Spotlight: Top Hollywood Stuntwoman Gaëlle Cohen Dishes On Working With Jessica Biel And Penelope Cruz And Shares Some Delicious Recipes You Can Whip Up At Home

By: Melissa

She is one of the most in-demand stuntwomen in Hollywood. A native of France, Gaëlle Cohen was recently featured in the award-winning box office smash Zero Dark Thirty. Her stunts have long been receiving industry acclaim for their breathtaking craft and gritty realism.

But when she’s not busy shooting major studio productions like Rush Hour 3,Babylon A.D. and the upcoming disaster thriller Black Sky, she’s cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Gaëlle is a true gourmet cook with a passion for organic cooking.

Here she shares her tales of working with a host of stars and provides some of her favorite recipes that you can whip up in the comfort of your own home.

CelebZter: How did you get into being a stuntwoman?

Gaëlle: I had just finished law school when a friend of mine asked me to help her on a show for which she urgently needed a replacement actress. I had never done that before, but she figured I wasn’t shy and would pull it off. There I met some stunt people who were practicing fencing—I found out they were actually rehearsing for an audition. I was on the National French Fencing Team for many years before that, so I offered to help them put a fight together.
Several days later, the stunt coordinator calls me and offers me to work for him on the sword fights for a TV show called “Highlander.” I hadn’t the slightest idea of what stunt work was, but after my first day on set, I knew this was what I wanted to do. Law was definitely not for me anymore.

CelebZter: How do you train for stunts?

Gaëlle: After my experience on Highlander, the only skill I had was fencing, which is a start, but not enough to be hired as a complete stunt woman. So I started training full-time to acquire all the skills stunt people need to perform in movies. Not only did I attend the National Circus School to learn trapeze and acrobatics, but I practiced martial arts, horse riding, trampoline, motocross, high falls, etc.
I trained for a year and a half, before really starting to consider myself “hireable” as a stunt woman.

On a regular basis, you work out to keep in shape, and you train to maintain or improve the level of your skills.

CelebZter: What is the best experience you have had on a movie set?

Gaëlle: There are so many! This is why I love my job, just like all stunt people do, I am sure. One of my most memorable memories is from spending time in the Moroccan desert dunes, riding a camel as Penelope Cruz’s stunt double in the movie “Sahara.” It was such a magical moment.

I also remember, 15 years ago on my first feature film (a movie called Young Blades with Hugh Dancy) I was on the top of a 35-foot tree in a French countryside forest, ready to slide down on a rope and jump on a horse. It was then that I realized how incredible my life was. The beautiful view and the wind in my ears just added to the whole experience. I felt really blessed.

 

Read the rest of the interview at CelebZter

Interview With The Incredible Stunt Driver Robert Nagle

By Michael Muire 

Robert Nagle studied mechanical engineering and racecar design before becoming a professional race driver. But when he found out that some of the other drivers were working in the film industry, it piqued his interest. Said Nagle, “What I found was that it fulfilled a creative side of me that I didn’t really realize was there.” He left the racing world and hasn’t looked back, doing stunt driving for a number of films, including The Dark Knight Rises and Drive.

One piece of equipment he’s been driving lately is the Biscuit Rig Jr., a driveable platform developed by Allan Padelford Camera Cars. In this interview he describes the origins of the vehicle and its operation and uses.

Filmmaker: What is the Biscuit Rig?

Nagle: Allen Padelford originally built a rig for the movie Sea Biscuit, and it was a giant driveable platform they put mechanical horses on to film the actors up close.

The vehicle was also used on Aviator, and they mounted an aircraft fuselage on it for Leo [DiCaprio] to sit in for a crash sequence. During that time there was a huge brush fire in Southern California and the rig was caught up in the brush fire and was lost.

Fast forward a few years later, Allen and I got together and started collaborating on some projects and we decided to build a different version of what he was calling the Biscuit Rig, and we came up with the Biscuit Jr.

We engineered this thing from the ground up; it’s powered by a V8 Cadillac Northstar that’s about 400 horsepower. It’s front wheel drive and there’s a pair of wheels at the back. Six wheels in total.

There’s a pod that is the driver position that is moveable around the rig. If the cameras are looking towards the back it can sit toward the front of the rig, or if the cameras want to face forward we can move the driving pod to the rear of the vehicle to be out of frame. That’s what makes this design unique.

Filmmaker: It can be modified?

Nagle: The whole thing is modular so we can really play around with what the bed looks like and how many axels we have. ForTotal Recall, we added another set of axels because of the amount of load that was on it.

Filmmaker: What’s the advantage of this over a typical trailer?

Nagle: You can drive over 100 miles an hour with it, we can high-speed through traffic, we can slide it, we can spin it.  It’s heavy. Not super responsive, but it handles extremely well. It’s very fast.

Filmmaker: How do you slide it if it’s not very responsive?

Nagle: Well when I say it’s not very responsive, it’s not like a sports car. It is heavy, but most people walk away quite amazed at how well it gets around.

Filmmaker: It must be a very odd feeling to be driving from the back?

Nagle: It really is because all the sensation and everything you feel is completely off from what you are used to. I acclimate to it pretty quickly because I have done it so much, but it’s definitely an odd sensation.

Filmmaker: What’s the most amazing bit of driving that you’ve done with this?

Nagle: One would be in Drive. Almost all of the sequences where Ryan Gosling is driving, he’s on the Biscuit Rig. We did a chase sequence where……..

