In 2014, camera assistant Sarah Jones lost her life in an accident on the set of “Midnight Rider.” The accident was completely and totally preventable. She and the rest of the crew shooting that day put their trust in director Randall Miller, that they were cleared to shoot on a set of train tracks all day, with no fear of a train coming. But Miller never got that clearance. Due to Miller’s willful negligence, Jones lost her life.
As part of Miller’s punishment, he was permanently expelled from the Director’s Guild of America (DGA). But now, he’s suing to get back in to the DGA.
Miller’s punishments weren’t just from the guild, he pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter a year after the tragic accident occurred. As part of his probation, he was banned from directing other films for 10 years, though this didn’t stop him from working on another movie, “Coffee Wars.” Miller claimed his understanding was that he “couldn’t direct movies where he was also in charge of safety.” Whether this is legitimate or not, who knows, but the judge who overheard his potential probation violation let him off with a warning. The DGA banned him for life.
On July 30th, Miller filed a lawsuit claiming his expulsion was “predetermined and initiated in bad faith.” He is also claiming some sort of manipulation was happening between the DGA and the Ethics Committee. Miller alleges he was told an initial vote regarding his expulsion was 5-0 against expelling him, only for it to change to a 4-1 in favor, after a meeting of the DGA and the ethics committee. Additionally, Miller claims the DG interfered with the distribution of the aforementioned “Coffee Wars” movie because the UK company Sky cancelled a broadcast deal for the film. This allegedly lost investors in the project $500,000.
At the end of the day, the fact remains that Miller was negligent, and his actions resulted in the death of an innocent person and the possible deaths of others. Then, knowingly or not, he engaged in activity that was strictly against conditions of his parole. If a lifetime ban for this activity goes against the constitution of the DGA, then what does it take for someone to legitimately be banned? Miller is a testament to what can happen when safety and rules are disregarded for the sake of getting what you want. We continue to wish the family of Sarah Jones the very best as Miller attempts to crawl back into the limelight.
