Sarah Elizabeth Jones’ parents filed a wrongful death suit in Chatham County Wednesday, three months after her death on a Jesup movie location.
The lawsuit filed by Richard and Elizabeth Jones names a long list of individuals and entities associated with the project, “Midnight Rider,” a film biography of musician Gregg Allman, which was filming on a train trestle Feb. 20 when Jones, 27, was killed.
A copy of the lawsuit was provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Wednesday; the defendants could not be reached for response before the paper was published. (Look for updates at ajc.com.)
Defendants named in the lawsuit include Film Allman, which was established to produce the film, and Gregg Allman, the subject of the movie and an executive producer, according to court documents.
Also named were Unclaimed Freight Productions; producer-writer-director and Unclaimed Freight co-owner Randall Miller; Unclaimed Freight co-owner and producer-writer Joy Savin; location manager Charles Baxter; executive producer and unit production manager Jay Sedrish; executive producers Michael Lehman and Don Mandrik; first assistant director Hillary Schwartz; director of photography Mike Ozier; distributor Open Road Films; WME BI Holdings; Savannah-based Meddin Studios, which provided production and filming equipment; Meddin co-founder and creative director Jeffrey Gant; Rayonier Performance Fibers, the mill where the train tracks involved are located; CSX Transportation; and other entities.
Soon after the fatal accident, a Rayonier spokesman told the AJC that the film crew had sought access to the mill property but noted that the train tracks and trestle are owned by CSX, not Rayonier. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office told the AJC that CSX had not granted permission to the crew to film on the trestle.
Prior to the Jones family lawsuit, Allman had filed his own suit. In legal documents filed April 28, Allman stated the production did not begin principal photography by the agreed-upon date, due to the fatality. Without disclosing details, attorneys for the singer and Unclaimed Freight told a Savannah judge they reached an out-of-court agreement, the Associated Press reported earlier this month.
Previously, Allman had issued a personal, less formal appeal to halt the movie.
“I am writing to you as one human being to another, and appealing to you from my heart. I am asking you from a personal perspective not to go forward,” Allman wrote to Miller, the director, in a letter obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. “Sarah Jones’ tragic death, the loss suffered by the Jones family and injuries to the others involved has led me to realize that for you to continue production would be wrong.”
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