Work Yesterday and our first Stunt Awards

I had an interesting day of work yesterday. We were filming a car chase scene and I was riding passenger in a Shelby Mustang GT. We were coming hot around a corner and the driver lost the back end of the car and we smashed the back end into a cement column. The back window exploded on impact and the car buckled in half (we hit hard, I mean hard). This was not a planned car crash. I felt the car lose control and I braced my self for the crash. I think that is why I ended up relatively unscathed. I guess this is why they use stunt doubles, even if it is just riding passenger.

I was able to get off work early enough to show up about 15 minutes late to the stunt awards. I was so happy I was able to be there at all. I had such a great time. The after party was amazing! There was an open bar (of course), an incredible spread of food, and a live band. I was surprised at how many people I actually know after only being in the business for a short time. We had a great time at our first red carpet event. I can't wait for next year.

(The first picture is of Jon and I on the red carpet at the stunt awards. The second pictures is the same day when I was at work in wardrobe and makeup in front of the car I was in that we crashed accidentally)

Our First Red Carpet Event

Tomorrow night is the Taurus World Stunt Awards, which is basically the stunt version of the Academy Awards. It is an award show honoring the best stunts performed in movies (doesn't include TV shows). This year the host is The Rock.

I have to work tomorrow but I am hoping to be off in time to at least make the after parties. Jon is going to go to the whole show with another stunt guy. Apparently there is a red carpet that you walk down and everything. I so hope I can make it. Make sure you watch the awards show. It airs on May 25 on AMC.

Work Schedule; 24 Hours in NYC

Things changed since I last wrote. I ended up not working as stunt coordinator covering the set for Jon because the job Jon took that wouldn't allow him to be there, he hired me for. The job was for a big big movie in New York. We got to work together for the first time with Jon as my boss (we all know who the real boss is haa haa). It was a huge job for Jon to get. We didn't really realize how big it was until we got there. Unfortunately I am not allowed to say anything about it, but when I can I will.

I flew in to New York from Seattle late Sunday night. I worked through the night Monday and went right from work to the airport early Tuesday morning and flew back to LA to be here for a rehearsal for a fight I am doing on Wednesday. I was supposed to fly out to Hawaii Wednesday night after work but I just found out that I won't be done with work in time to make the last flight out to Hawaii. It looks like they are going to have to use someone else. It really sucks to have to turn work down but at least it is because I am working on something else.

Work is Moving Right Along

We have had a phenomenal past couple of weeks as far as work is concerned. Today I had an interview with a stuntwoman's group. Basically there are three groups of stuntwoman with about 20 members in each group making up the top 60 stuntwoman in the business. I am being considered for the great honor of joining one of these groups of top notch stuntwoman. I can't even say how excited I am to even be considered after only being in stunts for a year and half. I feel so honored. I have to get letters of recommendations for stunt coordinators and some other information then I have to be voted in by the members. Pray that I get in. Even if I don't I am just happy to be considered.

The short movie that Jon is coordinating is shooting on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The big fight is on Sunday. He just got a call today to cover the set of a feature movie out in New York for a few days early next week. So he isn't able to coordinate the short on Monday and Tuesday because he will be working in NY so what does that mean... I am will be coordinating the last two days of the the movie. This is my first time being the boss and I am a little nervous. We aren't doing anything super hard but still.

I am getting new head shots today since I have changed my hair color since I got my last ones taken. Tonight I have rehearsals for an upcoming stunt fight then tomorrow I fly out to WA for a few days to see family and attend a bridal shower on Saturday. I fly back on Saturday night in time for work on Sunday morning. Busy busy. I couldn't be happier!

Martial Arts Explorer

Last fall when my dad left Lost he began working on a self created project called Martial Arts Explorer which is a documentary style TV show. Basically, they travel around the world studying different types of martial arts. It was an idea he began thinking of years ago but it wasn't until last year that everything began falling together. He was able to raise enough money to shoot the pilot. He was the director and executive producer of the TV show. My sister also worked as an associate producer.

Now he is working on selling the TV show to a network. If you would like to watch a 7 minute promotional video on his show click here. This is what he is presenting to different networks.

Triple Booked and Very Busy

For the first time I was offered to work on three different movies at the same time. I have been praying to be busy with work and I guess God was listening. One of the movies fortunately ended up being pushed back a week, another one is a short movie (typically under 17 minutes and they are usually filmed for festivals in hope that they will be made into a full length movie) which Jon is the stunt coordinator on so I turned him down and the third movie I took. It is only a few days of work but I am doubling one of the stars and I have a great knife fight. It should be fun. I had rehearsals yesterday for the fight and I think I had a smile on my face the whole time. I think fights are my favorite thing to do for stunts. It reminds me for doing a high energy dance routine. I love it!

