Hollywood Crew Members Call for Safety on Set After Production Deaths

At the end of a long week in February 2015, after working an overnight shift as a gaffer and lightning technician on an independent feature film, Chris Walters fell asleep as he was driving home and totaled his truck. Walters, a lifelong Los Angeles resident who joined the entertainment industry right out of high school, was exhausted from consecutive days on set that wrapped late at night or early in the morning. While he was accustomed to such long hours, Walters says, his fatigue finally caught up with him that morning on Interstate 5. Nodding off, he drifted across lanes of traffic and hit a guardrail. Walters awoke to the sound of the crash and considers himself lucky to be alive. 

“I’m very thankful that I’m able to tell that story,” Walters says. “Fortunately, when I fell asleep it was late enough, or I guess early enough in the morning, that there were very…