orOn January 3, California’s two Democratic states introduced separate bills that introduced different approaches to combat film and TV safety. Oxide Tragedy. Senators Anthony Portantino and Dave Cortez introduced Senate Bills 829 and 831, respectively, which propose greater regulation of the use of firearms and blanks in production and the required safety training of actors and crews, essentially banning the use of real ammunition. 831, however, also requires establishing a security oversight function and conducting a “risk assessment” of the advance). Both lawmakers reveal that their legislation was prompted by a shooting in the New Mexico film, set on October 21, that killed filmmaker Halina Hutchins.
But it’s the difference between their approaches that sheds light on the lack of consensus among industry groups on how to make production safer. While both senators have spoken to unions like the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the IATSE, as well as the Motion Picture Association, a trade group that supports major studios and Netflix, the MPA supports SB 829 and many unions do. SB 831. Now, when bills go to the same Senate committee, they are asked – as to whether Oxide The tragedy should specifically lead to firearms regulation (SB 829) or a major overhaul of safety practices (SB 831) – family tensions between employers and labor leaders, independence and oversight, come to the fore. “The essence of the situation is whether there is a difference between the firearms issue and other issues.” Says Portantino, a former art director and prop master who oversaw the shooting range.
Portantino SB 829 requires the presence of a firefighter in the use of firearms and blanks in the kit and provides safety courses for crew members at the State Fire Department’s office, in conjunction with the Commission for Work Safety and Joint Industry Management . (This committee’s safety bulletins, which are decided by major studios and unions but not mandated for products, have long set safety standards, including for firearms, in major headlines; Oxide They did not follow their own safety instructions based on these tickets, according to an April 19 report by the Office of Occupational Safety and Health.)
Mela Patak, vice president of state and local government affairs for the MPA, says the organization supports SB 829 because “the focus is on training and MPA member companies believe this should be a priority.” The MPA also advocates that its members and unions design best practices and policies to “become the legal standard for all California manufacturers,” he said.
Cortese’s SB 831 takes a broader approach and requires a Safety Kit Supervisor, an independent employee who assesses project-specific pre-production risk and attends to each production daily. As the bill is being drafted, the supervisor will have the right to close the process for “further analysis” if he deems it necessary. While not a common stance on US kits, these monitors are used in Australia, the UK and New Zealand, lawyers say.
Cortez, chairman of the California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee, is also calling on the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to enforce the law and propose a standard for the use of firearms for January. from 2024. .
Courtesy – which is immediately after Oxide The shooting called for a ban on firearms, which could fire weapons at kits, but changed that approach after the industry responded, saying it was talking to the DGA about larger safety issues, which forced it to move forward with its weapons design. He says his project creates “checks and balances in the system, so it’s much, much less likely that someone will get away with ignoring the rules we’ve announced here.”
A long list of unions and task forces, including several local teams from DGA, IATSE, SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood, officially helped Cortese on SB 831. “There are many protocols in our industry, there are many. Safety Bulletins,” said Rebecca Rain, national executive director of IATSE Local 600, an association owned by Halina Hutchins that has also lost members Sarah Jones and Brent Hershman in recent decades. “We believe it is necessary to connect all these rules and protocols with the ongoing process. And we think the security supervisor is the one doing it. ”
While neither the MPA nor the task forces are opposed to each other’s superior accounts, the security supervisor role as written in SB 831 can be one of the management issues – studios may dislike an employee who retains authority independently and expensively. Stop production.
On the other hand, Portantino may face opposition from some who think SB 829 “doesn’t go far enough in terms of imposing fines,” said Dario Frommer, a partner with Akin Gump, a former majority leader in California. Assembly. Outgoing chairman of the IATSE Local 600 National and experienced filmmaker John Lindley (The snow, the realm of dreams) He argues that he is not critical of any legislator who “try to make the set a safer place”, but believes that a full-time safety supervisor is “the easy way out”. [management]. “They can do it, they know how to do it all over the world, and they just need to get involved and do it in North America.”
While the bills are still in the early stages of the legislative process, if they make it to the Senate, then go through a similar path through the state Assembly before reaching the governor’s desk, they will reach their peak once they enter the Senate. . . Appropriations Committee (chaired by Portantino) in May. Senators say language in their bills is not mentioned and conversations with stakeholders continue; Labor and management leaders are also negotiating.
Portantino says he expects employees and management to “continue the conversation and the final product will be more common”. Cortez adds, “We will consider any proposed changes that align with the current intent of the bill.” If one or both projects continue to advance, the governor could pass legislation in August or September.
While these taxes are mirrored, real estate figure Carl Vesta, a member of the nonprofit American Amusement Association, hopes they will lead to greater standardization of practices across the country. “California will generally start doing this, and others will see how it’s done in California and potentially [this could] “Be better for everyone,” he said. While legislation aimed at training safety in film production was indefinitely postponed in New Mexico earlier this year, a bill funded by New York State Senator Kevin Thomas that prohibits the use of live ammunition in film production facilities movies and requires firearms to be fired. New York. York Senate Committees.
Frommer Says He “Won’t Be Surprised” If Both California Accounts Are Settled Oxide In the near future, tragedy merged into one. “If you have two bills to consider, you are forcing members to choose two really strong constituents of the legislature: organized labor and cinema. [industry].” He believes the end result will be “something both parties may not like but can live with”.
A version of this story first appeared in the May 10 issue of The Gossipify. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.