The film ‘Midnight Rider’ based on The Allman Brothers founder and singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, has been suspended, due to the arrest of the film’s director Randall Miller and the film’s producer, Jody Savin.
The duo have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing. The charges stem from the death of 27-year-old camera assistant, Sarah Jones, who was struck and killed by a train that unexpectedly smashed through the set of Midnight Rider during the early days of production.
Seven other crew members were injured in the incident, which happened in February and is reported to have taken place while filming a dream sequence that involved a bed being placed on the railway tracks.
In 2013, Miller released the film ‘CBGB’, a historical film about the former New York music venue CBGB. The club was famous for punk rock and new wave acts like the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads.
Randall Miller and Jody Savin posted €20,000 bale and issued a statement about the incident:
“This devastating loss of Sarah, will haunt us forever. Our hearts are broken, our spirits are broken. We have young children and can only imagine with immense sadness the heartbreak of losing a child.
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. We believe in protecting our crew – the crew who work so hard on our movies. We consider them to be family. Many of them have worked with us on several of our films.
In the weeks and months that follow when the true facts of the events are revealed, people will know that this was not a crime: we never had criminal intent; we would never knowingly or intentionally put anybody’s safety at risk. This was a horrible tragedy and a horrific accident.
We will dedicate ourselves in the future to honoring Sarah’s memory by promoting the safest work environment for everybody in the film industry.
Humbly,
Randy Miller and Jody Savin”
