S2E19: “Rust Makes Our Heads Explode”

01/20/23 • 36 min

Nobody should ever die on a film or TV set. No one should ever get injured either but physical things happen (stunts, for instance). Injuries should should be rare. Death should be a complete stranger. With hundreds of hours of produced film and TV content under our belts, Gil Adler and I had the exact same reaction when the news dropped from the set of the movie “Rust”. It made our heads explode. How could that have happened?

On Oct. 21, 2021, actor/producer Alec Baldwin – on the set of “Rust” outside Albuquerque, New Mexico – discharged a prop firearm that had a live round in it. The bullet killed the film’s director of photography Halyna Hutchins and wounded its director Joel Souza. On the one hand, this was a tragic accident. On the other, it didn’t happen in a vacuum. People made this happen via a combination of carelessness, incompetence and ineptitude.

New Mexico Makes A Move

Yesterday, New Mexico added the potential for criminal behavior to the mix. They announced that they intend to prosecute Alec Baldwin and the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Uncharged: the movie’s 1st assistant director, Dave Halls. He, apparently, reached a plea deal.

Gil and I aren’t the only ones scratching our heads over the latest developments. Most everyone in the business is perturbed by it. To help us get our heads around it, we’ve invited two guests. We just sat down with our good friend Tony Adler in S2E18 – Who’s The Boss. Tony is an accomplished 1st AD with a long, illustrious bio. Leigh Webb also had a long, illustrious career as a 1st AD. He worked for us on Tales From The Crypt (and shows like “Moonlighting”). Both Tony and Leigh have dealt with guns on their sets more times than they can count.

There’s a protocol. All one has to do is follow it. And yet...

Rust Makes Our Heads Explode!

Accidents on film sets make us angry. They should never happen though they do. What happened on the set of Rust makes our heads explode.

New Mexico Makes A Move

There’s a protocol. All one has to do is follow it. And yet...

Rust Makes Our Heads Explode!

Accidents on film sets make us angry. They should never happen though they do. What happened on the set of Rust makes our heads explode.

Previous Episode

S2E18: “Who’s The Boss?”

Film sets are a fascinating place to work. They definitely reflect the nature of the people working on them – especially at the top. But who’s really in charge of any set? Who’s the boss?

Most sets are like bee hives. And, while everyone thinks the director is queen bee, on the set itself, it’s really the first assistant director – the first AD – who’s running the joint. Now, they’re not the boss – they work FOR the boss. If it’s a feature film, the boss is the director. If it’s a TV show however, the bosses are the writer-producers. The first works for them.

They will see to it that the day’s work comes in on time and on budget.

That means when shit goes awry, the first person the shit’s gonna hit is the first. It’s a hard job and it requires a special kind of person.

Like our very good friend Tony Adler – no relation to Gil.

Personal History

Now – as you’ll hear, Tony and I go back a long, long way – to the Vassar College Drama Department. Boy, do we have stories.

Tony’s had a long, amazing career. He’s got some huge features in his bio: “Ragtime” and “American Beauty”. He’s worked on TV series like “Grace and Frankie”, “Heroes”, “Empire” and “Halo”. And, he’s worked with pretty much everyone in Hollywood from Milos Foreman to Steven Spielberg to Dustin Hoffman to Sam Mendes to David Hemmings.

Want some great stories from the sets of movies and shows you love? Tune out the world for an hour and enjoy a little movie making madness. Some of the best stories coming from any movie set happen ON the set.

And the first AD – our good friend Tony – knows them. Where this episode’s concerned, if you want to know “who’s the boss?” It’s Tony!

Photo 36125862 / Director © Kts | Dreamstime.com

Next Episode

S2E20: “Charlie Fleischer Is In ‘Toon’ With The Universe”

Charlie Fleischer: Still in ‘toon’ with the universe.

If you don’t know Charlie Flesicher’s name, you know his voice. He’s the voice of Roger Rabbit. He’s appeared – in human form – on TV and in movies since the 70’s. We worked with Charlie on “Demon Knight” – the first “Tales From The Crypt” branded horror movie. He plays Wally Enfield. It’s been a while since either Gil or I have spoken to Charlie. In this conversation, we all get to catch up! The headline: “Charlie Fleischer’s Still In Toon With The Universe”!

The Crypt Family

Now, as we’ve said here a bunch of times, one of the really great benefits of working on film and TV sets is that you work with – and hang with – some really fascinating people. Like Charlie Fleischer. Charlie was “family”. He’d worked a couple of times for Bob Zemeckis already (in addition to casting Charlie as Roger Rabbit, Bob also cast Charlie in “Back to The Future 2”). When casting suggested his name for that role, there never was another suggestion.

Even then, Charlie was way more than just Roger Rabbit. He was a regular on “Welcome Back Kotter” and “Laverne & Shirley”. He appeared on “Laugh-In” and “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson”. The second time Charlie did the Carson show, he did panel. Sitting beside Johnny was the point of the exercise. Charlie had – and has – a solid body of acting work to his name and credit.

But, Charlie Fleischer is way more than just an actor. He’s a creative Renaissance Person. He paints. He creates music. And he writes scientific papers. In this interview, we’ll hit the Charlie Fleischer you might know already – the super talented stand up comedian who voices an iconic animated character. And then we spend considerable time with the Charlie you might not know yet.

That Charlie Fleischer will surprise you again and again. He really is in “toon” with the universe.

Here are the art pieces we reference in the podcast –

The Rhythmic Shimmer Of Glimmer Waves Museum Of Self Reflection Monroe Boat Zappa’s Zircon Zipper Picasso What Jade Racoons Frighten Cotton Mice

Charlie’s TED Talk about Gamma Ray Bursts and Moleeds –