Netflix Used Actual Footage From A Rail Tragedy In ‘Travelers’ And, Potentially, In ‘Bird Box’
Bird Box has been a huge hit for Netflix. It has not only terrified viewers as Sandra Bullock attempts to get her children to a safe location without being able to take off their blindfolds, but a challenge has been created that sees blindfolded people doing stupid things on video. Now, it appears that the movie uses actual footage from a real-life tragedy and people are not okay with that.
According to Gizmodo, footage from the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, which is considered one of the “worst rail incidents in Canadian history,” has been recently identified in an episode of Travelers. The TV series is produced by Toronto-based Peacock Alley Entertainment and the footage was discovered in the latest season of the sci-fi drama.
At the time of the discovery, the production company’s president, Carrie Mudd, told the Canadian Press that they got the footage from a stock footage supplier called Pond5. When this company was approached, spokesperson Tina Witoshkin said the footage “was taken out of context and used in entertainment programming,” according to BuzzFeed News.
The company apologized for the error saying that they “deeply regret that this happened and sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended, especially the victims and their families.”
Mudd and Netflix confirmed that the footage would be removed from the specific episode of Travellers.
Video of a rail accident that killed 47 people in Quebec in 2013 is used in “Bird Box” to depict global chaos. Netflix said on Thursday that it would not edit the movie to remove the footage. https://t.co/QQXsgMmh2E
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 17, 2019
Now, it appears that footage from the same tragedy has now been found in Netflix’s Bird Box.
The footage in question involves a news report showing a town under attack. It is believed the footage may be from amateur video taken at the time of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster. This footage is also believed to be freely available online.
Lac-Mégantic Mayor, Julie Morin, told the Canadian Press that she wanted a full investigation over the usage of the footage.
“I don’t know if this is happening all the time, but we are looking for assurances from Netflix that… they are going to remove them,” Morin said.
“You can be sure we are going to follow up on this, and our citizens are on our side.”
Netflix is still investigating the matter to determine the origin of the footage in question. However, a recent report by ABC News Australia sees Netflix stating that the footage in Bird Box will remain.
“We will keep the clip in the movie,” a Netflix spokesperson said.
However, it is believed that Netflix will “do things differently moving forward.”
According to BBC News, the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster occurred on July 6, 2013. The tragic event saw 47 people lose their lives in the Quebec town after a train containing crude oil derailed and exploded. Many of the victims had to be identified using DNA samples and dental records.
