Halyna Hutchins

Halyna Anatoliivna Hutchins (;

Early life and education Hutchins was born to a Ukrainian family on April 9, She called herself an "army brat". They had a son.

Career Hutchins moved to Los Angeles to focus on filmmaking, taking on roles in production and fashion photography. In 2010, she graduated from UCLA TFT Professional Program in Producing. In 2019, she was named one of the "10 up-and-coming directors of photography who are making their mark" by American Cinematographer. Mortimer had said of her, that her "tastes and sensibility of what is cinematic were a huge asset for executing our style"

She is also credited for work on the films Darlin' (2019),

Activism Hutchins was a member of the International Cinematographers Guild and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, labor unions that represent entertainment industry's crew and technical workers in the US and Canada. She supported the IATSE strike over working conditions days before her death.

Death

Hutchins was the director of photography on the Western film Rust. While working on set near La Cienega, New Mexico, preparing for a scene, actor Alec Baldwin discharged a Pietta .45 Colt revolver, injuring director Joel Souza, and fatally wounding Hutchins. She died later that day while being transferred to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. The next day Baldwin expressed his shock and sadness at the incident. He said he would cooperate with police, and offered support to her family.

A candlelight vigil at the Albuquerque Civic Plaza organized by local IATSE chapters was held on October 23. It drew hundreds of people. She is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Hutchins's family filed a lawsuit against Baldwin and other crew members of the film Rust alleging that her wrongful death on the set was caused by irresponsible behavior and cost-cutting. The lawsuit was settled for undisclosed sums, with her widower being given a job as executive producer of the film.

Rust first assistant director David Halls pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, and received a suspended sentence and six months of probation. Halls pleaded no contest to an additional misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, for which he received a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation, a $500 fine and 24 hours of community service. The special prosecutor's office in New Mexico announced the dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin. Rust movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed waived her right for a preliminary hearing to determine whether or not the criminal charges against her would stand, thus allowing the trial against her to take place. A grand jury indicted Baldwin for involuntary manslaughter, and charges against him were refiled.

A jury found Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but not guilty of the additional charge of tampering with evidence. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was released after completing her sentence. The case against Alec Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice after the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense. Shortly after the criminal case against Baldwin was dismissed, lawyers for Hutchins' widower and parents vowed to seek civil litigation against the actor.

Legacy Following Hutchins's death, teachers and friends of hers at the American Film Institute established the Halyna Hutchins Memorial Scholarship Fund dedicated to supporting the education of female cinematographers. Hutchins's widower Matt Hutchins endorsed the project and asked for anyone wishing to honor her memory to donate to the fund. Eric Kripke, showrunner of the American superhero TV series The Boys, similarly vowed to ban blanks and guns on his show.

Less than two hours after Hutchins's death, filmmaker Bandar Albuliwi, a former AFI Conservatory Directing classmate (class of 2010), proposed a ban on real guns on film and television sets. He created a petition for "Halyna's Law" on Change.org, which was signed by actors Olivia Wilde, Dwayne Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Julianne Moore, Anna Paquin, Elijah Wood, Lena Dunham and Ava DuVernay. Albuliwi has been working with state senators, including California State Senator Dave Cortese, to propose California legislation that would make it a felony to use real ammunition on film and television sets. Over 200 cinematographers called in an open letter to ban functional firearms on film sets.

The American Society of Cinematographers posthumously honored Hutchins's work as a cinematographer by awarding her honorary membership.

An authorized documentary Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna directed by her close friend and collaborator Rachel Mason, and executive produced by Matthew Hutchins, produced by Story Syndicate, was released in March 2025, on Hulu.

Filmography World's Tallest Man (2006) Snowbound (2017) A Luv Tale: The Series (2018–2021) To the New Girl (2020) Rust (2024)