'Midnight Rider' Director Randall Miller, Producers Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter, Criminal Trespass

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Midnight Rider director Randall Miller and producers Jody Savin and Jay Sedrish have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass in Wayne County, Georgia superior court following the death of camera assistant Sarah Jones, it was announced on Thursday.

It's important to make human lives a priority.

‘Midnight Rider’ Victim’s Family Files Massive Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Everyone wants to get the shot, but no one wants to spend the extra time or money to do it right (or, at the very least, to consider the well-being of the cast and crew). Hopefully, unlike so many before it, this lesson won't go forgotten.

The family of Sarah Jones, the camera assistant killed during filming of the film “Midnight Rider,” has filed a lawsuit against the film’s director, producers, some of its crew, Gregg Allman, distributor Open Road Films and the companies that own the railroad tracks and surrounding land.

The suit, which also includes charges of negligence, asks for unspecified damages for Jones’s death and pain and suffering, plus punitive damages.

The suit alleges that director Randall Miller and the defendants, including location manager Charles Baxter, executive producer Jay Sedrish, first assistant director Hillary Schwartz and cinematographer Mike Ozier,  failed to obtain permission for the production to be on the railroad bridge where the fatal accident occurred, and that they concealed that fact and the danger of their shooting plans from the rest of the crew by leading them to think they would be working on the tracks with the permission of the railroad.

"Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it."

SXSW Interactive Keynote: Tina Roth Eisenberg




* EDITED TO ADD (December 2014): The main focus of this blog post is to highlight Tina Roth Eisenberg's keynote at SXSW Interactive 2013. The quote (which is attributed to Bill Cosby) is something that was used in her speech for only a moment but was something that I, as a creative freelancer, found to be inspiring at the time. The quote has obviously become tainted due to the sexual assault allegations. While I still find inspiration in the spirit of those words, I have removed his name from the quote in the title of this post due to the sensitive nature surrounding recent events.

John Cleese on Creativity

"Telling people how to be creative is easy. It's only being it that's difficult."