Halyna Hutchins, in her own words: "It’s a passion… you can’t get out of there"

() — The death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust in 2021 it shocked the film industry and covered it in mourning.

Hutchins, a journalist turned cinematographer, died after the film’s lead and executive producer, Alec Baldwin, fired a prop gun while rehearsing a scene.

She was 42 years old.

The director of Joel Souza, 48, was also injured during the incident.

Baldwin and the specialist in charge of the filming weapons face criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter, the prosecutor’s office announced Thursday.

Baldwin claims that he was unaware that the gun he fired on set contained a live bullet.

Hutchins is survived by her husband, Matthew, and their young son.

his way to hollywood

Hutchins participated in a Blackmagic Collective live stream in April 2021, in which he talked about his way of making movies.

“I like stories based on reality or real characters, but my favorite part is creating the world in which the story takes place,” he said.

Originally from the Ukraine, Hutchins grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle, “surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines,” according to their website. She graduated in International Journalism from Kyiv National University.

He worked as an investigative journalist on British documentary productions in Europe, where he made documentaries for the BBC and Discovery before moving to New York.

“In New York I dedicated myself fully to photography,” Hutchins said in an interview for ‘Why Women Are Excelling in Hollywood’ posted on YouTube months before his death. “I did a lot of fashion photography and really wanted to make art films. Something large-scale, beautiful, arthouse film.”

His “vocation”

“When I moved to Los Angeles, I was trying to figure out what the next step would be,” he explained. “Where do you start when you don’t know anyone? Where do you start?”

That led her to an extension course in directing at UCLA “just to soak me up,” Hutchins recalled. She soon realized that she liked photography more than directing.

“I shot about 15 short films there,” he says. “I kept shooting and I thought that was probably my calling.”

Love by the American Film Institute

Hutchins worked with a lighting company and then attended what she called “the best institution for my profession,” the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory, graduating in 2015.

Filmmaker Halyna Hutchins at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. (Credit: Sonia Recchia/Getty Images)

After her death, actor Jensen Ackles, who worked with Hutchins on Rust, posted on instagram who had donated to an AFI scholarship fund in his name.

“Early last week I felt compelled to tell Halyna how amazing I thought she was. I told her how amazing I found her camera shots and how exciting it was to watch her and her team work,” he wrote. “Really. She laughed and thanked me and gave me a hug. I will always be grateful that we had that moment.”

How did you choose your projects?

During the Blackmagic Collective live stream, Hutchins shared what drew her to different movies.

“The character base is the most exciting part for me,” he said. “If I can go on a journey with the characters. The gender doesn’t really matter, it’s just the environment you create around them to convey the character’s journey.”

“If I want to see a movie like that, I would like to do it,” he said.

When asked during the ‘Why Women Are Excelling in Hollywood’ interview what drew her to filmmaking, Hutchins gave a candid answer.

“It’s a passion,” he said. “Once the bug bites you, you can’t get out of there.”