Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna
Interview with Director, Rachel Mason
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Rachel Mason, Director of Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna
1. Describe the film for us in your own words.
An exploration of the death of Halyna Hutchins from the point of view of a friend.
2. What drew you to this story?
The day after she died, the widower of my friend Halyna, Matthew Hutchins, asked me to make the film. I would not say anything drew me to this because I was simply tasked with it by my friend's husband- and it was a solemn obligation to carry out his request to the best of my ability.
3. What do you want people to think about?
I really hope they can understand that Halyna was a uniquely inspiring person whose death is unfathomable for those who loved her. I hope that they can see how hard she worked to achieve her dreams- and that she managed to balance having a kid all the while. She was an amazing mother, and that's not a small thing to be an artist and a mom.
I also hope that they look at Rust and don't think - wow, what a terrible set- those people were all uniquely terrible. But rather that in many ways, Rust is like many sets, and many workplaces. Every single workplace, not just a film set, can be the site of a horrible tragedy if people don't effectively communicate with each other.
At the center of this disaster were multiple breakdowns. A bullet on a set should have been something discoverable by others, but it was not. I don't believe there is just one person at fault, or even just a few. I see this as a problem which existed because of the confluence of people communicating in ways that led to this disaster.
The goal for me is not to point fingers, but to rather see how this set was very much like many others. And ultimately, the reason that I don't want to land in a place that easily puts blame on one person or persons is because I don't believe that will lead to change. And change is what should come from this. To quote Halyna, "What can we do to make this better?"
4. What was the biggest challenge in making this?
It was a very personal story for me to tell, and I was given very special access to people in trauma. As this is my dear friend, and her memory felt like it was in my hands to try to safeguard. The weight of that was like a sacred responsibility.
5. What was the development process? How did you get greenlit? Share some insights into how this got made.
I took meetings with different interested production companies before landing on Story Syndicate who then connected with Anonymous and Concordia for financing. The film was sold to Hulu while we were in production, making it a Hulu original.
6. What inspired you to become a storyteller?
Initially songwriting. My first feature film was entirely told through music. I have a music and art background, and thinking about how to tell a story in a song expanded to trying to build a musical film. My first documentary, Circus of Books was the film that really moved me into a commercial arena, and I was fascinated by the challenge of telling a personal story in a way that would be able to connect to a larger audience.
7. What’s the best and worst advice you've received?
Best advice: I was given this advice early in my filmmaking career "Often times in filmmaking you will lose the battle for what you want. So what's most important is that you can know that you at least fought for what mattered to you. So fight like it's the Alamo. Don't back down on anything that matters to you, and if in the end you're dominated and you lose, you have to be satisfied with the fight you put up.
Worst advice: "Keep your head down and just do your job." I've gotten this advice many times in different work environments- and I think it is absolutely wrong at times. Especially when something seems really, truly wrong. It is very unpleasant to be the squeaky wheel or a smaller, less powerful voice speaking up for oneself, but it is absolutely wrong to just keep one's head down when there is a major problem.
8. What advice do you have for other female creatives?
It's really important to have multiple plans when you're working- and be able to pivot depending on the situation.
9. Name your favorite woman directed film and why.
The Decline of Western Civilization Trilogy by Penelope Spheeris. This iconic landmark documentary project is something everyone should watch, not only to learn about the underground world of punk artists in Los Angeles, but to get a feeling for what true independent filmmaking feels like. Having an art and music background myself, I know what it's like to perform and be among artists and it informs everything that I do. Her series is a sociological portrait of the outcast. Penelope crafted her early films with something that just feels to me like raw freedom with messy edges, unfiltered, politically incorrect, radical freaks expressing raw emotion. I just love these films so much. And she is my north star for finding a way to bridge that independent art-house approach with commercial mainstream filmmaking. I worship at the altar of Penelope. She is my mentor and I've learned as many life lessons as film lessons from her, as she is a great human being.
10. Feel free to share anything else you would like people to know about this film.
I truly hope that this film can lead to some healing for those who suffered from this tragedy.
Film begins streaming on March 11 on Hulu
Synopsis: On October 21, 2021, on the set of the movie RUST, a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired a live bullet, wounding the film's director and killing its cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Within hours, the catastrophic accident was enveloped by a frenzy of media attention. For months, then years, as lawsuits flew and criminal trials unfolded, the tabloid spectacle around the case overshadowed a private, personal tragedy.
In “Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna,” Halyna’s friend, director Rachel Mason, goes beyond the public narrative to reveal the untold human story of that terrible day and all that followed — from the vantage point of the people at the center of the tragedy. The film weaves together the accounts of those who were on the set of RUST that day and of those, like Mason, who not only lost a cherished friend and colleague but who are still navigating the trauma of the aftermath.
Working with public court records, behind-the-scenes material from RUST, and unprecedented access to key individuals and materials, including Halyna's personal archives, the film examines the official investigations into the safety protocols on set and explores the private moral reckoning of all involved. It probes for answers to the questions those closest to Halyna all carry. How could this have happened? And how do we possibly make sense of it?
Rigorously reported, emotionally raw, and deeply personal, the film seeks to redeem the core of the story that the media exploited — that of a talented cinematographer whose life story was minimized, yet in death gave her colleagues an unexpected opportunity to heal from unimaginable loss by completing the film that mattered deeply to her.