{"id":223642,"date":"2019-07-19T20:24:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T00:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=223642"},"modified":"2019-07-19T20:24:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T00:24:09","slug":"titans-crew-member-dead-after-accident-at-toronto-special-effects-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/07\/19\/titans-crew-member-dead-after-accident-at-toronto-special-effects-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Titans’ crew member dead after accident at Toronto special effects facility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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So as news spread of Appleby’s death on Thursday from an accident during a special effects test for the series \u201cTitans,\u201d it seemed a particularly tragic twist of fate for someone who was well known for safety as well as his humour, leadership and quiet confidence on set. (Shutterstock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto special effects co-ordinator Warren Appleby brought a measured approach to his work, always finding a balance between delivering something spectacular and doing it safely, says his longtime filmmaker friend and collaborator J. Miles Dale.<\/p>\n

So as news spread of Appleby’s death on Thursday from an accident during a special effects test for the series \u201cTitans,\u201d it seemed a particularly tragic twist of fate for someone who was well known for safety as well as his humour, leadership and quiet confidence on set.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just the worst fear of what we do,\u201d Dale \u2014 the Oscar-winning producer of \u201cThe Shape of Water\u201d who worked with Appleby on many projects stemming back to the 1994 series \u201cRoboCop\u201d \u2014 said Friday in a phone interview from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he would deliver. The gags were good and it was safe. There would be times where we’d be doing something and it would be ‘3, 2, 1’ and he’d go, ‘Abort, abort \u2014 stop, stop, stop.’ He would have seen something that one of us didn’t see, whether it was an instinct or something. There’s that fine line between making it great and making sure it’s safe, and as far as I remember, ironically, nobody has ever really been hurt on one of his sets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toronto police said Appleby died en route to hospital after equipment exploded at a west-end special effects facility and he was hit by metal from the blast.<\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Television Group said it happened during the preparation and testing for an upcoming \u201cTitans\u201d shoot. The company planned to shut down production for two days.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Labour said they were investigating the incident.<\/p>\n

Warner Bros., along with \u201cTitans\u201d executive producers and DC Universe, said they were \u201cheartbroken and devastated\u201d by Appleby’s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWarren is beloved by all who worked with him during an impressive 25-year career in television and motion pictures,\u201d they said a joint statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe executive producers, along with everyone in the ‘Titans’ family, Warner Bros. and DC Universe, wish to express our deepest condolences, and heartfelt love and support, to Warren’s family and friends at this most difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toronto-based special effects company Acme FX, where Appleby was a partner, said he’ll \u201cbe remembered for his quick humour, strong leadership, care and compassion for his crew and \u2014 above all else \u2014 his devotion to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tributes also poured in on social media for the husband and father of two young boys, who had a prolific career in film and TV, with other recent credits including the series \u201cThe Strain\u201d and the films \u201cIt,\u201d \u201cIt Chapter Two\u201d and \u201cThe Shape of Water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale said Appleby put crew members at ease with his kind spirit and humour during tense stunts and scenes involving explosions.<\/p>\n

\u201cStunt effects guys tend to be cocky and macho and he wasn’t that, so he kind of broke the mould,\u201d Dale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole ‘Go big or go home’ macho thing that those guys tended to do, he lived it but he wasn’t arrogant or braggy about it. He was just a guy who was a great leader. These guys just loved him so much because he didn’t take all the credit either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who witnessed Thursday’s tragedy are \u201ctraumatized having seen what they saw,\u201d Dale added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great leader … and had the experience and the confidence and safety and the spidey sense and the sense of humour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo think if he was standing six inches one way or the another, we wouldn’t be talking today. It’s the arbitrariness of that that gets me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toronto special effects co-ordinator Warren Appleby brought a measured approach to his work, always finding a balance between delivering something …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":27770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","mauthors-victoria-ahearn","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223643,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223642\/revisions\/223643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}