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EXCLUSIVE UPDATE 5 PM: Paramount just weighed in with me to say that the injured extra was not involved in the stunt, 
that her car was not involved in the stunt, that a “freak accident caused her injury”, that she and her car were more than 500 feet from the stunt, that she was struck by a flying metal object whose welding had come apart and not by a steel towing cable, that the stunt from Tuesday had to be repeated Wednesday because of a “timing issue” and not because it had failed, and that “nobody has done movies more safely than Michael Bay”. The studio, however, could not explain why its version of events was so at odds with the local police and media reports. “We feel horrible that anyone was injured and will take all appropriate action,” a Paramount exec told me.
9:30 AM: Safety questions on Michael Bay’s set are being forwarded to me after an actress employed as a movie extra was “critically” injured during a Transformers 3 stunt that went wrong in Northwest Indiana. According to news reports quoting local police, the movie was filming a stunt involving multiple vehicles and drivers and flying cars when a metal object struck Gabriella Cedillo’s personal 2006 Toyota. It went through the windshield and hit the 24-year-old driver who was not a stunt professional or member of the stunt personnel. The Toyota hit the inner median concrete barrier wall and had extensive damage to the driver’s side. UPDATE: WLS-TV reports a similar tow-rig setup broke the day before.
Cedillo was airlifted to the hospital with a serious head injury. News reports quoted another extra as saying that Cedillo’s Toyota was being towed by a second vehicle and that the steel cable between the two vehicles broke, then whipped around, and sliced through the woman’s car and cut her head. Sources on the Indiana set told media outlets that extras like Cedillo were paid $25 for the use of their personal cars. I received this email from a confidential informant: “An extra doing stunts in her own car with a tow rig? Holy shit is somebody’s head gonna roll over this one. SO many things against industry standards, don’t know where to start! Bay should be starting to sweat right about now. 30yrs of motion pictures and never seen stunts fuck up this bad.” (Photo: T3 set in Chicago.)
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Didn’t anyone learn from Twilight Zone: The Movie and Landis?
No, the tragedy of Twilight Zone is a lesson still not learned.
When it comes to a clock running on the production costs, short cuts will be made. As long as this SOP continues…it is only a matter of time before another senseless accident happens.
And, it’s not like Transformers 3 is a low budget production.
Perhaps, the cable was the cause, but hiring non professionals and their vehicles at the lowest rates possible is not proper…PERIOD!!!!!
Agreed. 25 fucking dollars for a non-pro’s car? this is a 200mil production and they’re going cheap? wtf. spend the 100dollars and rent one from hertz.
I have yet to see one news article anywhere that’s totally accurate…even from some of those who starting leaking information from the set…
You should all get your facts right before you jump to conclusions. The extra was not part of the stunt and her vehicle was NOT being towed… It’s a very sad, freak accident. I know the team on this movie and nobody takes safety more seriously….
If my memory serves, a crew member was killed on a Michael Bay commercial shoot about ten years ago. He has a horrible reputation in the industry for bullying cast and crew, and this was supposedly at the root of the tragedy, though his production company, Propaganda Films took most of the heat for the accident.
Well I have been an extra in a handfull of movies in recent years
and I can say that I have been on set with some crews that have had compleat confusion, because the P.A.’s were not in sinc with the director wich will throw everything off with the extra’s….
but in this particular case I belive it is the fault of equipment..
but my question is, did the crew rehearse the stunt before bringing the extra’s in?… but the bottom line is freak accidents can happen I know because I am also a trained stuntman and even with hours of rehearsals things can go wrong….anyways I hope for a speedy recovery for the extra and best of luck for the crew … this is
actor Benjamin Rodriguez from Lansing, Mi
Ever notice how no one in Hollywood ever puts their name to anything?
Jim – I had no idea that was Vic Morrow’s personal helicopter.
Karen,
Vic Morrow and two toddlers were killed. Gabriela Cedillo had a piece of metal slice through her skull and into her brain.
You should hope that nothing like this happens to you or anyone you love.
Think before you write next time.
Paul
Get the facts before YOU write, Paul…
Karen. I had the facts right.
I had the facts right, and now Gabriella is paralized on her left side. Her left eye is sewn shut. Get your facts right.
I think this sorta stuff ALMOST happens all the time. I was an extra on The Hunted in 2002 in Portland, and I was asked to drive my own car and declined in favor of being a walking extra. During one action filled take I witnessed a running extra fall down on accident and her head ended up 2 inches from the tire of a car being stopped, driven by another extra.
So, you were on a film set where no accident occurred? What a thrilling story.
so sweet that people are ignoring labor standard for labor day.
Ask around. There were near misses on Transformers 2 as well.
And do we STILL think that Megan Fox’s horror stories on the set of the two previous Transformers movies were made up? Seriously, she should thank the Gods she was allowed to exit this fast-food movie disaster!
