor representatives to assist overall safety of cast and crew,” New Regency added. The producer said technicians on The Revenant shoot were accredited and experienced in working in cold weather conditions.
The movie is director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s follow up to the Oscar-winning Birdman, and stars Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hardy.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
