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Artist News Legal
Jailed Gregg Allman biopic director issues statement
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 23 March 2015
The director of the ill-fated Gregg Allman biopic has issued a statement via the Associated Press after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and trespassing.
As previously reported, Randall Miller agreed to a last minute plea deal ahead of his trial after being prosecuted over the on-set death of camera assistant Sarah Jones while filming ‘Midnight Rider’, a movie based on Allman’s autobiography. The crew had been setting up to film on a railway bridge when a train unexpectedly appeared, hitting a bed that had been placed on the tracks, injuring six and killing Jones.
In the unusual case of filmmakers being brought to trial over on-set deaths, director Randall Miller, Executive Producer Jay Sedrin and Producer Jody Savin, who is also Miller’s wife, all faced charges. Miller took a two year jail sentence in return for charges against his wife being dropped, while Sedrin agreed to ten years probation.
Miller’s statement reads…
On 20 Feb 2014, a great number of mistakes were made and the terrible accident occurred which took Sarah Jones’ life. It was a horrible tragedy that will haunt me forever. Although I relied on my team, it is ultimately my responsibility and was my decision to shoot the scripted scene that caused this tragedy.
I pleaded guilty for three reasons: first, to protect my wife and family; second, out of respect for the Jones family and to not put them through a difficult trial; and, third, to take responsibility for my failure in not knowing that every safety measure was in place.
The location manager, the production designer, the unit production manager, the cinematographer, assistant director and others all made mistakes that led to this, but I have taken responsibility because I could have asked more questions, and I was the one in charge. I have worked in the film industry as a director for 25 years and never had a significant accident of any kind on any one of my sets.
I am heartbroken over this. I hope my actions have spared the Jones family more anguish and that the on-set safety measures that were lacking before this terrible tragedy will now take precedence for all in the industry.
