Midnight Rider's Sarah Jones told parents she was scared of shoot

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Midnight Rider camera assistant who was hit by freight train on set told her parents she was scared of the shoot the night before she died
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Documentary director Malcom Clarke and 'Gravity' editors Mark Sanger and Glenn Fremantle all wore a black ribbon during their acceptance speeches
Jones died on February 20 when she was struck by a train on a train trestle over the Altamaha River near the Doctortown Road crossing in Wayne County, Georgia
Friends and family rallied on social media to get Jones some notice at the Oscars and they succeeded

By Associated Press Reporter and Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 15:42 EST, 5 March 2014 | UPDATED: 16:01 EST, 5 March 2014

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Just one day before her life was tragically cut short, camera assistant Sarah Jones told her parents she was worried about the shoot and the competence of those in charge.

In a new interview, parents Richard and Elizabeth Jones open up about their daughter's concerns, legacy, and how they're dealing with the heart-breaking loss.

Jones was hit by a freight train in Georgia last week during pre-production of the Greg Allman biopic 'Midnight Rider,'

Worried: Jones parents said she was concerned over how experienced her bosses were and was nervous about the shoot only a day before the accident that took her life

'She was a little nervous,' father Richard Jones told The Hollywood Reporter. 'She made a comment that some of the people asking her questions should have known more than her.'

In the interview Richard describes the last message he ever received from his 27-year-old daughter.

'She was excited about meeting and working with William Hurt. That's the last text I received from her,' he said.

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''I'm most excited about meeting William Hurt, I like him.' I wrote back and said, 'I like him too.' And then we lost connection. Ironically, I wrote back a short text, and said, 'Lost you.' That was at 7:57 p.m. Of course, I meant that I had lost reception with her, not, you know, that I had lost my daughter.'

Excitement: Sarah was most looking forward to meeting actor William Hurt

He also revealed that director Randy Miller called him to personally inform him of the accident shortly after the couple had already been informed by a coroner.

'The calls were close together,' Richard said. 'Randy Miller was shaken, very, very upset. He apologized many times. I don't really know myself what part Randy Miller played in this. But he was very upset that day. He was saying he was so sorry. '

Richard said he remembered his daughter as a 'wonderful person, she was driven to do a lot of things, energetic. We loved her very much.'

In harm's way: Sarah's mother Elizabeth worried her daughter might have tried to save equipment without thinking about the danger she was in

Mother Elizabeth believed Sarah may have believed she had an obligation to rescue the film equipment as the train came down.

'She may well have had that in mind, not realizing the immediate danger,' Elizabeth said. 'Whatever comes from this, it has to be something positive, so that her life will not be wasted in vain. All the energy and devotion and love that she had, it can't be in vain.'

At the time of the accident, the crew was shooting a dream sequence.

But Sarah's family now calls it a nightmare.

'This is not all about Sarah; it addresses a much, much bigger problem,' Elizabeth said. 'The value of a dollar cannot be put on Sarah's life, the way that directors and producers put a dollar value on a movie. Everything she did was in a big way and this is a testament to her love of the camera and making a difference after everything is said and done.'

This Sunday several nominees at the Academy Awards wore black ribbons to remember Sarah, who's name and photograph were also projected onto a bumper during the ceremony.

Winning director of 'The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life' Malcolm Clarke, 'Gravity' film editor Mark Sanger, and 'Gravity' sound editor Glenn Fremantle all wore ribbons in Jones' memory during their acceptance speeches.

At the end of Bette Midler's performance, a bumper with Jones' name was shown to commemorate her and audience members were directed to Oscar.com for a photo gallery of the late camera assistant, reports Indiewire.com

Sarah Jones was only 27 when she died on the set of 'Midnight Rider' during pre-production in Georgia

A bumper with Sarah's name was projected during the ceremony after Bette Midler's performance

Jones died on February 20 when she was struck by a freight train on a train trestle over the Altamaha River near the Doctortown Road crossing in Wayne County, Georgia. Seven other crew members were also injured.

Earlier on Sunday, around 700 mourners gathered at Atlanta Botanical Garden's Mershon Hall to remember the talented young crew member.

In attendance were family, friends, and one other crew member who was injured during the accident.

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The Hollywood Reporter writes that the memorial took place just hours before the Academy Awards where a large number of Jones' supporters petitioned the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to mention the young woman in the Oscar's 'In Memorium' segment.

An online petition collected 62,000 signatures and a facebook and twitter campaign urged attendees to wear the black ribbon in Sarah's memory.

Celebrities like Allison Janney and Anna Faris began instagramming and tweeting photos under the hashtag #SlatesForSarah on another facebook page.

Though Jones' photograph was not shown along Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Peter O'Toole, James Gandolfini, Shirley Temple, Harold Ramis, and Paul Walker who Hollywood lost earlier this year, she was still commemorated publicly during the ceremony and her friends and family are thankful.

The Slates for Sarah facebook page wrote following the ceremony: 'Everyone said it was impossible but the love of Sarah and 'Sarah's Team" did it!! The Academy saw your slates and heard your voice and Sarah Elizabeth Jones made it to the Oscars as a symbol of a better, safer film world to work in for all the young people coming into the business….We go further working together for change.'

The Hollywood Reporter writes that during Jones' memorial, Union leader Bruce Doering announcd that the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) would rename its annual scholorship the Sarah Elizabeth Jones Scholorship. The scholorship will be given to the child of union members interested in following in their parent's footsteps.

Stars like Anna Faris and Allison Janney showed their support on #SlatesForSarah

Sarah Jones' supporters rallied to get her commemorated during the ceremony and they succeeded

Doering also spoke of the union's important role in preventing accidents like the one that killed Jones.

'Since this terrible accident happened, we're trying to figure out how this happened and we're committed to taking the issue of unsafe conditions as far as we can take it -- and like Sarah -- full-on,' Doering said.

Questions have been raised on whether or not the film had permission to film near the tracks and an investigation is underway.

Investigators with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office have released few details surrounding the deadly collision about 60 miles southwest of Savannah.

Joe Gardner, the lead detective on the case, has said the crew had permission to film next to the train tracks on property owned by Rayonier, the forest products company that has a large paper mill nearby.

The tracks belong to CSX Railroad.

'CSX has told me they were aware they were out there, but they did not have permission to be on the train tracks,' Gardner told reporters last week.

The sheriff's initial incident report said Jones was on the railroad bridge spanning the river when she was struck by a passing freight train. Others were 'injured either by the train or by debris from production equipment or by a bed that had been placed on the trestle by the crew,' the report said.

Filmmakers have shelved production on the movie.