On June 14, the academy denied Gill's proposal. In a written statement, the academy said: "Stunt coordinators play an important role in many movie productions and the Academy currently honors those at the very top of their craft by inviting them to become Academy members. While the Board recognizes that stunt coordinators make unique contributions to filmmaking, it voted against instituting a new annual category."
Among the reasons the academy gave Gill for not creating a new Oscar category were the length of the broadcast and the fact that many other industry professionals would like a category as well but the academy does not have the leeway to create an award for everyone. Still, Gill doesn't understand how the academy can't honor a group whose work appears onscreen.
"After 20 years, if they keep agreeing that we do belong, why can't they just form a new category?" he asked. Gill has worked on stunts in more than 100 films; recently he was a stunt coordinator on Universal's "Fast Five."
Where's the Action?
The academy has largely ignored action films, despite soaring box office and crowd-pleasing scenes, according to Conrad Palmisano, chair of the Screen Actors Guild's Stunt and Safety Committee. "No matter how popular a film may be, if it doesn't strike their artistic sensibilities, that's why they reject them," Palmisano said, adding that he feels rejected by the academy as a stunt coordinator.
"Stunts are sort of the redheaded stepchild of the entertainment industry," said David Mattey, a Los Angeles–based actor and stuntman. "Any action movie would not exist without stunt people and stunt coordinators.
A stunt coordinator is generally in charge of casting and hiring all stunt performers; he or she also designs and oversees the execution of all stunt sequences. Though it would be difficult to differentiate among stunt performers for a performer-specific award, Gill said, a stunt coordinator's role parallels those of other department heads, such as makeup or art direction. Not having an Oscar to recognize their craft separates stunt coordinators from their industry peers, and stunt performers and coordinators agree that an Oscar would significantly boost their careers.
Though stunt coordinators can become at-large members of the academy, allowing them to vote for awards, they do not have a branch representing their field. Currently 18 stunt coordinators are at-large members, including Gill. Every Oscar category is represented by a branch of the academy.
Other professionals in the film industry, particularly casting directors, have clamored recently for their own award category, and if the academy were to create one for stunts, others would demand the same recognition, according to Gill. "It's a really close award to special effects," he said of stunt coordination. "From a casting director standpoint, you can't really parallel anything there, because they don't always have the last say-so in who gets cast."
Tom Struthers, who has worked on stunts for "Braveheart," "Titanic," "Saving Private Ryan," "The Dark Knight," "Inception," and "X-Men: First Class," among other films, saw his close colleagues in visual effects win Oscars for their work on "Inception." He believes his contributions were essential to their success.
"The mechanical and physical effects of a film totally overlap," said Struthers. Some people feel that computer-generated effects will render stunts irrelevant, but Struthers works closely with directors like Christopher Nolan ("Inception"), who only want the visual effects to complement the physical work. "Without us, their effects don't work," said Struthers.
Though there are parallels between the categories, stunts remain separate from visual effects, said Gill. As the academy does not want to extend the awards broadcast, Gill has proposed presenting a stunt coordinator Oscar on the night of the scientific and technical awards.
However, Palmisano speculates that those who head the academy's sound and visual effects branches, for example, worry that if stunts are honored at the technical awards, their own categories might lose their spot in the main broadcast. "That's their job assignment, to look after their own peer group," he said. "At the same time, let some common sense take hold here. Action puts people in theater seats; maybe it will put them in front of their TV screens."
What's in an Award?
Stunt coordinators and performers have two SAG Award categories, for outstanding stunt ensemble in a film and a TV series; an Emmy category for stunt coordination; and the Taurus World Stunt Awards, known as the Oscars for stunts, which honor physical feats in nine categories.
In 2005, then–SAG president Melissa Gilbert called on the academy to heed the stunt coordinators' request. "The time has arrived for stunt coordinators to receive the recognition they deserve for the risks they take on behalf of their colleagues and the rewards they provide to producers and moviegoers alike," Gilbert said in a statement. "Stunt coordinators help create the spectacular moments that draw fans into the theaters and build box office for the studios."
In the past, the academy argued against creating a stunt coordinator Oscar because SAG did not recognize stunts as part of its awards. However, the SAG Awards created its stunt ensemble categories in 2008. Gill has won for his work on "True Blood," and Struthers has won for "The Dark Knight" and "Inception."
But a SAG Award is not an Oscar, and both men feel they are in a lesser league because their work is not considered for an Academy Award. "When you win an Oscar, it's a completely different playing field," Gill said. "It makes a big difference."
Yakima Canutt is the only person to win an Oscar for his work as a stuntman. In 1967, he received an honorary award for his achievements, most notably the chariot race in "Ben-Hur," and for developing stunt safety devices. At the time, stunts were an emerging field and not as sophisticated as they are today, Gill said.
Gill believes that if he and his stunt colleagues were to be eligible for Oscars, it would greatly improve the industry's perception of the men and women who perform and coordinate stunts in films. He said projects rarely come his way as a result of a SAG or Taurus award. As it stands now, said Gill, he and his colleagues are often viewed as expendable in a film's budget. But they are not expendable when it comes to the collaborative process of filmmaking, Gill and Struthers argue, and deserve to be honored for their contributions.
"It takes everyone to make a film, whether it's the stunts or the director or the writer; we are all on [set], sometimes seven days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day minimum," said Struthers. "We all work very hard to do one thing, and it would be good to see [the academy] back us and acknowledge what we do."
And Gill won't give up.
"Maybe I'm missing something," he said, "but I'm going to continue to stay on top of this and do more research to figure it out…. They can't just keep forgetting it."