Santa Fe police found 500 bullets of various types at the scene of the Rust shooting, including empty packs, instructor (dud) bullets, and suspected live ammunition. Local police are visiting witnesses to determine why live ammunition appeared at the filming site.
Well-known filmmaker Alec Baldwin rehearsed a play when he showed the director and cinematographer how he could pull out a gun. When the gun was pointed at the camera, there was a shooting accident, and the female photographer reported that she lost consciousness in her leg and died after being rushed to the hospital by helicopter.
The gun responsible for the incident was a .45 caliber Cole long-barrel revolver, and Baldwin said in his testimony that he was told the gun was "safe" at the time. After the bullet penetrated the cinematographer, it also hit the director's shoulder, and the paramedics had removed the bullet and sent it to the FBI Criminal Investigation Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, along with three firearms seized at the scene, for bullet mark comparison.
The unfortunate incident was ostensibly related to the negligence of the crew, with director's assistant Dave Halls getting a performance gun from gunman Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and the two were responsible for the accident. Delving into the source of the tragedy is inextricably linked to independent films' efforts to suppress low costs and the undercurrent of capital tax avoidance.
With a budget of just $6-7 million, Rust is just a stone's throw away from an "ultra-low budget" film and is the lowest grade film acceptable to the International League of Stage Cast Members (IATSE) — during which unionists quit en masse to protest poor working conditions, and producers had to temporarily hire non-union members from out-of-state.
Speaking of producers, a low-budget film like Rust has more than a dozen nominal producers and executive producers, including Alec Baldwin.
In an interview, Baldwin explained that the reason why he was willing to take low-cost films and work with a group of producers who were halfway home was because the shooting cycle was short, and he often returned home to reunite with his family after only one week of shooting.
Other producers don't even have film and television production experience, just to avoid taxes. Under Section 181 of the tax code, which extends to 2025, wealthy people can deduct investment in low-budget films before filing their taxes, up to a maximum of $15 million.
Investors who are adept at this approach appear at film festivals to vigorously promote this investment model, declaring that the profit of the film no longer depends on the box office, and using Clause 181 and the preferential policies of the states, it no longer matters whether the film is successful or even whether it is released, and investors can get rebates on the same day. For example, "Rust" was filmed in New Mexico, which can provide 25-35% credit discounts for film and television projects, and investors can get back a considerable part of the investment before the film is released.