By Russ Bynum
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) --A third filmmaker was sentenced to 10 years of probation Tuesday for her role in a train collision last year that killed a young camera assistant and injured six other crew members, allowing prosecutors to close their final criminal case in the incident that derailed the Gregg Allman movie "Midnight Rider."
Hillary Schwartz, an assistant director on the film, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing in Wayne County Superior Court. She waived her right for a trial by jury and opted for a judge to decide her case, Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson said.
Two of Schwartz's bosses, director Randall Miller and executive producer Jay Sedrish, pleaded guilty Monday to avoid standing trial.
Filming had just begun on the biographical movie about the Allman Brothers Band singer when a freight train moving 55 mph plowed into the film's crew on a railroad bridge spanning the Altamaha River about 70 miles southwest of Savannah. Prosecutors say 27-year-old camera assistant Sarah Jones of Atlanta died after her head was struck by the train and she fell beneath its wheels. Investigators soon learned that CSX Transportation, which owns the railroad bridge, had denied the filmmakers permission to work on its tracks.
Jones' death galvanized behind-the-scenes film workers to push for improved safety standards while making movies and television shows. And in southeast Georgia, it led to rare case of filmmakers being prosecuted for a death on their sets.
"Our office is very satisfied with the outcome," Johnson said. "More importantly, the Jones family is satisfied with the outcome."
Schwartz's attorney, Todd Brooks, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The harshest penalty went to Miller, the director, who was sentenced to two years in the Wayne County jail and an additional eight years on probation. Sedrish will spend the next 10 years on probation.
Prosecutors agreed to drop charges against Jody Savin, Miller's wife and business partner, as a condition of her husband's plea agreement.
The train collision left the "Midnight Rider" film in limbo. Allman sued Miller in civil court last year to prevent the director from reviving the project. They settled out of court. Terms were not disclosed.
Music Biopics Get Creative At Toronto Film Festival
Many of the expected conventions of music biopics are present in "Piece by Piece," about the producer-turned-pop star Pharrell Williams, and "Better Man," about the British singer Robbie Williams. There's the young artist's urge to break through, fallow creative periods and regrettable chapters of fame-addled excess. But there are a few, little differences. In "Piece by Piece," Pharrell is a Lego. And in "Better Man," Williams is played by a CGI monkey. If the music biopic can sometimes feel a little stale in format, these two movies, both premiering this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, attempt novel remixes. In each film, each Williams recounts his life story as a narrator. But their on-screen selves aren't movie stars who studied to get a part just right, but computer-generated animations living out real superstar fantasies. While neither Williams has much in common as a musician, neither has had a very traditional career. Their films became reflections of their individuality, and, maybe, a way to distinguish themselves in the crowded field of music biopics like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman." "This is about being who you are, even if it's not something that can be put in a box," Pharrell said in an interview Tuesday alongside director Morgan Neville. Also next to Pharrell: A two-foot-tall Lego sculpture of himself, which was later in the day brought to the film's premiere and given its own seat in the crowd. The experience watching the crowd-pleasing "Piece by Piece," which Focus Features will release Oct. 11, can be pleasantly discombobulating. A wide spectrum of things you never expected to see in Lego form are animated. Virginia Beach (where Pharrell grew up). An album of Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life."... Read More