We have been busy this week. Jon and I have been working on Jon's movie, choreographing a few fights, teach the actors and hiring the stunt folk. We also started taking Wushu classes which is a form of martial arts (used in such movies as The Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). We both enjoyed it.

Update

I got back in LA yesterday from both South Carolina and New Jersey. We had a nice time visiting Jon's family. I didn't realize how many alligators there are in South Carolina. They are just hanging out on the golf course while you play. I am not a huge fan of alligators. I think of them as really really big spiders with large teeth. (this is a picture of an alligator Jon took on his camera phone while he was golfing)

We drove from SC to NJ on Friday morning and on Friday night we went to a Third Eye Blind (great 90's music) in the middle of no where in New Jersey in this small little venue. It brought back so many good high school memories.

Unfortunately, the show Drive that I worked on a bunch was cancelled after only airing three episodes. Apparently, they aren't even going to air the rest of the shows that we filmed. I guess that is show biz. It is a bummer because that was some good work and a good show.

The movie Next that both Jon and I (I doubled Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel when their regular doubles weren't available)worked on last summer opened this weekend. We haven't had a chance to go see but I looks pretty good.

In Hilton Head Island SC

We flew in to New Jersey on Thursday night and we drove through the night and arrived in South Carolina yesterday. We are here vacationing for a week unless one of us gets a call for work and in which case we would head back to LA early. We are staying at a very nice resort and playing tennis and golfing all week (what a stereo type) but it should be fun. The weather was great today. I went for a nice jog along the beach today and saw a family of dolphins swimming right up on shore. It was amazing.

We drive back to NJ on Friday morning and then are head to a Third Day Blind concert (great 90's music) on Friday night which we have back stage passes too. We fly back to LA on Saturday morning. Here is a picture from the balcony of our villa (the picture was taken on my computer camera so it isn't the best but it gives you an idea).

The Worst Wig Ever

I hope all of you watched Drive on Sunday because I have been working on it a lot and I want the show to stay on the air. Here are two pictures from when I worked on the episode that aired Sunday. Like I said, I rode passenger during some of the high speed chases. As you can tell from the picture, the girl I am doubling (who happens to be the same girl that I worked with in Hawaii who was doubling Juliet and is pictures a few posts down my site) is taller than me but when you are riding passenger in a car that doesn't matter. It was funny doubling another stuntwoman.

We all had a good laugh about how awful the wig was. It didn't match Shawna's hair at all but it was a last minute thing so they did the best they could. Don't forget to watch Drive every Monday on Fox. I will be in some of the upcoming episodes.

Worked all Week

I worked all week on the new TV show Drive that premiers this Sunday on Fox. I worked on the pilot a few days also however you can't really tell it is me because I was riding passenger during some of the high speed chases. I can't even tell you how much fun it was. I worked a ton of hours this week and I am so beat today but I love I mean love to work. Sleepiness is nothing a little coffee can't solve.

"I Do My Own Stunts"

People always ask me if it is true when an actors says "I do my own stunts". Here is an interesting article about just that.

The Show Last night

I was on Lost three times last night. Did you see me all three times? If you haven't scene the episode and plan to stop reading I don't want to spoil anything for you. Here is a picture taken of me and the other stunt girl after the fight in the rain and after working all night. We were very cold and very wet but we really had a good time.


It this picture I had to do a standing front flip to my back hand cuffed on to the cement. The only thing I was really nervous about was not getting high enough and hitting my head since I can't get any momentum. It turned out great and I only had to do it twice. If you go slow motion you can see that I was wearing a back bad so I didn't break my ribs.


The third picture is our big fight in the rain. They ended up cutting half of the fight out in the editing room, which is very normal for TV. It is always hard to see how they edited fights because when you do it you picture it differently. I still think it told the story.


The last stunt I honestly can't tell if it is me or Evie. We both did it a few times and I can't tell if it is her or me. I guess that is a good thing if I can't even tell if it is me or not. This was a super fun stunt. I loved rolling around in the mud.

Interview

I just wanted to thank The Lost Blog for taking their time to interview me and shed some light into the world of Lost through a stunt persons' eyes. I hope it's a welcomed perspective for their readers. If you want to read the interview click here.

