Midnight Rider Director Issues Statement About Tragedy

Earlier this month Randall Miller -the director of the Gregg Allman biopic Midnight Rider –pleaded guilty and was sentenced for his role in the tragic accident that took the life of crew member Sarah Jones and injured six others in February 2014. Last night’s episode of 20/20 on ABC aired a report that claimed the supervising crew had no permission to film on the trestle where the accident took place and did so anyways. Miller took responsibility for the tragedy in a statement issued to the AP.

[William Hurt as Gregg Allman]

Miller said, “It was a horrible tragedy that will haunt me forever” in the statement and went on to explain the three reasons he pleaded guilty after initially proclaiming his innocence.

Read Miller’s full statement as obtained by Deadline.com:

“On Feb 20th, 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.”

Midnight Rider producer Jody Savin, Randall Miller’s wife, also issued a statement last night obtained by Deadline.com:

“The accident, which took the life of Sarah Jones, has been tragic for everyone involved. Sarah’s family is broken, and ours too. Our children and I love Randy so much and are trying to be strong for him as he has been so strong and brave for us.”

Production on the film was stopped after the February 20, 2014 incident. Randall Miller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass and received a 10-year sentence. Miller’s 10-year sentence includes two years in Wayne County, Georgia jail and the rest of the time he’ll serve probation. Deadline notes, “Miller became the first filmmaker in the history of the film business to go to prison for a film-related death.”

[via Deadline.com / Hat Tip –Rolling Stone]