(NewsNation Now) — We are now getting our first look at the actual budget for the movie “Rust” after hearing allegations from some crew members that the production was unsafe and cutting corners.
The cast and crew started filming early last month, employing 75 crew members, 22 principal actors and 230 background talents.
Just hours before the shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, six members of the camera crew walked off the set over safety and financial issues.
The budget, shared by The Hollywood Reporter, includes the salaries of the actors and the crew members, as well as how much they were planning on spending for the weapons and the ammunition that was used.
Alec Baldwin was expected to make $150,000 as an actor and $100,000 as a producer on the film.
Given Baldwin’s star power and his name, the payments may seem low. When he was filming “30 Rock,” Baldwin was making $300,000 per episode. Hollywood experts say this indicates “Rust” was a passion project and not a money grab.
Hutchins was earmarked to earn less than $49,000.
Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer for the movie, would have pocketed less than $8,000. This was the 24-year-old’s second major production.
As for the weapons used, the producers planned to spend more than $17,000 on guns, and $5,000 alone on rounds.
In the industry, this film is what’s called tier one, which means it’s basically a low-budget film.
Cast and crew members say it’s often hard to find people to fill these jobs at the tier one level just because the pay is not enough.
