It had to happen, with such a huge crew of stuntmen working together for such a long time. Rob Young, Augie Davis and Paul Shapcott, who comprise three of the Lord of the Rings crew, are organising an NZ Stunt Guild. It will be affiliated with the national union, Actors Equity. The NZ guild is modelled on the UK guild, and certainly the local stunties had the opportunity to learn a lot from swordmaster Bob Anderson (the guy who did Darth Vader the first time) and Rings’ original stunt coordinator Greg Powell. They’re both British. The US Stuntmen’s Association also had useful input.
The guild wants to create an NZ standard for offshore productions. “This will meet international safety standards, and protect stuntpeople and producers,” said Shapcott when interviewed by Onfilm.
Thanks to Onfilm NZ for the snippet.