This is extremely unfortunate. Here’s a question: Was the background performer a SAG member? I’ll be shocked if the answer is “yes”. But if she is, I only hope SAG steps up to the plate and follows the appropriate procedures to fine Bay and his production company and the studio. The use of a non stunt performer to perform a driving stunt, whether she was actually driving or not, is a huge no no. It’s sad all around.
Wow… having a union fine a company is your solution to this?
Go away.
SAG will not step-up even if the extra was SAG.
Reminds me of Townsend’s “Hollywood Shuffle” where anyone will step-up to fill the shoes of people who will walk-off the set due to serious concerns.
Not to diminish the seriousness of the injuries, however I bet there were ten extras willing to do the same thing.
SAG knows it. Bay knows it. Hollywood knows it.
SAG has an incestuous relationship with the studios. It will never change until true leaders step forward.
Yeah. Like that’s going to happen.
I am,
The Hollywood Republican
Wow. For once, I agree with the republican.
Well, I guess miracles still do happen.
Praying for the extra and her family. It is a sad situation all around.
No, she was non-union – union rate for the use of your personal car is $35 plus, $139 for 8hours work. This doesn’t include overtime, meal penalties, wardrobe change bums, smoke bums, water bum, etc. I really feel so sad for this poor woman. My prayers are with her and her family. Here is the real deal, I am a SAG background player and every time I use my car in near a stunt driver or drivers the stunt coordinator takes out his little toy cars and shows us the stunt by using these toy cars as a safety precaution. This way we know when not to drive or where the harm may come from. Movie sets are extremely dangerous so when you bring in non-union extras they aren’t aware of these dangers.
SAG has no jurisdiction over NON Union extras so the poor woman is out of luck. The smart movie sets use SAG extras and SAG stunt players because there is a professional and understand how safety and rules are suppose to work. A movie this big should have had a SAG rep actually on the set. They are usually 10 to 30 minutes away if you call them.
On Black Knight, the fight choreographer told people to fight hard with aluminum swords, but since we weren’t given fight training, the only bump we got was for smoke. One person told us not to fight and the other said that we had to or else it didn’t look real. Boys swinging swords, good and safe!
Wow Karen! – Could you be more insensitive or miss the point further? Vic Morrow, seven-year-old My-Ca Dinh Le and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen weren’t stunt people. It really doesn’t matter that her car was damaged as much as Michael Bay like John Landis were skirting the rules and their studios were tripping over a dollar to save a dime. I suggest sensitivity training.
In addition to skirting the rules from the get go, when Landis and Bay get going, and the adrenaline is flowing, the fear of risk tends to get left in the dust.
… or, so it seems, from the various production stories I’ve heard over the years (dating back to The Blues Brothers).
who let an inexperienced extra anywhere near a stunt on a Bay movie, at least stunt person might know how to react when things go wrong, with a budget of over 200 million, why are they being so careless, now this woman is probably going to have some type of permanent damage, no excuses, major fuck-up
An experienced SAG member would more likely have known to at least pull out the guild’s agreements with the studios and see if this qualified for an upgrade to stunt player for the day, or whether there should be a different compensation rate for use of the car, or whatever.
If you don’t want pesky union members asking questions that could cost you a few more bucks that day and maybe add to the list of actors getting residuals, you use the clueless local non-union kid.
And this may be a $200m film (give or take), but as I understand it, each department is still given a budget and pressured to stay within that.
Curious if was asked to do this and was afraid of losing her job if she did not do the stunt. Whom ever put her in that car should be ashamed of him/herself.
So with a budget of what, 100 – 150 million dollars, they’re doling out $25 for people to risk their lives in their own vehicles? Where’s the rest of the money go? It can’t all be for special effects. I found the action scenes in the first two movies like watching visual Tourettes. Almost as schizophrentic (yeah, not a word, but maybe it will be soon thanks to Palinlogism)as Lucas’ last films.
And if Ms. Cedillo was only getting $25 for a car bump that means she’s also non-union: non-SAG, or not under SAG jurisdiction at the very least. It’s unconscionable that a movie company which will likely profit MILLIONS of dollars from this project would cut a corner like this (but they do it ALL the time)! If they’re nickel-and-dimeing the background, no telling what corners they’re cutting in materials – like steel cables. What next – the ProdCo refuses to pay Ms. Cedillo her $80 because she left the set early?
I’m not grousing that SAG members aren’t working here, but that there’s a reason people on a film set have union/guild protection from atrocities like this. Rules and standards – which obviously aren’t being followed by this production company. And where’s the stunt coordinator on this fucking job?
My heart goes out to Ms. Cedilla for a full recovery.
Cedillo’s Toyota was NOT being towed by a second vehicle. She was struck by a snapped cable that was the result of a picture car being towed by a process truck.
Forgive my ignorance, but what is a “picture car” and a “process truck”?
A picture car is a specific scripted car or vehicle that was written into the scene. A process truck is a studio truck or vehicle that is not being photographed used for a specific job or task such as mounting cameras or used to tow a vehicle that is being photographed.
