Amazon Denies Unsafe Working Conditions On “The Lord of the Rings” set
Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings television series is set to come out before the end of 2021. The filming takes place in New Zealand, just like the movies. The show is still in the process of shooting and has just announced four new cast members. However, there have been recent allegations of Amazon failing to provide safe working conditions for stunt performers.
With a large number of dangerous stunts and action scenes, minor injuries are expected. But unfortunately, the injuries are much more than minor. Elissa Cadwell, a stunt performer for the new series, has recently suffered a concussion. Cadwell received $500,000 from Amazon in order to help her return home to Australia. This was not considered an admission of guilt by Amazon.
Stunt Performer Dayna Grant
Experienced stunt performer Dayna Grant has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and spinal injury after suffering a head injury on The Lord of the Rings Set. Dayna attributes this injury to being forced to perform stunts she was not comfortable with. Amazon stated that at the time her injuries did not meet the criteria for reporting. Despite this, claims are still being made that production failed to report crew injuries to WorkSafe: New Zealand’s workplace health and safety regulator.
The accusations continue. Thomas Kiwi states that he left the show in March after an injury to his right rotator cuff. He believes this is due to the improper calibration of a wire rig he was strapped into. Unsurprisingly, Amazon has denied the allegations. A spokesperson for Amazon has released the following statement:
“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously. As a top priority, the production team continues to be in full compliance with the mandated WorkSafe New Zealand Safety and Security government regulations. Any allegation or report that activities on set are unsafe or outside of regulations are completely inaccurate.”
Hopefully, as filming comes to a close there will be no more claims of employee endangerment and the injured continue to recover.