Stunt Coordinators to Rally at Academy for Oscar Category Recognition
Mad Max: Fury Road received 10 nominations for this years Academy Awards, yet none of the stunt coordinators that made those impressive action sequences a reality, felt any love — and they're going to let their feelings be known.
The stunt community is not happy, and they’ll be rallying in front of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday afternoon in Beverly Hills.Protesters plan to deliver an online petition — signed by over 45,000 people — to Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
“For almost 90 years, the Film Academy has blatantly discriminated against stunt people and their contribution to the medium we all love and literally bleed for. There are no colour lines or gender lines here. Stuntwomen and stuntmen of all walks are affected by the disregard of their significant contribution to the films we watch,” Emmy-winning stunt coordinator Jeff Wolfe, president of the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures, said in a statement.
Stunt coordinators have in the past attempted to get the Academy to create a stunt Oscar category. In 2011, the Academy considered the request but ultimately rejected it. On the other hand, the SAG Awards added stunt ensemble prizes for film and television in 2008. This years award went to the stunt crew on Mad Max: Fury Road.
