USC Officials ‘Unaware’ of Approvals Related to Film Shoot That Killed Chapman Student in Crash

The Digital Media Arts Center at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., on Oct. 14, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Following the death of a Chapman University cinematography student, who was killed April 15 in a dune buggy accident in the Imperial County desert during a University of Southern California (USC) student film project, officials said the students did not follow safety protocols.

Peng Wang, a third-year graduate student, was partially ejected from a 2022 dune buggy in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area located in the southeast corner of California when the vehicle overturned while driving along the side of a sand dune.

“Peng was a beloved member of the Chapman film school community, and he will be greatly missed,” a spokesperson from Chapman University told The Epoch Times. “Because this was not a Chapman-related or organized film shoot, we have very little information and are relying on USC to keep us informed.”

Wang volunteered as a cinematographer on the production with three other students from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

All three USC students involved in the crash survived, with no significant injuries reported.

“The School of Cinematic Arts has extensive safety protocols and requirements that apply to all student productions,” USC spokesman Jeremy Pepper told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Under our policies, any shoot taking place more than 50 miles away from our campus, or involving the use of all-terrain vehicles, would have required very specific approvals from the school.”

Pepper said the University is “unaware of any such approvals having been requested or provided in this tragic matter.”

According to USC’s film school’s “Safety Rules for Student Productions,” students must always wear seatbelts while driving, and projects filmed outside the “Los Angeles zone” must have law enforcement present.

Students who violate those rules will face a disciplinary committee of peers and faculty members and could receive a lowered or failing grade and have their film confiscated.

While the investigation is still ongoing, California Highway Patrol officials said the students were not under the influence at the time of the accident.

Wang was an award-winning student filmmaker and scheduled to graduate with a Master’s Degree in May 2022.

Due to student privacy laws, USC declined to provide further comment.