Grip dies in car accident after 14-hour shift

Fox’s “911”

Jack Zeman/FOX

A crew member up 911 died early Saturday morning in a car accident on the highway after a 14-hour night shift.

Rico Priem, a Fox procedural employee and member of the crew union IATSE Local 80, was involved in a car accident after working at a filming location in Pomona from Friday evening to Saturday morning. The Hollywood Reporter have learned. IATSE and the show’s studio, 20th Television, confirmed the death in statements Monday after crew members began posting about the tragedy on social media over the weekend.

“We are fully committed to the safety and well-being of all our members and extend our deepest condolences to the member’s family,” IATSE said in its statement. “Employees have a reasonable expectation that they can come to work safely and come home safely. No one should find themselves in unsafe circumstances while trying to make a living.”

20th Television added in a statement: “On behalf of the studio and everyone involved 9-1-1We extend our sincerest and deepest condolences to Rico Priem’s family and friends.”

THR has asked the California Highway Patrol for more details about the accident.

Grip colleague and IATSE Local 80 member Nina Moskol said in a social media post that she had worked with Priem on the Thursday evening before the accident and discussed his future plans at the time. Priem “was nearing retirement and had completed his paperwork,” Moskol wrote. “He had planned his already rich life for retirement, including spending time with his wife, watching his great-nephew grow up, riding his beloved Harley and even making an effort to stay in touch with his friends. He was so excited about what he learned about retirement that he wanted to teach him the ins and outs of retirement on the spot.”

Moskol called Priem “a wonderful man, charismatic, vibrant, connected to people in shows everywhere.” She called him a “working man’s writer’s dream.”

In a statement, IATSE international president Matthew Loeb said the union was “shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic loss.” Loeb added: “We are working to support our members’ families, their fellow members and colleagues. Safety in all aspects of our members’ work is our top priority and we will assist any investigation in any way we can.”

Before his role on 911Priem worked on a number of significant titles including The Company You Keep, SWAT, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Star Trek, Christmas With the Kranks And Spirit world.

Priem’s ​​death is the latest accident to rock the crew community in recent months. In February, JC “Spike” Osorio died after falling from the rafters at Radford Studios while working as a rigger for Marvel’s Miracle man. In April, several crew members were injured during an action sequence on the Amazon-MGM Studios set that didn’t go as planned. The loading wagon. OSHA’s investigation into both accidents is ongoing.

The sprawling length of production workdays and their impact on commute times have long posed a safety risk to crew members and their advocates. IATSE union members were vocal about the safety risks of 12-hour-plus production shifts during the union’s 2021 bargaining cycle, and her union is placing renewed emphasis on financial penalties for long work days and missed rest periods in its ongoing negotiations with studios and streamers.