A picture car is the car that is actually in the shot and the process truck is the rig that is attached to the picture car (on the side or front/back, depending on the shot) which the director/DP etc. sit on to get the shot.
not sure what a process truck is, but that sure sounds like a second vehicle to me.
“Picture Car” is the term for a vehicle that is actually featured on screen. There will be several other background vehicles, but there is usually one that is the main car for that shot/stunt/scene, etc. that’s the “picture car.” Same goes if there was a house that was being prominently used on a block for the scene, that’s the “picture house”
While you may be reporting accurate information, that still does not excuse any of what happened. As more facts come out, there will be enough blame to go around, but as often as is possible (not just ‘budgetarily’ possible) an insert car/process trailer should be surrounded by stunt drivers (and perhaps in this case it was). I hope at a minimum they were following the safety bulletin guidelines.
As a AD who takes set safety very seriously, I am stunned and saddened by this accident.
It doesn’t really matter if she was the car being towed or not. The biggest issue at hand is her car was anywhere near the picture car, etc. If this was a stunt scene and she was instructed to drive near the camera or process trailer then someone, hopefully Bay, should be punished heavily. Proximity to the possibility of danger should always be handled by stunt men/women, which at $25 dollar bump I can promise you she was not.
“Cedillo’s Toyota was NOT being towed by a second vehicle. She was struck by a snapped cable that was the result of a picture car being towed by a process truck.”
What is your basis for this statement, Dogface?
I am,
The Hollywood Republican
Dogface – You’re assuming the studio’s telling the truth. In a different comment a moment ago, I assumed the news reports are accurate. We’ll see how the dust settles on this.
Face it Bay.
You fucked up.
yep, major F’ Up! There has to be more to this than we all know. C’mon Michael…really $25?
I hope the unions that are supposed to be clearing the productions for people to work on really investigate this one. And major lesson here to you young F’Kers….SAFETY FIRST!!!!!!
Sad!!! She probably wasn’t even told what the scene was about until she arrived on set in her car that day. All that for $25…
… they’re shooting in Indiana. No show biz savvy there – so they can get away with a lot more than they would in California – or even Chicago. I bet they’re non-union extras and there’s no on-set presence by SAG. I hope the woman survives and gets a great lawyer. She’s going to do VERY well financially if she survives.
IF (and that is not yet confirmed) her car was being towed, the UPM and/or production supervisor, and 1st AD are in for a world of hurt.
That’s the story I heard too, Dogface.
The towed car was “oncoming” wrt Cedillo’s car, the cable snapped and then whipped back into her windshield.
Obviously this is terrible, and someone screwed up, but I don’t think they were using a non-union extra as a stunt driver, either. Nor do I think a professional driver would have been able to avoid getting hurt.
BTW, I think the proper term for this work is “precision driver”.
Doesn’t matter if the car was being towed or not. If she wasn’t a stunt driver, or at least a SAG actor (so she’s covered under insurance) she shouldn’t have been driving on that set. Period. I hope this incident gets some attention. Movie and tv sets are dangerous enough without ignoring basic safety rules.
That’s simply not true. It may be possible in your experience to have all driver be stunt players and SAG members, but on location even in states with a large SAG extras daily requirement we use non union extras and their cars as needed. On city blocks when filming stunts, often the cars that are a block or two away are driven by extras.
Insurance is a non issue, as the production will certainly be fully insured for this accident and her medical coverage (at the least) will be taken care of.
Well, that’s just wrong even if you do it all the time. They didn’t used to film with extras anywhere near the stunts. So if you’re doing it now, and you work regularly you’re pretty much a horrible person. I hope you and others like you get out of the business.
Really? Hmmm, I used to be an “Extra with car” all the time on Nash Bridges back in the day. Non-union. Perhaps things have changed since then.
You think the video evidence will be a rotating shot around the extra?
Michael Bay’s head should roll on this one, but you know some other schmuck at the
bottom of the list will have to take all the blame. Beware Mr. Bay karma will bite you
in the ass one day very soon.
You notice Mr. Landis is still making movies …
Yeah… not really. Any when he walks onto a set the AD’s duck. Not kidding.
A movie with a budget larger then the gross domestic product of several nations is unwilling to spend the money on experienced stunt personnel and instead takes advantage of small-town USA’s blind desire to be seen in a major motion picture, EVEN AT THE EXPENSE OF HUMAN LIFE. Hey Michael Bay: This validates everything Megan Fox ever said about you.
Bay is enough of a successful scumbag that he won’t even be touched by this. So the real question is, did he get the shot?
@Tree In The Forest: Thanks for my first big laugh of the day. Michael Bay is a safety first director? Too funny. Apparently you’re not familiar with his Pearl Harbor incident. But since you clearly work for him I figured you be aware of it.
Which Pearl Harbor incident are you referring to? By your comments, you have worked for him?
Michael Bay doesn’t really give a shit if anyone is injured on the set of his movies. However, he does care if the injured person is unable to complete the scene! Just ask Tea’ Leoni!
Now we know how Michael Bay brings his movies in under budget.
Disgusting.