The producers of the film Rust had budgeted $7,913 to pay rookie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, compared to $650,000 for themselves and a $350,000 contingency fee in case anything went wrong, according to a preliminary budget.
The independent movie had a modest overall budget of just $7,279,305, according to a draft of the production budget dated September 8, which was revealed by the Hollywood Reporter.
Star and producer Alec Baldwin, who fired the accidental shot that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, derailing the production, was slated to earn $150,000 as the lead actor, and his production company, El Dorado, was taking a $100,000 fee.
'I'm not sure why they needed six producers taking fees. They'd be falling all over each other if they're really on set. But it's not unheard of,' a source with knowledge of similar productions told the outlet.
The producers of the film Rust had budgeted $7,913 to pay rookie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed (left), compared to $650,000 for themselves, including Alec Baldwin (right)
An aerial view of the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, where the movie was being filmed
It is a modest fee for an actor of Baldwin's high profile, though it doesn't reflect what he may have stood to earn on the backend. He had developed the script as a passion project, rather than a money gig.
The film's other producers included Allen Cheney and Ryan Donnell Smith's Thomasville Pictures planned to take a $150,000 fee, as did Nathan Klingher and Ryan Winterstern's Short Porch Pictures,
The other producers were Matt DelPiano, whose fee was budgeted at $150,000, and Anjul Nijam, who stood to earn $100,000.
Klingher, Winterstern and Nijam were the producers who were on the set daily in a hands-on role, according to sources cited by the Hollywood Reporter.
A source close to the production told the outlet that the producers were deferring their fees following the fatal on-set accident.
Director Joel Souza, who was also injured by the gun Baldwin fired, was to earn $221,872 for his work on the film. First assistant director Dave Halls, who handed the gun to Baldwin according to sheriff's affidavits, was to earn $52,830.
Hutchins, who was killed, was budgeted to earn $48,945.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot with a prop gun fired by actor Alec Baldwin on the movie set in New Mexico on October 21
The budget also included $7,469 for an 'armorer crew,' in addition to Gutierrez-Reed's fee, as well as $17,500 for the rental of weapons and $5,000 for rounds.
On Thursday, a lawyer for Gutierrez Reed - whose father, Thell Reed, is a veteran armorer - insisted that she had taken her role extremely seriously and had briefed all the actors, including Baldwin, that they should never point even unloaded guns at people.
'Hannah was incredibly safety conscious and took her job very seriously from the moment she started on October 4,' Jason Bowles, one of her attorneys, said in a statement shared with Fox News on Thursday.
'She did firearms training for the actors as well as Mr. Baldwin, she fought for more training days and she regularly emphasized to never point a firearm at a person.'
Gutierrez Reed has hired Jason Bowles, a former federal prosecutor, to represent her
On Wednesday, Bowles, appearing on Good Morning America to defend his client, floated the wild theory that someone 'intended to sabotage' the production by sneaking live rounds
