Who are Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza?
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza were both shot by a prop gun, fired by actor Alec Baldwin on the set of "Rust" on Thursday.
Hutchins was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital via helicopter, where she died of her injuries. Souza was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he is being treated for his injuries, the sheriff's office said.
Halyna Hutchins
Halyna Hutchins was a Los Angeles-based cinematographer, originally from Ukraine. She grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle "surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines," according to her official website.
Hutchins earned a degree in International Journalism from Kyiv National University and worked as an investigative journalist before graduating from the American Film Institute conservatory in 2015.
She was selected as one of American Cinematographer's Rising Stars of 2019. Her work include Adam Egypt Mortimer's art house superhero action film "Archenemy," starring Joe Manganiello, which premiered in 2020 at Sitges International Film Festival, where it received a nomination for Best Motion Picture.
Manganiello posted a tribute to his late friend on Friday, writing: "She was an absolutely incredible talent and a great person. She had such an eye and a visual style, she was the kind of cinematographer that you wanted to see succeed because you wanted to see what she could pull off next. She was a fantastic person."
Manganiello, who called Hutchins "a great collaborator and an ally to anyone in front of her camera," said Hutchins had a son.
Hutchins, 42, often posted photos from film sets and shared a video of herself riding a horse near the set of "Rust" just one day before her death. She also shared a photo of the crew posing together on set of the Western.
Hutchins' other recent work includes "Blindfire," and "Darlin'," a horror feature that premiered at the SXSW film festival in 2019.
Innovative Artists, which represented Hutchins, said in an Instagram post she was a "ray of light."
"She decided early on she would take the craft of cinematography by storm and the last couple of years proved she was well on her way," the agency wrote, adding they are heartbroken and mourn for her family.
Joel Souza
Joel Souza is a writer and director who held both roles on "Rust," as well as for "Crown Vic," "Break Night" and several other films. Baldwin served as a producer on "Crown Vic," which follows one night in the life of LAPD officer Ray Mandel while hunting two cop killers on the loose, according to IMDB.
Souza is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lives with his wife and two children, according to IMDB. The 48-year-old describes himself as "an experienced director, writer, editor and producer of feature films," who is "skilled in all aspects of production."
"Rust," which Souza also wrote, is about Harland Rust, played by Alec Baldwin, an outlaw with a bounty on his head. He goes to Kansas when he hears his estranged 13-year-old grandson, played by Brady Noon, has been sentenced to hang for an accident being deemed as murder.
CBS News has reached out to representatives of the film for more information and is awaiting response.
