MEDIA ALERT: An Evening with Stuntman Hal Needham - Wednesday, June 15

An Evening with Stuntman Hal Needham
Moderated by SAG National Stunt & Safety Committee Chair Conrad E. Palmisano
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Event: Wednesday, June 15 – Screen Actors Guild National Headquarters

What: Conrad E. Palmisano will interview Hal Needham about his new book Stuntman!, his Guild membership, his invention of several industry-defining tools and his perspective on being a stunt professional in Hollywood and around the globe.

When: 7–9 p.m., Wednesday, June 15
Check in at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Screen Actors Guild, James Cagney Board Room, First Floor
5757 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA  90036
Parking will be validated.

If you are interested in covering this event, please RSVP to SAG Communications Executive Director Pamela Greenwalt via email at pgreenwalt@sag.org or SAG Manager, Communications, Hope Barkan at hbarkan@sag.org.

HAL NEEDHAM’s career has included work on 4,500 television episodes and 310 feature films. He directed 10 features, including the classics Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper and The Cannonball Run. He set trends in movies, as the first director to show outtakes during end credits, and NASCAR, as the first team owner to use telemetry technology. His Skoal-Bandit race team was one of the most popular NASCAR teams ever — second only to that of Richard Petty. Needham set Guinness World Records and was the financier and owner of the Budweiser Rocket Car, the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier, attaining a speed of more than 739 mph. The highest-paid stuntman in the world, he has broken 56 bones and his back (twice), was the first human to test the car air bag, and has fought for the respect and recognition that stunt performers deserve for their contribution to the world of entertainment. He has won an Emmy and an Academy Award.