Production has been suspended on AGC Studios’ film “Geechee” in the Dominican Republic after police officers injured a crew member on the night of Sept. 2.
Agents from the Dominican Drug Control Forces injured a crew member who was scouting locations for the film, according to a statement obtained by Variety from the Dominican production company Lantica Media.
The incident was the result of an undercover operation conducted by drug control agents in the area. It’s being considered a case of mistaken identity. A group of crew members were scouting locations for “Geechee” during the curfew time imposed by the Dominican government, due to the coronavirus pandemic, when the incident occurred. The crew members had all the proper permits issued by the Dominican authorities.
The injured crew member was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, and he was released several hours later. His injuries were no longer a health risk.
AGC Studios has suspended production on “Geechee” until further notice, and Lantica Media has requested a thorough investigation from the Dominican authorities.
“The authorities have been cooperative and are working to ensure that a similar incident does
not happen again in the future,” Lantica Media said in the statement. “For Lantica Media, the top priority is to guarantee the safety and well-being of its productions, this being the first time that an event of this nature has occurred in any of the 50 plus productions serviced by Lantica since its inception.”
AGC Studios is financing and producing “Geechee,” a supernatural thriller starring Andrew Riseborough. She will portray a successful New York scientist who decides to leave the city with her son to start life over in the remote Sea Islands off the Atlantic coast. She quickly falls in love with the secluded island and its people, who are descendants of a centuries-old group of African slaves, but her world starts to unravel as the souls of the subjugated begin to haunt her dreams and her waking life.
Deadline was the first to report the news.