Randall Miller, the director who pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter after the death of a camera assistant on the set of his film “Midnight Rider,” has sued the Directors Guild of America to overturn his 2022 ban from the union which effectively prevents him from directing any movie with guild talent.
Miller served a year in prison in Georgia after camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed by an oncoming train while the “Midnight Rider” crew was shooting on a bridge without permission in 2015. The DGA suspended Miller for a year in connection to the incident.
In 2021, Miller was charged with violating the terms of his 10-year probation, which included a ban from directing, by directing the film “Coffee Wars.” According to the lawsuit obtained by TheWrap, the terms forbade Miller from “serving as a director, first assistant director or supervisor with responsibility for safety in any film production.” Miller argued that he interpreted this as allowing him to direct as long as the responsibility of on-set safety was delegated to others.
While a judge ruled in favor of Miller, who avoided further jail time, the DGA held a disciplinary hearing accusing the filmmaker of conduct “prejudicial to the welfare of the Guild.” As the lawsuit states, all 27 members of the guild’s Western Directors Council voted to ban Miller for life in May 2022.
The lawsuit accuses the DGA’s move to expel Miller of being in bad faith and out of public pressure from the below-the-line union IATSE, of which Sarah Jones was a member. It also accuses DGA leadership of manipulating a vote by the Ethics Committee on whether to recommend Miller’s expulsion to the Western Directors Council. Miller claims that he was told by a whistleblower that the five members of the Ethics Committee voted unanimously in favor of him staying in the DGA, but four of them changed their votes after meeting with union leaders.
“The harm caused by the DGA’s actions toward Miller, marked by deceit and an abuse of process, has been catastrophic to his professional reputation and continues to hinder his job prospects,” the lawsuit states. “Miller has not been able to direct any project since ‘Coffee Wars.’”
In a statement, the DGA called Miller’s lawsuit “a baseless attempt to blame his union for the reputational damage he suffered as a result of his own actions.”
“Ever since Randall Miller pled guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the tragic death of Sarah Jones on Midnight Rider, he has sought to absolve himself of responsibility for his conduct,” the statement read. “We look forward to addressing these misguided claims in court. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Jones family for the loss of their beloved daughter.”
