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After ‘Rust’ shooting, attention turns to Georgia film producers

A mourner places a candle during a vigil on Oct. 24, 2021, at IATSE Local 80 in Burbank, California, for cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot accidentally by Alec Baldwin on the "Rust" movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Oct. 21, 2021. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
A mourner places a candle during a vigil on Oct. 24, 2021, at IATSE Local 80 in Burbank, California, for cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot accidentally by Alec Baldwin on the "Rust" movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Oct. 21, 2021. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS) A mourner places a candle during a vigil on Oct. 24, 2021, at IATSE Local 80 in Burbank, California, for cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot accidentally by Alec Baldwin on the "Rust" movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Oct. 21, 2021. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

By Wendy Lee, Ryan Faughnder and Jenny Jarvie / Los Angeles Times via Tribune News Service 8 min read

DECATUR, Ga. – When makeup and hair assistant Katelyn Bushong arrived on the Smyrna, Ga., set of the thriller “By Night’s End” in March 2019, all she was expecting was a $125 paycheck for 12 hours of work.

Bushong applied fake blood to actors to make them appear beat up and was reassured by a producer with 3rd Shift Media, a local production services company, that she would get paid after the shoot wrapped.

But Bushong and two other crew members who worked on the low-budget film told The Times they weren’t paid for their services.

“I don’t think you’d want to go to your job and not get paid two years later,” said Bushong, 25, who lives in the Atlanta area.

Though “By Night’s End” was a tiny project by Hollywood standards, it was a big deal for 3rd Shift Media, a company launched in 2016 by Decatur, Ga.-based producer Ryan Dennett-Smith, according to Georgia business records.