Film producer drowns while making political ad in Montana

A film producer died while shooting a political ad in a Montana lake for a prospective Senate candidate, according to local authorities. 

Jesse Hubbell, 40, drowned in Canyon Ferry Lake near the capital of Helena, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said Thursday. 

{mosads}The prospective candidate, John Mues, a Navy veteran with diving experience, attempted to save Hubbell but to no avail. The water they were filming in was at least 60 feet deep. 

Divers searched through the water, which was between 60 and 64 degrees, for two days before discovering Hubbell’s body on Wednesday. 

“We have ruled it as an accident, and the cause was drowning,” Dutton said, as first reported by the Associated Press. “We’re still looking into what were the causal factors.”

Dutton said investigators are considering two possible factors, including equipment malfunction or hypothermia. 

Mues is pondering a run next year against Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mt.).

Per Hubbell’s LinkedIn file, he worked as a freelance producer for nearly two decades primarily in the Boston area.