how to deal with a job after a suicide

erolroniberaha · June 15, 2004

Here is the deal. I was working as a second on this feature and the leading actor jumped to the elavator shaft and killed himself. The production was shot down and i was told today that we are starting this saturday. Nothing like this has happened to me and I dont know how the working conditions will be. Did something like this happened to anybody? If it did this is the time to give me your advice.

Regards

Erol Roni Beraha

painfulcrash · June 16, 2004

even tough i have no good advice to spare, i wanted to write a reply to say i'm so sorry about the suicide.

if it was me i would show up, just so that i play my part in the game and stay in the loop. (so i can get jobs later on)

:(

Brad Grimmett · June 16, 2004

The job will get back to normal quicker than you think. I had a crew member friend of mine almost die on a job (not job related....he had a brain tumor and cancer) and the job continued as normal the next day. I didn't feel normal as I was the one with him when he went into his seizure, but it was good to be around supportive people in that tough time who knew what I was going through and could talk to me about it. I think it was better to be on set than anywhere else at the time.

I've heard of a few instances from friends where someone actually died on set. It happened on The Truman Show. One of the electricians had a brain anuerism (sp?) and dropped dead right there. I believe they took a day off and then the producers and Jim Carrey spoke to the crew as a whole and offered support and sympathy to anyone that was close to him. They even promised to add a "rememberance" section in the credit's for him, but I don't think that ever happened.

I think in the end, people die, and we can't just stop what's going on because of it.

Jayson Crothers · June 16, 2004

Erol~

I'm sorry to hear about this; drop me a line when you can. Any plans to be back in the states in the near future?

June 26, 2004

Well, it may seem strange but what you've really got to do is forget about what happened. Of course everyone will still think about it, but, just don't mention it. The more it's talked about, the more it becomes and issue and people won?t be concentrating on the film.

I'm sorry about what happened, but just try to forget about it. And, maybe you should consider wherever or not the film is being made too soon after the incident.

Well, good luck with the project, hope it goes well. But don?t mention the incident to anybody; don?t make it a bigger issue than it already is.

Bill DiPietra · June 26, 2004

That's extremely traumatic for each and every person of the cast and crew. Be honest with your own mental state. If you don't feel up to going back, that's a sign that you shouldn't.

At the same time, if you're ready to go back, just do the job and don't worry about what the atmosphere might be like. But respect that everyone will deal with this differently.