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Top 10 Interesting Facts About Halyna Hutchins

In October 2021, much of the world heard about the tragic fate of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed when actor and producer Alec Baldwin discharged a firearm on the set of the movie 鈥淩ust鈥� in New Mexico.

Halyna Anatoliivna Hutchins was a Ukrainian cinematographer. She worked on more than 30 films, short films, and TV Halyna including the films Archenemy, Darlin’, and Blindfire.

1. Halyna Liked To Refer to Herself As An 鈥淎rmy Brat鈥�

She grew up in the Russian city of Murmansk, on a Soviet military base in the Arctic. There, her father served in the Soviet Navy and she often referred to herself as an “army brat”.

According to film historian Jim Hemphill, she first became interested in film while living at the military base. She attended National Agricultural University and then Kyiv National University, first studying economics before changing her study to journalism.

 Hutchins graduated with a degree in international journalism and worked on documentary films as an investigative journalist in Eastern Europe.

2. She Dated And Married A Fellow Cinematographer

 She met her husband Matthew, who is American, while in the US. They have a son named Andros. Though living in the US, she maintained her Ukrainian citizenship, remained proud of her heritage, and often returned to visit.

Her husband was also a cinematographer and two-time Emmy winner who encouraged her to apply to the American Film Institute Conservatory where he was a professor. Hutchins studied there from 2013 to 2015.

3. She Also Had An Interest In Fashion And Photography

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Hutchins moved to Los Angeles to focus on filmmaking. She was also involved in production and fashion photography. She was an associate producer for World’s Tallest Man, a 2006 film about Leonid Stadnyk by Wild Pictures; the film premiered on the Discovery Channel.

 In 2010, she graduated from UCLA TFT Professional Program in Producing. In Los Angeles, she met Bob Primes, a cinematographer. He encouraged Hutchins to apply to the American Film Institute Conservatory, where he was a teacher. She was accepted and began studying there in 2013 for a two-year master’s program, which she graduated in 2015. While studying she was mentored by Stephen Lighthill.

4. Her Thesis Project Made It To The Screens

 Her thesis project, Hidden, made with director Rayan Farzad, was screened at the LA Shorts Fest, Camerimage International Film Festival, AFI, Fest, and the Austin Film Festival.

5. 5. Hutchins Was Among The Pioneer Female Cinematographers

In 2018, she was one of the first eight female cinematographers participating in the Fox DP Lab program, which was established to provide greater opportunities for women cinematographers. She has inspired other women who are interested in cinematography.

6. Was Named One Of The 10-Up-Coming Directors of photography

 In 2019, she was named one of the “10 up-and-coming directors of photography who are making their mark” by American Cinematographer.

She was director of photography on Adam Egypt Mortimer’s 2020 film Archenemy. Mortimer eulogized her saying “tastes and sensibility of what is cinematic were a huge asset for executing our style”[29] and that “her AFI training and her skill with the math of LUT settings gave us the best texture I’ve found yet in shooting digital”.

7. 7. She Has Several Films Credited To Her name

She is also credited for work on the films Darlin’ (2019) Blindfire (2020) and The Mad Hatter (2021). She was also credited for her cinematographic work on Darlin’ by Hollywood.com, where the film was highlighted after its feature at the March 2019 South by Southwest film festival, in the Narrative Feature Competition.

Hutchins鈥檚 approach as a cinematographer was defined by her attention to using technical detail to create atmosphere and her focus on collaboration.

8. She Was Also A Trade Unionist

Hutchins was a member of the International Cinematographers Guild and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. This is a labor union that represents the entertainment industry’s crew and technical workers in the US and Canada. She supported the IATSE strike over working conditions days before her death.

 After Hutchins鈥� death, she was posthumously inducted into the American Society of Cinematographers. 鈥淥ne day, that will be up on the big screen,鈥� Hauck said. 鈥淭here will be a credit reading, 鈥楬alyna Hutchins, ASC.鈥� I think it鈥檚 some of her best work, and it will get out there.鈥�

9. A Memorial Fund Was Established In Her Owner

Following her death in October 2021, 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.

10. Her Death Inspired Calls for Gun Safety Reforms

Halyna Hutchins died after a prop firearm fired a live round in October 2021, during filming for the Western in New Mexico. Mr. Baldwin, who was a producer on Rust as well as its starring actor, has insisted he did not pull the trigger on the gun, he was holding.

Her death inspired calls for gun safety reform on film sets. Alexi Hawley, a producer of the American police procedural confirmed that, following Hutchins’s death, all live guns on the show were to be replaced with Airsoft guns and CG flashes.

Similarly, 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 following Hutchins’s death, Filmmaker Bandar Albuliwi, a former AFI Conservatory Directing fellow classmate proposed a blanket ban of real guns on film and television sets. He created a petition for “Halyna’s Law” on Change which was signed by A-list celebrities, including actress and director Olivia Wilde, Dwayne Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Julianne Moore, Anna Paquin, Elijah Wood, Lena Dunham, Ava DuVernay, among dozens of other notable celebrities.