"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.
With the disaster in the Gulf unfolding, we are shooting Swamp Shark in Louisiana swamps still untouched by the oil spill. Riding through the murky waters on a houseboat, we observed the unique natural beauty and lifestyle of this precious American resource. Our journey’s destination was the film set deep in the swamp surrounded by water and Spanish moss covered Cypress trees.
Our first week of shooting wrapped after five days shooting on and in the water. I only saw two snakes and two alligators. I guess that’s lucky. I won’t lie, I was looking over my shoulder every minute I was assisting actors who had to perform scenes in the water.
Enjoy the breathtaking grandeur that makes me even more proud to be a Louisianian.
The trailer for Monsterwolf is released. It was filmed in my hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana. As the Stunt Coordiantor on this one, I am anxious to see the final product. To my knowledge, it will air either this summer or fall on the SYFY Channel.
Click on the link to see the trailer, ENJOY and look for a release date. When I find out, I will post it here.
Several days ago while walking in the neighborhood, I spotted this cross on the front doors of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church on Louisiana Avenue, another joyful surprise on the colorful streets on this festive city. I snapped some shots and left them in my iPhone. However, because of a subsequent death of my dear Uncle Pete a couple of days later on March 5th (Mom’s birthday), I look at the photos and think of him.
My uncle was a relic of an era gone by. An era of farming. An era of rural America. An era of small-town religion and politics. An era of back-breaking work. An era of modesty. Even an era of sports. A devout “Bapti-costal,” Uncle Pete, also known as J.W., loved God, life and family. He also loved his team. In his final days on Superbowl Sunday, his five loyal children gathered in his hospital room to enjoy the big game with him. They cheered their favorite team together for three happy hours. As the game was winding down, Uncle Pete asked one of his kids, “How much time is left?” “Ten minutes, Paw Paw,” she answered, “Ten minutes.” With wet eyes and slight smile, he looked up and said, “OK, I think I’ll live that long.”
He knew his life on Earth was coming to an end and he made it. He had lived to see the day. Born in 1918, one of Uncle Pete’s last joys with all his children together was to witness one more unexpected miracle. A WWII vet (which I only learned about at the funeral, hence the flag-draped coffin), hard-working farmer who never missed a church service, pillar of Winfield, life-long Democrat,
unassuming cousin of Louisiana’s legendary Long family, dedicated husband of 51 years, widower for 14, proud father of five, loving grandfather and great-grandfather of dozens, he was a simple man with few needs who lived to celebrate every moment that he could squeeze out of his full life.
I never got to tell my uncle that even as a small child I always admired him. He was a decent and humble man. Although he wasn’t Catholic, I thought how he would have appreciated this sight.
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.