 

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

 

Trigger Creates Buzz with New Sony Project

LCO client and youth brand marketing firm/game studio Trigger sat down with Los Angeles Business Journal to discuss their new project with Sony Pictures. 

Trigger is creating Sony Picture’s, “Green Hornet Wheels of Justice” game for the iPhone. Trigger and Sony pictures are promoting this film using an interesting  “freemium” method for the game. “Freemium” meaning that it will consist of the game having 15 levels with the first five being free, and the next 10 to cost 99 cents through Apple’s online App store. If this method is successful, Trigger plans to produce as many as six to twelve freemium games a year through their sister company, Trigger Apps. Although this may be a risk, Sony sees it as an opportunity of not only promoting the film, but as a great way to bring back revenue to themselves and Trigger.  The founder of Trigger Jason Yim declares that overall, ” We have to balance marketing the movie and telling its story, and on the other hand, making a game that’s fun and people are willing to buy.”

For the past 10 years Trigger has worked tremendously to create opportunities that involve, influence, and entertain audiences for clients that want to reach a mass youth demographic. Trigger has worked with industry giants such as, MTV, Universal, Paramount, CBS, and many more. They have also created games for films such as, “Resident Evil,” “Transformers,” and “District 9.”  

Read the full article: Going to The Movies

For more information about Trigger you can visit www.triggerglobal.com.  Also follow them on twitter @triggerllc

A Potential Collaboration?

Last night, November 4, 2010 an interesting introduction took place at the red carpet premiere of Jamie Kennedy’s new film “Uncomfortable”. During an interview with Hollywood TV, rocker Dave Navarro seemed to be pretty intrigued with Colette Carr and they had quite a “unique” conversation. See for yourself…

Michael Moore on Larry King Live!

LCO Client, Michael Moore, appeared on Larry King Live last Tuesday, July 27. Moore interviewed live from the Traverse City Film Festival, giving us a sneak peak of what goes on and what to expect for this year’s festival.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

For more news and updates about Michael Moore, please visit www.michaelmoore.com

If you enjoyed this post, we would be very grateful if you leave a quick comment below or subscribe via email. –Levine Communications Office

A Festival at its Finest

What does a good film festival actually consist of?

Well, first we can start with what a film festival is…According to Wikipedia, a film festival is an “organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality”. Alright, that seems simple enough, but what makes it one of high-quality?

Is it the location?

Is it the important people who attend? Are there a lot of celebrities?

Is it the films that are shown?

Is it the after-parties?

Is it press attendance?

Is it good advertisement?

Is it the size of the festival?

Is it the history of it?

Is it the amount of years it has gone on?

What exactly is it?

Well, let us ask you a somewhat random question…what do Michael Moore and Michigan have in common? The Traverse City Film Festival (which we can argue is an actually good film festival)

The Traverse City Film Festival seems reminiscent of how Sundance was brought to fruition, for all the right reasons, showing truly independent films, teaching future filmmakers, and giving films that might otherwise not receive large distribution an opportunity to be seen. Traverse City has an estimated population of 142,316 and last year more than 96,000 admissions were tallied for the five-day Traverse City Film Festival in only its fifth year. The Traverse City Film Festival was established by Michael Moore as a charitable, educational, nonprofit organization committed to showing “just great movies”. For those of you who may not be familiar with  Michael Moore, he is known as an American filmmaker, author, and liberal political commentator. He has also directed and produced four of the top nine highest-grossing documentaries of all time.

With 2010 being the 6th annual Traverse City Film Festival, the board hopes to reach out to even more people and maintain its goal in helping to save one of America’s few indigenous art forms–the cinema. As previously mentioned, LCO Client and Academy Award Winning Michael Moore is the creator of the Traverse City Film Festival. Also sitting on the board is Academy Award winning director, Emmy Award and two-time Golden Globe Award winning actress Christine Lahti.

The 2010 festival is will take place July 27-August 1 in Traverse City, Michigan. Tickets are on sale now and the 2010 Festival Guide is also available online at www.traversecityfilmfest.org. And if you can’t make it this year, the 2011 date is already set so you can plan ahead and get there!

Sex Tax Movie Premiere with LCO

Yesterday LCO ran the press for the movie Premiere of “Sex Tax” hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This independent film that was inspired by a true story is about the IRS takeover of the Mustang Ranch. Talent that appeared at the premiere included Adam Tsekhman, Brody Hutzler, Dean Shelton, and many more! Look for Sex Tax open to the public later this year.

Check out a trailer of Sex Tax on our youtube: Sex Tax Trailer

Sex Tax

The LCO team is working hard and amped up for the premier of David Landsberg’s comedy based movie based on the true story of how the IRS took over the Mustang Ranch brothel in Las Vegas!

Jason Yim kicks and punches

LCO client Jason Yim kicks butt in the boardroom and in the gym. Yim, 37, is the Creative Director of Trigger LLC ; a prominent  digital marketing agency that designs websites and games for Hollywood movies. Now Mr. Yim is making headlines not for his successful business but his intense workouts. In this month’s Wall Street Journal Jason Yim gives us a look into his daily workout and diet regimen.

Check out the full article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704454304575081741447532132.html?mod=WSJ_article_RecentColumns

How Social Media and the Web Helped Avatar Make $1 Billion

How Social Media and the Web Helped Avatar Make $1 Billion

This is an amazing article explaining the benefits of social media and how marketing outlets help gross over $ 1 billion for AVATAR. It’s crazy to think that social media was a primary source in gaining popularity for the film which led to world-wide phenomenon.

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