"David Leitch"
Episode
57 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Career Growth, Remote Work, Design & UX
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓Career progression pathway: Leitch trained as martial artist and stunt performer, lived with five aspiring stunt people in Redondo Beach, built training equipment including backyard trampoline and desert high-fall towers before breaking into film industry through live shows and low-budget action films.
- ✓Stunt performer compensation structure: Stunt performers receive base salary plus stunt adjustments called bumps for each dangerous take executed. A stair fall might earn $500 per take, meaning twelve takes of one stunt sequence generates $6,000 in additional compensation beyond daily rate.
- ✓Academy Award advocacy strategy: Leitch rebranded stunt coordinator credit to stunt designer on Fall Guy, secured guild approvals from DGA and SAG, then personally lobbied Academy governors via Zoom calls and celebrity advocate videos to establish new Oscar category recognizing department heads as designers.
- ✓Remote directing innovation: During pandemic lockdowns for Bullet Train, Leitch directed second unit cinematographer in Japan via WhatsApp at 2am California time, reviewing location scouts and directing plate photography remotely when international travel was prohibited, demonstrating adaptable production methods.
What It Covers
Director David Leitch discusses his transition from stunt coordinator to directing major action films, his successful campaign to establish an Academy Award category for stunt design, and his collaborative approach to filmmaking.
Key Questions Answered
- •Career progression pathway: Leitch trained as martial artist and stunt performer, lived with five aspiring stunt people in Redondo Beach, built training equipment including backyard trampoline and desert high-fall towers before breaking into film industry through live shows and low-budget action films.
- •Stunt performer compensation structure: Stunt performers receive base salary plus stunt adjustments called bumps for each dangerous take executed. A stair fall might earn $500 per take, meaning twelve takes of one stunt sequence generates $6,000 in additional compensation beyond daily rate.
- •Academy Award advocacy strategy: Leitch rebranded stunt coordinator credit to stunt designer on Fall Guy, secured guild approvals from DGA and SAG, then personally lobbied Academy governors via Zoom calls and celebrity advocate videos to establish new Oscar category recognizing department heads as designers.
- •Remote directing innovation: During pandemic lockdowns for Bullet Train, Leitch directed second unit cinematographer in Japan via WhatsApp at 2am California time, reviewing location scouts and directing plate photography remotely when international travel was prohibited, demonstrating adaptable production methods.
Notable Moment
Leitch reveals he shattered his wrist in four places during an audition for a Batman live show at Magic Mountain before booking his first professional stunt job, attempting an unauthorized backflip to impress coordinators that went catastrophically wrong.
Episode Transcript
Do you guys eat standing up at all, like lunch or breakfast when you don't let the horse sleep? Do we Does a horse Yeah. Does does a horse sleep standing up, or is that just a cow? That's a cow. That's a cow. No. I mean, they need, hey. What, what do you Sean, you go. Sorry. Because you had it seems like you had a thought about you. Are you doing a lot of standing standing counters? What are you doing? I do. I do. I I eat standing open. Windows. What are you doing? Anyway, talk about being open. I love being open with you guys. Welcome to Smartless. What just happened? What happened? Smart. Smart. Willie, so wait. So when did you move into your new place? I moved in, yesterday. I just gotcha. Can you straighten out your fucking hat? You're you're not Justin Bieber. Hang on. First of all, I'm very young. I know. Okay? No. Yeah. Well, you don't tell your face. Okay. Yeah. What is That's fine. Why is it why is it why is it cocked? Why is it I just did it I just did it like that for one second. There. Thank you. It feels good to put it on the side like that. I do that too sometimes. Shut up, Sean. Wow, I think that's a record for a shut up, Sean. Inside two minutes. Inside two minutes, we're already at shut up, Sean. You guys, I miss you. Can't you tell me? I know. We're gonna see each other tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I'm gonna get a wall over you guys. Oh, it is on. It's gummy city for me. Chew it up and suck it down. Shoot. And then take a gummy? Yeah. Hey. So, Will, how's your new first of all, congratulations, Will, on finishing, an incredibly hard period of work. Thank you so much. Great. What we have cooking in Hollywood's oven is, is, undoubtedly a masterpiece. I'm gonna call it right now. Yes. Wow. Wow. I was there to witness the masterpiece. It was so good. There was a dash of Sean in it. Thank you, Sean. More than enough. Sprinkle of Scotty. Yeah. Sprinkle of Scotty. Sean and Scotty were so great. Can I just tell you? Having them it was so fun, and I've seen a bunch of stuff, and it's really, really good. This is a film, Whitmer, that that, Will wrote and just finished acting in, directed by, our friend Bradley Cooper, who's also in it. On it. What a film, mate. What a guy. Oh, what a guy. Yeah. Exactly. He was so great. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. It was super fun. And and, Jay, are you done with yours yet? No. I got another six weeks left. Oh, wow. Well, that's that's not good. That's that's also fun and going well. But you're having a good time, and you're working your butt off too. I am. It's …
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“During pandemic lockdowns for Bullet Train, Leitch directed second unit cinematographer in Japan via WhatsApp at 2am California time, reviewing location scouts and directing plate photography remotely when international travel was prohibited.”
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