Halyna Hutchins. Cinematographers' tribute

#HalynaHutchins Go FundMe campaign:
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What is it like to give up everything for a dream and what can a tragic Hollywood production teach us? Today we will put headlines aside and pay a tribute to a woman, mother, wife and a cinematographer - Halyna Hutchins.

Originally from Ukraine, member of ICG: International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600), she graduated from American Film Institute in 2015. Her graduation project “Hidden”, co-filmed with director Ryan Farzad, was shown at the Camerimage International Film Festival in Poland.

In 2018, she became one of the first eight female filmmakers to participate in the Fox DP Lab, which was created to empower female filmmakers.

In 2019, American Cinematographer magazine named her a "rising star" of cinema as a Director of Photography.

"Darlin’", a horror feature lensed by Hutchins and directed by Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead), has premiered at the SXSW film festival 2019 playing internationally at the Edinburgh Film Festival and received several international film awards.

Her work on Adam Egypt Mortimer’s art house superhero action film "Archenemy", starring Joe Manganiello, premiered at Beyond Fest 2020 and was in official competition at the Sitges International Film Festival, receiving a nomination for Best Motion Picture.

Halyna’s recent work also includes "Blindfire", a feature film written and directed by Mike Nell received Best Crime Drama at the Houston International Film Festival, 2020.

Halyna Hutchins shot 30 films (short, features, TV series).

On Thursday October 21st 2021 while working on the latest feature western film #Rust at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico she received a deadly wound from a shot fired by an award winning #AlecBaldwin (main actor and producer of the film ) with a prop gun that turned out to be loaded with real ammo just before the next take of a film.

According to Los Angeles Times the same day a few hours before the incident a group of cinematography union crew members walked away from the set, to protest the working conditions of a low-budget film production. It was also reported that a few days before, the stunt double of Alec Baldwin accidentally fired 2 real rounds, from a prop gun which raised a number of concerns within the crew members, however these concerns were not addressed and production was rushed to continue. Safety protocols standard in the industry, including gun inspections, were not strictly followed (according to the witnesses). Investigation is ongoing with no charges filed as of now.

A mother and a wife, Halyna was only 42 at the time. Her story proved that hard work and passion for your craft can make wonders and open many doors in life regardless of where you start from. My heart goes out to her family, friends and co-workers as well as all film industry workers who have suffered major injuries and lost their lives to their profession and a “The Great Silent”.

Written and narrated by:

★ Olex Smith ★:
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