"Lagniappe"
is an expression used in South Louisiana that
means "something extra". Each
year the local schools get a day off from
school. It's called Lagniappe Day.
I started coordinating stunts on my second feature in Louisiana. The new show is a Syfy Channel movie called Monster Wolf, about a spirit unleashed by oil riggers who disturb a sacred burial ground while excavating. The spirit appears in the form of a monstrous wolf, for lack of a better word, that terrorises a Louisiana community. The production company, Activity Films, operates out of Lafayette, my home town, and we’re shooting in and around Lafayette Parish.
Since the wolf demolishes everything in site, numerous stunts are required. The lead actors are Jason London, Leonor Varela and Griff Furst. Furst, a founder of Activity Films, is also a Producer.
It’s exciting for me to come full circle returning to my home town to make a film. I left Louisiana years ago because my calling was elsewhere. There were no local opportunities in film.
Because of my commitment to keeping the production’s stunt budget in check and to cultivating Louisiana talent, I hired Louisiana-local stunt people to perform the stunts on Somnambulist.
The wonderfully talented stunt performers I hired on Somnambulist were Danny “Cosmo” Higginbottom, Jessika Brodosi and Raion Hill. Cosmo, the one with the most stunt experience, is a daredevil who broke a world record for “Highest Dive into Shallowest Water” diving 28 feet into 12.5 inches of water. Jessika, fairly new to stunts, has been doubling Gabrielle Anwar on Burn Notice in Miami. While Raion, a former LSU football star and professional player for the Buffalo Bills, performed his first stunts on camera doubling Gbenga Akinnagbe who plays Alex, one of the leads. No surprise, Raion made it look easy.
In all future shows that I am fortunate enough to coordinate stunts in Louisiana, I will continue to do all I can to use Louisiana-local stunt performers. There is an abundance of talent here that makes Louisiana “Hollywood South.”
Starting off my professional film experience as a Louisiana-local talent with a stunt performing job or an acting gig didn’t happen. It was with a Stunt Coordinating job instead.
Upon moving to Louisiana, I always intended to apply for stunt coordinating jobs. However, I figured that even though I felt qualified they would be harder to get than stunt performing or even acting jobs since the vast amount of my experience is in front of a camera. It appears I might have been wrong.
Last Spring, four majors action films blew through New Orleans. Hundreds of stunt jobs were filled. Only three of those stunt jobs, totaling about fives days of work, were for women. Only one of those days was filled by a local stuntwoman. The Screen Actor’s Guild keeps statistics showing that only 15% of all Guild stunt work goes to women. However, I realize now that outside of Hollywood and New York, it is far less.
Therefore, in spite of my extensive stunt performing experience, my interest in submitting for stunt coordinating jobs got ratcheted up when I realized I may not be able to contribute to the family income through stunt performing the way I had hoped.
My first production meeting and location scout for Somnambulist, the movie I’m coordinating,was last Friday. Turns out, without giving away too much about the script before it’s released, this thriller has a couple of major stunt scenes featuring five characters. Ironically, three are women. The women are both heroes and villians, an interesting catch since the new young writer/director of Somnambulist is a woman, too.
The Louisiana State Legislature is hearing the Louisiana Film Tax Incentives bills today. If they pass, Louisiana will be in a better position to continue its quest to be Hollywood South. In the last couple of years, Louisiana earned the most film revenue for a state that any other outside California – which the state sorely needed and still needs.
This is the beginning of something big! The World Freerunning & Parkour Federation website has gone live. It is the latest project of which I’m involved. It features amazing urban athletes who leap, fly and flip over and on structures built by man and nature – basically using what’s available around them. The freerunners of the WFPF will be everywhere soon.
I just recently returned to Los Angeles for the filming of MTV’s Ultimate Parkour Challenge in my new capacity as VP Talent Management & Stunt Liason for the World Freerunning & Parkour Federation (WFPF). That’s a info-overload because I don’t now whether to blog about the show or the WFPF.
Here’s the upshot: Two dear friends sold a show to MTV featuring the hot new urban gymnastics movement called Parkour. They traveled the globe seeking outstanding athletes for the show. In their travels, they developed a passion for the sport and great respect for the athletes. Their natural progression was to form a Parkour league and management firm, the WFPF. Since we have a positive history developing shows and I have a knack for gettin-things-done, they asked me to join their team in the agency.
So – Please watch MTV’s The Ultimate Parkour Challenge on April 26th. You’ll not only see amazing athletics, you’ll meet eight incredible young men who are role models for all of us. For more, go to the World Freerunning & Parkour Federation website, which goes live in conjunction with the show in a couple of weeks: www.wfpf.com
You would think that resigning from the prestigious United Stuntwomen’s Association (USA) was a bad idea for a women who performs stunts in the film business. It wasn’t easy, but that’s exactly what I did.
Primarily, economics dictated saving since the USA monthly dues are significant and, let’s face it, as much as I love Obama, the economy isn’t going to get fixed overnight. On the other hand, my subconscious backed up the decision with the intrigue of completely reinventing my career.
It’s tough for athletes to switch careers. But, we all have to do it at some point in our lives. We can’t be athletes, or tougher, Champions, all our lives. We have to shift. It’s tough.
However, Micheal Phelps is so admired, he can do whatever he wants! And, he has the clear work-ethic to train and learn as fast as he can. I give him kudos for his performance hosting Saturday Night Live last weekend.
For myself, I’m not such a national figure as Phelps. It was very tough to get where I am and the fight continues. I cannot let up. I have to continue to move forward and reshape, reclaim, renew, recreate and redefine to maintain a modest standard of living.
Last year I worked on this Toyota Prius commercial. I’m driving the car in nearly every shot, but only recognizable in one shot for just a second as the Mom driving her teenage son to a stop near the “telemarketers picking up trash.”
It was short, but sweet, because I nearly skipped the audition altogether. Castings for car commercials are cattle calls. A thousand actors show up all claiming to be expert precision drivers. It’s usually a waste of time. (more…)
