British movie podcast of the week: Behind The Stunts

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Our weekly movie podcast recommendation? This time, we’re getting into the world of stuntwork, with Behind The Stunts.

Stunt people are often the unsung heroes of Hollywood. From driving and flying, to martial arts and falling, stunt performers not only have to fool the audience into thinking their favourite actor is performing these amazing feats, but they also have to keep themselves and the people around them safe during filming. It’s a profession that casual moviegoers know very little about, but one man trying to change this, is Jon Auty.

Jon, who has written several books about the stunt industry, wanted to create a podcast to accompany his book Stunts, Bond Stunts. It would open a window into the stunt industry, and go into detail on how stunts are performed and executed without injury.

Jon started his podcasting journey co-hosting The Stunt Pod back in 2018, and loved the experience so much that he forged ahead with creating Behind the Stunts in 2020. Anyone who’s ever tried to hang off the side of a moving plane or climb the Burj Khalifa will know that unless you’re Tom Cruise, the best case scenario is you’re going to get really hurt. (And remember, as always, please do not try these things at home, in your local airport or on your next visit to Dubai)

Jon always wanted to be a stuntman, and throughout his life has met some of the world’s greatest stuntmen including Vic Armstrong, Roy Alon and Greg Powell. Jon started training under Roy Alon in order to become a professional stuntman, but an unfortunate injury halted his stunt training. Since then he has become fully immersed in stunt history, and is well regarded in the media for being an expert in the history of film stunt work. This means you can guarantee every episode of Behind The Stunts is accurate, entertaining and informative. Jon knows stunts.

Behind The Stunts releases two episodes a week; a podcast on Wednesday and a YouTube video on Friday. Episodes take a particular movie or scene and dissect it, with information presented in such a way for both a seasoned fan and a newcomer to understand. The podcast episodes are usually between 15-20 minutes long, making them great for the commute, and easy to binge, especially if you enjoy finding out how films are made.

Jon believes that if a stunt is filmed well and the director gives the stunt coordinator creative freedom, all stunts can be spectacular. His personal favourite stunts are for the movie Hoffa (1992), with Jack Nicholson actually trying to put the flames engulfing a stuntman out himself, and stunt man Dar Robinson falling 200 feet backwards with no airbag for the 1985 film Stick.

While there’s no limit to Jon’s knowledge of the stunt industry, there is something that still irks him, and that’s the lack of recognition by industry peers and awarding bodies. While the industry relies on stunts and stunt performers, the Academy Awards have only acknowledged stunt people three times in the past and there is still no dedicated award. As Jon himself says “A film is sold to the public in the cinema on its trailer. That trailer contains all of the action created by the stunt professionals. Take action out of the movies and you don’t have James Bond films, Marvel movies or top rated fantasy TV shows like Game Of Thrones. Recognition is essential and if the Academy thinks that recognising stunt professionals will cause the industry to become a who’s who of celebrity performers then they’re dead wrong.”

Jon’s passion for stunts is infectious, and if you love learning something new about film, Behind The Stunts might become your new favourite podcast.

Recommended episode: Season 5 Episode 6 – Speed (1994) – (9 February 2022) – https://behindthestunts.buzzsprout.com/1561682/10027342-speed-1994

Behind the Stunts can be found at: https://behindthestunts.buzzsprout.com/

And followed at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stuntcentral

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestunts

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/behindthe.stunts.9/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/behindthestunts

All episodes of Behind the Stunts are available and can be listened to or downloaded from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from.

Are you a British movie podcast who would like to be featured on Film Stories? We welcome all suggestions and requests, but we especially want to hear from you if you’re female, BIPOC, non-binary, LGBTQIA+ or have a disability. Email Em – verbaldiorama at gmail co uk (Just remove the spaces and add the ‘@’ and the dots, but don’t send spam. She’s vegetarian.)

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