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Tag: sarah jones

  • Midnight Rider Director Randall Miller Sentenced to 10 Years. Will Do Two.

    Midnight Rider — the biopic film about legendary Allman Brothers singer Gregg Allman — has become a nightmare of a story.

    When Midnight Rider was shooting in Wayne County, Georgia, second camera assistant Sarah Jones was struck and killed by a passing freight train. The story came out that the film crew had not obtained permission to shoot on the railroad trestle bridge where the accident occurred. Producer/director Randall Miller and other production staff were charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass.

    In the year since then, Randall Miller has fought the charges. He entered a plea of not guilty. He and co-Producer Jody Savin said in a statement:

    “We have been in the television and movie business since 1990. We have produced and directed more than 10 features and television movies. We have always emphasized the safety of the crew. In all those years we have never had a significant injury or accident of any kind.”

    But Randall Miller recently changed his plea. He pled guilty to to the charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It is expected that he will serve only two years actually behind bars and the remaining eight on probation. During his probation time, he will not be permitted to work as a director or assistant director or other capacity involving employee safety.

    As for the Midnight Rider film and Sarah Jones, the tragedy has led to a surge of concern for the safety of set crew on film shoots. One advance that was made was the funding and release of an app called Set safety for both Android and iOS platforms. That app and others are intended to address set safety concerns.

    The name Midnight Rider is based on a song by the Allman Brothers. Gregg Allman has recorded and released it as a solo project as well.

  • Gregg Allman Biopic: Worker Death Lawsuit Settled

    The Gregg Allman biopic, Midnight Rider, was filming along a bridge in February when a train plowed through the film crew, killing Sarah Jones. Jones was a 27-year-old camera assistant.

    Her parents, Richard and Elizabeth Jones of Columbia, South Carolina, sued Unclaimed Freight Productions, Inc., Rayonier Fibers, LLC, CSX railroad, and several others.

    That lawsuit was settled Wednesday, however the terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

    Gregg Allman was originally named in the lawsuit, but it was determined that he had little to do with the film. He only licensed the rights to his memoir, My Cross To Bear.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsF9WhKHMKU

    Gregg Allman’s lawyer, David W. Long-Daniels, released a statement right after Allman was named in the suit back in May.

    He said, “While the lawsuit filed this week by the Jones family was expected, the inclusion of my client is unfortunate, unwarranted and without merit. Mr. Allman simply provided an option to acquire motion picture rights to his life story and his autobiography.”

    Gregg Allman’s attorney continued, “It is undisputed from the testimony at the recent court hearing that Mr. Allman and his representative did not have any knowledge that ‘live people [would be] on a live train track.’”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrurd_Q0CZw

    The crew went onto the railroad bridge spanning the Altamaha River to shoot footage after CSX railroad denied them permission.

    After the tragic accident, Gregg Allman sent Midnight Rider director Randall Miller a letter insisting that, under the circumstances, filming be discontinued.

    He wrote, “While there may have been a possibility that the production might have resumed shortly after that, the reality of Sarah Jones’ tragic death, the loss suffered by the Jones family and injuries to the others involved has led me to realize that for you to continue production would be wrong.”

    Hopefully, the parents of Sarah Jones can now find some closure. What do you think? Did Gregg Allman do the right thing by asking that his biopic be canned?

  • Gregg Allman Named A Defendent In Death Lawsuit

    Gregg Allman is one of 10 defendents in a lawsuit brought by the parents of a camera assistant that was killed during filming of the biopic Midnight Rider, which is about the Allman Brothers Band founder himself.

    27-year-old Sarah Jones was killed and 6 others were injured when a freight train unexpectedly crossed a bridge that they were filming on over the Altamaha River in southeast Georgia.

    Others named in the suit include eight corporations including CSX Transportation, which owns the railway tracks where the crash occurred, and Rayonier Performance Fibres, a subsidiary of forest-products manufacturer Rayonier that owns the land surrounding the crash site for their individual responsibilities in the the crash that cut short the life of Sarah Jones.

    Her parents are devastated to say the least and want answers concerning what went down and how the film crew ended up on the bridge in the first place.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCBpldjtJB8

    According to their lawsuit against the above-named defendents, they suspect that those in charge ‘selected an unreasonably dangerous site for the filming location; failed to secure approval for filming from CSX; concealed their lack of approval from CSX from the cast and crew … and otherwise failed to take measures to protect the safety of the Midnight Rider cast and crew.’

    The suit also stated that ‘despite the fact that multiple CSX trains passed the Midnight Rider cast and crew on February 20, with those individuals in view of the trains’ operators, no warning was given to the subsequent train that ultimately caused Sarah’s death.’

    Such an unfortunate incident. Filming has been delayed indefinitely and the fate of the project is unknown. William Hurt, who was set to play Gregg Allman, quickly released a statement saying that he would no longer be involved in the movie. No one else has yet pulled out, but after such a tragedy filming is sure to be highly disrupted at the least.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Sarah Jones Pleads Guilty To Sexual Misconduct

    Sarah Jones, former cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals and one-time high school teacher in Kentucky, has plead guilty to sexual misconduct after charges were brought against her for having a relationship with a 17-year old student.

    Jones said at one time that she was innocent of any wrongdoing, and that although the boy was indeed a student, he was not her student. Rather, she said, he was a friend of the family that she’d become close with. Several steamy text messages ended up being damning for the 26-year old, however, and she plead guilty on Monday.

    “People don’t know the real me. There’s blogs and postings out there that I have slept with numerous people. I married my high school sweetheart,” said Jones. “I just asked the general public to maybe hold their judgment a little bit longer until the truth comes out…I read on a blog that I was the female [Jerry] Sandusky. To read those things and not be able to comment, not be able to stick up for myself is not fair.”

    She admitted while on the stand that she began a romantic relationship with the boy, who is now 18, when she was in a position of authority. She has been engaged in a lawsuit against a website which she says published vile lies and rumors about her; Jones is seeking $11 million in damages, but the suit has been put on hold until after the charges against her are resolved.