Movie industry veteran hosts stunt performer workshops in northern Ontario
CBC
More movies are getting made in northern Ontario every year, but a stunt performer says there's a shortage of people qualified to do that work in the region.
Wayne Wells is a movie industry veteran and has spent seven years working in North Bay.
He says when movies shot in northern Ontario need stunts they usually bring in performers from Toronto.
Now he's running workshops in the north to change that.
"It's about time that the northern area got their own stunt community and persons training because there's more movies being shot up here," Wells said.
"It's not going to stop. It's going to continue."
This weekend Wells is running sold-out workshops in North Bay to teach people the basics of stunt work. Most importantly, he wants people to learn how to perform basic stunts – like falling down a staircase – safely.
"In this industry we don't care what you think you can do, or what you say you can do," he said.
"We need to keep things safe. The person that we tend not to hire are the cowboys and the guys that come in and say, 'I'm an adrenaline junkie.' Those people are liabilities."
Wells says he hopes to bring his workshop to Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury as well.
The Greater Sudbury Development Corporation says 160 film and television projects have been shot in the city since 2012, generating $200 million in local spending.