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Amazon Prime denies unsafe set on Lord of the Rings

Studio denies "completely inaccurate" reports published by the NZ Herald.

Amazon Studios have denied claims published in New Zealand alleging an unsafe set on its mammoth Lord of the Rings production.

On Friday the New Zealand Herald reported that “at least three” stunt workers on the set had been seriously injured. According to the story, two injuries requiring surgery were allegedly not “proactively reported” to NZ workplace health and safety regulator, WorkSafe.

One of those named was alleged to be Australian stuntwoman Elissa Cadwell. It also reported an online fund for stuntwoman Dayna Grant (Wonder Woman, Mad Max, Snow White, Xena, Ash vs Evil Dead) to fund emergency Brain Surgery, including with support from Lucy Lawless.

“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously,” a spokesperson for Amazon Studios later said. “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.”

The series is the most expensive TV production ever made at $A617 million for its first season alone.

Source: Variety

One Response

  1. The New Zealand Herald is not exactly a sensationalist newspaper, except perhaps if the story concerns rugby union.
    If I remember correctly ‘Lord of the Rings’ Peter Jackson was also accused by animal wranglers of the deaths of 27 animals used for The Hobbit Trilogy, this claim was completely rejected by Jackson and the producers though later the filmmakers spent hundreds of thousands upgrading stable facilities in 2011 due to the accidental deaths of two horses on the studios farm.
    It will be interesting to see how this latest Lord of the Rings NZ production controversy ends.

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