When the legislature meets in January ostensibly to discuss the New Mexico budget, you can bet that the issue of Rust, filmmaking, and the oversight of the state in its gold child industry will have some discussion.
I bet there’ll even be a call from Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham – her laundry list of things to do this month.
Lujan Grisham, never one to avoid the moment, almost sent a flare earlier this week. The day she presented a 20 year economic development package – 20 years? – She took the time to address the story of the moment, the tragedy of Rust.
“Our expectation is that the industry will rise [to improve safety]“She told reporters. “If the industry does not answer, you have to expect government regulations.”
And there it is. Tragedy. Bad press. Regulations. It’s a time-honored lockstep.
Obviously, this catastrophe will reverberate, as New Mexico cannot afford to be viewed as the dollar store of filming locations – a place where lax or cheap productions find a home and literally an old-west mentality prevails. Those are the guesses about what happened on the set of Rust, and there is much evidence – even beyond the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins – to believe this to be true.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza chose his words like walking on quicksand at a press conference Wednesday, using the word “complacency”. We are still a long way from being sure, but a plaintiff’s attorney, if not a prosecutor, may one day come up with a different term: negligence.
Is every set in New Mexico plagued or encouraged by the problems Rust encountered? Probably not. But in the state’s eagerness to lure Hollywood with bargain deals that encouraged producers to come here and wait to kickstart the economy, oversight and safety are essentially in the eye of the beholder.
If only superficially, New Mexico will at least have to offer the appearance of more stringent standards.
And that’s a fine line to walk. The good news for Lujan Grisham is that she does it every day – on the border between die-hard industrial hawks and economically powerful pigeons who are job # 1 when you’re governor of New Mexico.
During her three years directing the show, Lujan Grisham was at times masterfully at the role. She speaks like an environmentalist and forever promotes the energy transition law and the urge to curb methane while the state “passes over” its reliance on oil and gas revenues. But at the same time, she’s pragmatic enough to know that oil and gas are as central to New Mexico’s economy as oxygen is to a beating heart.
New Mexico could crack tougher on bad actors in the oil and gas industry, but drive it out of the state (as some neighborhoods wish)? Under no circumstance.
Expect the same with movies.
When Lujan Grisham says she expects the industry to better monitor itself and its safety practices, it will surely fill a reporter’s notebook. But she knows, and you know, that most industries are not good at monitoring themselves without pressure. In theory, this impetus could come from the film workers’ unions. But that hasn’t happened yet.
Lujan Grisham’s spokeswoman, Nora Meyers Sackett, praised the film’s importance to the economy and concerns about safety. “But before the governor is comfortable committing to a proposal or involving the state legislatively or administratively here, we need to have a full account of how this could possibly be done and the law enforcement and state health and safety investigations completed.” she wrote in an email. “And from there we will determine our next steps.”
Since actor / producer Alec Baldwin fired the gun that killed Hutchins, others have come forward about security issues. Even those not on the Rust set wonder how seriously Hollywood takes the dangers lurking in filmmaking.
There was a day in New Mexico when making a film was something rare – a unique and, yes, exciting prospect. Today, these ubiquitous signs with coded letters that are highly visible on the city’s streets and highways can be found almost everywhere. It is a sign of how far the industry has come – and how deeply it is interwoven with the everyday life of the state.
An A-list tragedy with an A-list movie star raises the profile of Hollywood in New Mexico and perhaps puts pressure on politicians to reconcile the industry.
Now comes the hard part for the governor and others who greet producers like Baldwin with open arms. How do you draw the line with a company that owns its own pen and writes its own checks?
How do you say, “We want your money, but leave your guns at the door.”
Phill Casaus is editor of
The new Mexican.
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