A Legend Stuntwoman

I came across this article about an amazing classic stuntwoman, Jeannie Epper. She has been doing stunts forever and is one of the original stuntwomen. It is great to see stuntwoman getting acknowledge by the major media. Here is a great article in the USA Today that came out a few days ago about Jeannie. I had the privilege of working with Jeannie on Transformers last summer. She was so nice and apparently good friends of my dad. She said she worked for and with him many times and had some good stories to tell.

My Work on Lost

I was on Lost a few weeks ago (3/7/07) and I worked on the one that aired 3/14/07 but I was working when they aired and didn't have a chance to post pictures of what I did.

On the episode that aired 3/7/07 called Enter 77 I was doubling Kate when she was a attacked by Bea Klugh from behind the clothes rack. We wrestled around on the ground and then Klugh got the gun. I could only wear knee pads when I was tackled because of the wardrobe so when I hit the boxes then hit the ground I had to make sure not to slam my elbows on the cement. Falling on my own is easier than falling with someone else. You don't exactly know what they are going to do and on this stunt I was basically just going for the ride since Klugh's stunt double tackles me. Here is a picture of me and the other stunt double from the stunt.


On the episode that aired 3/14/07 called Par Avion I was flown out to double Kate in the scene shown in the picture (not me in the picture,it is Evi) where she climbs over on a tree. I rehearsed the stunt for camera and made sure it was safe but Evi actually did this stunt for camera. She did a great job and like I tell her she is a stuntwoman at heart. (BTW this was the scene they flew me out right before Christmas and I had to cancel a family Christmas party.)


I will try to be more timely in informing you all about when I am on and what I did.

I Crashed an Audition

I was hanging out with my friend yesterday who is a stuntwoman too and she got a call from her agent about a commercial audition for Friday. I immediately called my agent to see if she submitted me for the job. My agent told me that I wasn't signed with them when they put out the notice for the job. She said I can just try and show up and see if I can "sneak" in unnoticed. Most the time there is a list of people who are scheduled to come to the audition but sometimes there isn't. I figured I had nothing to lose by just showing up, so I did. Fortunately they didn't have anything formal and no list of names so I added my name on the sign in sheet and they called my name and I auditioned.

The friend that told me about the audition said she actually booked a commercial by sneaking in. This happens a lot and sometimes it pays off and other times it doesn't. I just say knock on as many doors as I can and the right ones will open. It was fun.

I Got an Agent!

Today Jonathan and I got signed with a commercial stunt agent. There are two big main stunt commercial agents and we got signed with one of them. The agent is only for booking us on commercial work. We get our own work for TV and movies (stuntmen are different than actors we only need an agent for stunts for commercials). This is just another avenue for us to work.

I had my second audition on Monday. It was for a movie and I had to pretend to be drunk and dance in a congo line. Acting drunk is tougher than you may think. I didn't want to act too drunk and look like I was acting so I had a friend of mine come over and help me this weekend. I think it was helpful. Jon also went on the audition because they needed a guy too. It was fun because we got to be in the room together and dance together in the congo line. It felt kind of like Ben's wedding except I didn't have my boa :)

My Blonde Hair

Here is a quick picture I took with my camera phone to give you all an idea of my new blonde hair. It is fun. I so like being a blond better than a brunette. I don't think the hair people were very happy with me but they ended up working with what I had. I was worried because it is so blonde that the temp color would stain my hair but as you can see it didn't.

I am super happy I made the switch. I will post a better picture once I get one. (Tonia this is per your request!)

Work is Always Unexpected

I am on Lost this week. I will let you know where I am after the show airs.

I just got a call to fly out to Hawaii tomorrow for work. The down side is today I colored my hair really blond. I mean just a few hours ago. Not sure how that is going to work out but we will see. I guess I should start packing.

Doubling a double

Remember two weeks ago when I went on my first audition for a small stunt actor role? I ended up doubling the lady they they hired for that part. They were running two units at the same time so they needed one girl for one unit and one for another. It was really funny to double another stunt girl. I had to wear this awful wig and she said she now knows what actors may feel like when there doubles wig don't look anything like them. The wig was so bad on the set when people would look at me they got this big smile on their face and I could so tell they were laughing at me. I had fun day of work.

Last week Jon worked on rigging for motion capture. Motion capture according to wikipedia is "a technique of digitally recording movements for entertainment, sports and medical applications." They put people in wires and record their movement. The day he worked they were recording it for a video game. He had a fun day and I know he learned a ton.