Content Warning: The following content contains references to death.
On March 11, it was reported a camera operator and a boom operator assistant filming at Taiwan’s “Valley of the God Waterfall” for upcoming Netflix series, “The Embrace” (lit. 初擁), accidentally fell into the valley. They were rushed to the hospital, but were declared dead after succumbing to their injuries. The series production company, Domani Family, issued a statement saying the two staff members had an accident after wrapping up work. They will be fully assisting the deceased families’ with the funeral matters. They expressed remorse and revealed filming has been halted.
The series is about the romantic love story between a vampire and a palace maid. Aaron Yan (炎亞綸), one of the leads of the series, wrote a lengthy post on March 12 stressing that he will halt working until the production company provides an explanation about the accident. He started off saying that he had previously distressed, worried, and even angry about each detail of a Taiwanese drama that he had offended quite a few production companies and TV stations.
When Aaron Yan found out about the news, he said he asked himself how far he should go to uphold his bottom line and rights that should be defended to the point where everyone felt he was too problematic to use for filming or whether to meet safety requirements and be willing to spend more money. Aaron Yan expressed that while he isn’t a producer, but he takes it upon himself to act like a producer to oversee all the matters on a production. He candidly said, “Honestly speaking, crew members in the Taiwan drama circle are a group that is often overlooked, which leads to talent leaving, and regretful situations constantly occurring (car accidents from fatigue, death from fatigue, including today’s falling into the valley, and more…), that’s why I used to be angry and fought against the environment at any cost. Should I persist?”
Lastly, Aaron Yan said, “Before Domani provides a reasonable explanation and proper attitude, myself and the contracted actors of the series will halt working with this production company and insist on proper safety measures, reasonable working hours in accordance to the drama’s budget as a prerequisite to continue the next cooperation.” He closed off the post saying everyone’s life is equal and implored all actors, staff members, and related departments to focus on the issues and resolve them to “elevate the environment of Taiwanese dramas”.
Aaron Yan received support from colleagues and industry personnel on his bravery to speak up and possibly offending more production companies.
