Midnight Rider director Randall Miller has taken the responsibility of the train accident that killed camera assistant Sarah Jones, following his guilty plea earlier this month to charges related to her death.
Numerous crew members were injured on February 20 by an oncoming train during filming of the Gregg Allman biopic. On March 9, Miller took a guilty plea from prosecutors, which included dismissing wife and Midnight Rider producer Jody Savin’s charges in the deal. Miller received 10 years of jail time and his guilty plea bars him from directing a film, taking on a first AD role or supervising a film crew for the duration of his probation.
The director will also perform 360 community service hours and pay a $20,000 fine. “On Feb 20, 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,” Miller said in a statement. 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,” a statement read.
Though he held the location manager, the production designer, the unit production manager, the cinematographer, assistant director and others accountable for the mishap, Miller admitted, being a helmer, he was at a bigger fault than them. The director said he hopes other filmmakers learn from his mistake and safety measures will become the utmost priority during movie making. “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,” he said.