Amazon Studios has shot back at reports of lax safety standards on the ongoing production of the upcoming “The Lord of the Rings” TV series.
On Friday, The New Zealand Herald published an article indicating that at least three stunt workers on the set of the costly series have been seriously injured.
The story says two injuries requiring surgery were not “proactively reported” to the country’s occupational health and safety regulator WorkSafe.
Now, in a statement to that outlet and others, Amazon Studios says their safety protocols are in compliance with WorkSafe and New Zealand governmental standards. They go on to say:
“Amazon Studios takes the health, physical and emotional welfare of our cast and crew extremely seriously. 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.”
One instance cited in the original article and one released today in Variety involves award-winning stunt performer Dayna Grant (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Wonder Woman 1984”) who reportedly suffered a head injury in March on set which was determined to be a mild concussion.
Sources for the reports indicate she was apparently cleared to return to work and did stunts on multiple other productions before she was diagnosed this month with a brain aneurysm and injury to her upper spine.
Variety’s report adds that the series, which boasts a $465 million budget for its first season alone, has an extremely large amount of stunts and risk analysis performed at every stunt site with all near misses and accidents recorded.
So far 16,200 stunt person days have been worked and the injury rate is said to be .068%, mostly consisting of sprains, bruises and muscle and soft tissue strains.
The series itself deals with the Second Age of Middle-earth’s history, thousands of years before the events of the ‘Rings’ trilogy. Production has been running on and off since early 2020. No air date for the series has yet been set.