Qualified ... For Danger

As we all know from experience, when you’re set on fire, thrown off a building or drive over a cliff, it’s a team effort.

OK, maybe that is not your experience, but if you were a stunt performer, it could be, and the person leading the team effort would be the stunt coordinator.

What do stunt coordinators do? Typically, they budget, design and choreograph stunt sequences to fulfill the requirements of the script, and then cast the stunts with appropriately skilled stunt performers. Stunt coordinators must deliver dazzling and thrilling moments for the audience while at the same time ensuring a safe and secure environment for everyone involved in creating those moments. Stunt coordinators may be called upon to stage everything from a fistfight to a helicopter chase. Subjects they need to master may include chemistry (explosions), physics (car flipping over), biology (what can the human body do) and math (how much will this cost?). Sometimes the script will call for a particularly specialized stunt, in which case the coordinator will consult an expert, such as a deep-sea diver or a stunt pilot. Stunt coordinators must answer to the producer when it comes to budget, the director when it comes to quality and the performers when it comes to safety. While having actors do a few extra takes usually isn’t hard on the performers or the production budget, having a stunt “gag” done over and over can be increasingly risky for the performer, and it can quickly become expensive, so coordinators often feel pressure to get it done in one take. Nevertheless, safety must always be paramount, and SAG-AFTRA believes only experienced men and women should be placed in positions of such responsibility. Guidelines for qualified stunt coordinators is something the stunt community at large has desired for decades. Last year, the SAG-AFTRA National Board approved the creation of the Stunt Coordinator Minimum General Standards Eligibility Process Guidelines. These guidelines are the result of months of work by the National Stunt & Safety Committee, under the leadership of Chair (and New York member) Cort Hessler.

Set to launch later this month, the program will permit prospective stunt coordinators to apply for inclusion in the SAG-AFTRA Stunt Coordinator Roster after demonstrating that they have completed 500 working days as a stunt performer or stunt coordinator. The program also includes a volunteer mentoring program and an apprentice coordinator program. The first roster will be released in early 2020 and made available to employers. Veteran stunt performer, New York Local Board member and Stunt & Safety Committee member Nitasha Bhambree said, “Establishing a minimum standard will help to provide safer sets. Coordinators who achieve this minimum will have gained a certain level of experience that will better protect everyone working on set, including stunt performers, actors, background and crew members. The mentorship program will provide more opportunities for learning the craft and help establish a foundation for future stunt coordinators.”