Halyna Hutchins was a highly qualified cinematographer, wife, and mother with a zest for life and enthusiasm for her job, who died because the safety measures on a set were catastrophically neglected! This fits perfectly into the picture of filming, in which some union members of the crew walked off to protest unpaid wages and housing conditions. Non-union crew were brought in to replace them. This allowed the inhuman and exploitative shooting to continue.
In the international film business, tragic accidents like this are no longer isolated cases. Fatigue and exhaustion due to long days of filming and insufficient rest periods have already led to numerous accidents during and after filming. It is therefore high time to demand that filmmakers not only receive fair pay but also life- friendly and family-friendly working conditions. The health risk from the pressure and the need to accept extremely extended working hours simply cannot be accepted any longer!
Billions in sales are made in the film and audiovisual industries. It is a great shame that the people who make this incredible added value possible through their work, find unbearable production conditions!
A current Austrian study on the world of work in filmmaking has shown that burnout and anxiety disorders have increased extremely in our industry. For fear of losing their jobs, most of the crew members are neither willing nor able to stand up for the rights to which they are entitled. Practice has shown that this fear is unfortunately all too justified. This downward spiral needs to be broken!
This requires strong professional representations and unions, which also offer their members protection from the greed driven arbitrariness of the production companies, television companies and streaming platforms. All of these require audiovisual content on an ongoing basis, which must also be always made available. They are therefore dependent on the work of the crews!
Unfortunately, filmmakers hardly notice this reversal of dependency, because if that were the case, they would be able to enforce their rights much more effectively. Conscious of this power, they could strengthen their bargaining power through solidarity-based work stoppages. The prerequisite for this, however, is that filmmakers also learn to live solidarity, which is not made easy in times of consciously controlled isolation. The old principle: “Divide and rule” has become a powerful tool in an industry that is determined by profit and shareholder value.
Isolation combined with self-optimization to survive in merciless competition with others must no longer remain the basis of our working world. Filmmakers prove through their work in a team that the interaction of many ultimately leads to a great result. This principle of collegial cooperation could also serve as a model because filmmaking has always been the blueprint for a future world of work.
IMAGO as the international Federation of Cinematographers is fully committed to the basic idea of collegial cohesion. With this in mind, we also support filmmakers worldwide in asserting their rights. At the same time, we encourage them to show solidarity in strong professional associations and unions.
The death of a cinematographer cannot have been in vain!
Kurt Brazda AAC
Chair, IMAGO Working Conditions Committee
For and on behalf of the IMAGO International Federation of Cinematographers:
IMAGO founder Co-President Co-President Vice President Vice President General Secretary
IMAGO Board Members:
Luciano Tovoli, AIC, ASC
Ron Johanson, OAM ACS
Elen Lotman, ESC
Adriana Bernal Martinez, ADFC Bojana Andric, SAS
Aleksej Berkovic, RGC
Mustapha Barat, ABC (Brazil)
Vincenze Condorelli, AIC (Italy) Philippe Cordey, SCS BVK (Switzerland) Steven Fierberg, ASC (USA)
Tahvo Hirvonen, FSC (Finland)
Denis Lenoir AFC, ASC (France)
Alex Linden FSF, (Sweden)
Roberto Schaefer, ASC AIC (USA)
Mario Sablic, HFS (Croatia)
Argyris Theos, GSC (Greece)
IMAGO Working Conditions Committee – Members:
Kurt Brazda AAC, IWC Chair Fabian Eder, AAC
Igor Klebanov, RGC
Nigel Walters, BSC
Aiannis Daskalothanasis, GSC Edward Friis-Møller, DFF
IMAGO Authorship Committee – Members:
Argyris Theos, GSC, IAC Chair
Barry Ackroyd, BSC
Dr. Cristina Busch (legal consultant)
Ruud Dobber, NSC
Arko Okk, ESC
Paul René Roestad, FNF
Luciano Tovoli, AIC, ASC (senior member, previous chair) Sergei Trofimov, RGC
Jan Weincke, DFF
IMAGO Diversity and Inclusion Committee – Members
Elen Lotman Elen ESC, IDC Co-chair Nina Kellgren BSC, IDC Co-chair
Alex Linden, FSF
Alfredo Altamirano, AMC Astrid Heubrandtner, AAC Birgit Gudjonsdottir, BVK Casper Hoyberg ,DFF Claire Pijman, NSC
Louis Philippe Capelle, SBC Maria Soloviova, RGC
Marc Swadel, NZCS
Raquel Fernandez, AEC Roger Simonz, BSC
Ron Johanson, ACS Velinda Wardell, ACS
IMAGO Education Committee – Members
Philippe Cordey, SCS BVK (Chair) Marijke Van Kets, SBC
Ella van den Hove, SBC
Gaby Reisinger, AAC
Erika Addis, ACS
Elen Lotman, ESC
Rolf Coulanges, BVK
Marc Debacker, SBC
Petru Maier, DFF
Timo Heïnanen, FSC
Stefan Grandinetti, BVK
Karl Herrmann, CSC
M Thoma, CSC
Alvaro Cortes, ACC
Yao Ladzekpo, CGG
Oleksandr Kryshtalovych, UGC George Willis ,CSC
IMAGO Master Class Committee – Members
Arbel Rom, ACT
Elen Lotman, ESC
Lars Petterson, FSF
Ron Johanson, OAM ACS Tahvo Hirvonen, FSC
Teresa Medina Amorós, AEC Viola Laske, BVK
IMAGO Technical Committee Members:
Alesksei Berkovic, RGC, ITC Co-Chair Alfonso Parra, ADFC, ITC Co-Chair Philippe Ros, AFC, ITC Co-Chair David Stump, ASC, ITC Co-Chair Pawel Achtel, ACS
Bojana Andric, SAS
Adriana Bernal Martinez, ADFC Mario Costa, (AIP)
Joe Dunton, MBE BSC MBE Juan Antonio, Fernández AEC Stefan Grandinetti, BVK Kommer Kleijn, SBC
Edward Lachman, ASC
Alex Linden, FSF
Patrick Lindenmaier, CSC
Dirk Meier BVK, CSI
Jannicke Mikkelsen, FNF Maura Morales Bergmann, AAC Anders Holcke Petersen, DFF Claire Pijman, NSC
John Christian Rosenlund, FNF Mick van Rossum, NSC Roberto Schaefer, AIC ASC Alex Sterian, RSC
Piet de Vries, ACS