Cast and non-local crew on Andrea Riseborough supernatural thriller Geechee have been sent home from the Dominican Republic.
The move comes after AGC Studios put the production on temporary hold in the wake of an incident in which a crew member was shot on September 2 after a scouting convoy was intercepted by undercover drug enforcement agents.
Screen understands the agents chased the convoy along a stretch of motorway and back to Pinewood Dominican Republic, where production had been taking place.
According to sources, crew were held at gunpoint before the agents realised their quarry were not their intended targets and withdrew.
The injured crew member was taken to hospital where he was treated and subsequently discharged. At time of writing he was said to be out of risk.
The episode is said to have taken place outside curfew hours imposed by the government during the pandemic. According to Lantica Media, which operates Pinewood Dominican Republic, all crew members on the scout had all the proper permits issued by the authorities.
AGC Studios is fully financing Geechee and production had resumed production after principal photography was postponed in March due to the pandemic.
ORIGINAL STORY SEPTEMBER 6:
Production in Dominican Republic on AGC Studios’ Andrea Riseborough supernatural thriller Geechee is on hold after a crew member was shot by police in what is believed to be a case of mistaken identity.
According to a spokesperson for Lantica Media, which operates Pinewood Dominican Republic where principal photography is taking place, the injured person was shot on the night of September 2.
Her had been scouting locations during the government curfew imposed during the pandemic when he was shot by agents of the Dominican Drug Control Forces on an undercover operation.
The crew member was taken to hospital where he was treated and subsequently discharged. At time of writing he was said to be out of risk.
According to Lantica Media, crew members on the scout had all the proper permits issued by the authorities.
AGC Studios has suspended production until further notice.
Lantica Media has requested a thorough investigation from the national authorities and said authorities have been cooperative and are working to ensure that a similar incident does not happen again.
The company stressed the incident is the first of its kind in any of the more than 50 productions serviced by Lantica since its inception.
Geechee had resumed production after principal photography was postponed in March due to the pandemic.
DuBois Ashong is directing the story about a clash of cultures when the Gullah Geechee people in the South Carolina Sea Islands encounter gentrification, cultural appropriation, and the legacy of slavery.
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