2 Men Hurt When Movie Set Platform Collapses

Two men were injured Wednesday, one of them critically, after an accident on the Lake Sherwood set of the Disney movie “Mighty Joe Young,” authorities said.

Director of photography Don Peterman and cameraman Ray de la Motte were injured when a platform holding a camera boom collapsed about 7:30 a.m. on a privately owned ranch at 235 W. Potrero Road.

According to authorities, Peterman, who was under the platform at the time, suffered two leg fractures and head injuries, while de la Motte, who was standing on top of the platform, sustained minor injuries to his back and chest.

The two were taken to Columbia Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, where Peterman was listed in critical but stable condition. De la Motte was in good condition Wednesday night.

Disney officials had no comment on the accident, except to confirm that it happened.

According to de la Motte, he and Peterman were preparing to shoot a scene when the accident occurred. They were using a camera mounted at the end of a long boom to shoot aerial and fadeaway shots.

“Everything seemed all right, but then it started to get unsteady and the boom just fell over,” he said from the hospital.

Troy Swauger, spokesman for the state’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration, said the set was closed for about two hours to give authorities time to investigate. Afterward, the location was closed for the rest of the day by MJY Productions, a Disney subsidiary that is managing the film, he said. He did not know when shooting would resume.

Swauger said the cause of the accident will be determined within six months.

The film crew was in the sixth week of shooting scenes for a remake of the 1949 classic RKO gorilla-run-amok feature “Mighty Joe Young.” The original black-and-white movie tells the tale of a fast-talking nightclub owner who brings a 12-foot gorilla from Africa to Hollywood in a futile effort to create a new act.

According to Ventura County Film Commission officials, the remake, which stars Ojai resident Bill Paxton, star of last summer’s movie “Twister,” and newcomer Charlize Theron, the accident occurred on the second day of a 12-day shoot scheduled for the Lake Sherwood area.

The movie is tentatively scheduled for release at Christmastime.