CASINO ROYALE - STUNTMAN'S WIDOW CALLS FOR GREATER CONTROLS

STUNTMAN'S WIDOW CALLS FOR GREATER CONTROLS

The widow of a stunt technician who was killed during the filming of TheDark Knight in September 2007 has told an inquest in England that hisdeath might have been prevented had the studio initiated adequatesafeguards. Derryn Chase testified that Warner Bros. ought to have assigneda health-and-safety coordinator to the set. Later, in an interview with theNew Zealand Press Association, Chase said, ""Warner Brothers are a hugemulti-million dollar company. Why are they cutting corners? These guys areunder pressure because the director will say he wants something and theyhave to respond as quickly as possible. It is the culture of the industryand it needs to change. I just want to see the big companies take health andsafety seriously in the movie industry." Her husband, Conway Wickliffe, waskilled during the filming of a scene in which the Batmobile was blown up.The New Zealand native had previously worked on such films as BatmanBegins, Children of Men, Casino Royale, and Die Another Day.

05/11/2008