In today’s entertainment landscape, audiences expect new, innovative action. Directors and producers feel the pressure to deliver. Dramatic effect and dynamic scope are expected, no matter the size of the budget.
T-Minus Productions got its start designing and producing action scenes for some of Hollywood’s most creative directors and producers. We have been racking up experience in Film, Television, Commercial and Music Videos for the past 24 years.
Our comprehensive action sequence knowledge can help you efficiently execute nearly any action you can dream up. We may even be able to help dream up some more. Our bids are accurate and we’re always looking for ways to make your project better. Let our industry leading expertise help you wow your audience!
Conveniently based in Los Angeles, T-Minus Productions also has ample experience filming on location while maximizing local tax incentives.
Featured Stunt Coordinator: TJ White from T-Minus Productions
A second generation Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director, TJ White has 23+ years experience in Stunts. While growing up on sets such as Stripes, Knight Rider, and BJ and the Bear, TJ caught the bug for Action Directing.
TJ has worked closely with the top celebrities in the entertainment industry. From actors such as Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, Ashton Kutcher, Sofia Vergara, Kristen Stewart – to musicians Christina Aguilera, Chris Brown, Marshall Mathers, Pharrell Williams – to directors Paul Hunter, Wayne Isham, Dean Karr, and Joseph Kahn – to producers William Sherek, Jason Shuman, and Jill Harden – TJ has delivered for some of Hollywood’s biggest names.
When not on set or breaking down a budget, TJ teaches Action Directing classes at UCLA and other local film schools and has served on the panel at The Diamonds In The Raw Stuntwomen’s Awards since 2011.
The Fate of the Furious: The Album had been as famous as the movie. There are 14 songs on the album and all of them are a feast for the ears and eyes. Particularly, the stunt driving in the Good Lifeby Matt Power is of interest.
By the look of it the stunt seems almost on the verge of danger and as a matter of fact, it is. Let’s look at it.
The Scene
In the video of the Good Life , the artist G-Eazy is seen standing in the middle of the hellcat drifting Dodge Challenger. The car is whirling around the singer at a safe distance without touching the artist. Indeed, making this kind of scene requires ample sophistication on part of the director Hannah Lux Davis, and most importantly the driver and the stunt coordinator. If it weren’t for them, the stunt would not have been possible.
The Driver
Matt Powers is known as the ultimate stunt driver with experience spanning years. Having received years of experience as a professional Drifter, Rick Seaman’s Super Level 1 training, and driving for Nito tires. He is bound to make any stunt seem very easy. However, it is not.
With tens of projects under his belt—commercials, videos, and what not—this stunt driver has made a good use of his skills.
Even in the video of the Good Life, while G-Eazy is acting out his song quite contentedly, it is the job of the Matt Powers to hellcat drift around the artist. The stunt’s been done several times without any major damage to the car, singer, and himself. That is one hell of a skill!
The Stunt Coordinator
It is an established fact that without an experienced stunt coordinator, any action scene could prove life-threatening. There had been many accidents on the sets of movies and music videos in the past. However, not in this video. The stunt coordinator of this video, T.J. White, has proven to be the right person for the job. He has coordinated the shot where Matt Powers drift a hellcat around G-Eazy. The credit of safe shooting of the scene, undoubtedly, goes to him.
How is stunt rigging done?
Stunt rigging is a job of extreme caution. The coordinator has to make sure that he is doing everything in order to help the director shoot a certain action seen such that no one involved in it gets hurt.
This is done by using several safety protocols and experience from the past ventures.
Where to find T.J. White?
If you have any project that involves action scenes like the one we have just reviewed, then you need someone like T.J. White. He has been in the business for years.
This is not just one time that he has served Hollywood. From Rock Star and Guess who? To Halloween and Angels and Demons, T.J White has provided his experienced stunt coordination services.
In the entertainment industry of today, whether it is a movie or any music video, viewers crave for some good action scenes. Since there is a lot of competition, everyone is coming up with stunts of their own. And as a matter of fact, this approach is giving the directors some hard time. But in the midst of all the competition, there are people without whom all of the action sequences would seize to exist. These people are the stunt rigging experts like us.
Who are we?
We are T-Minus Productions.
You must have seen many stunts and actions in movies or music videos that seem impossible for a lame mind. But did you know that behind those scenes there are safety protocols that are involved? The ones that allow the crew, especially the director, to carry out all the shooting of the action in a controlled environment. Because there is nothing more important than the safety of the artists, the safety protocols we are talking about are implemented by the stunt rigging department. We specialize in that.
In fact, we have worked alongside the producer London Alley, and the director Colin Tilly in making of the video of Self-Made. We are lucky enough that fans have liked our efforts to the point that everyone is talking about them.
The 4 stunts of Self-Made
1) As the video of the Self-Made progress, we see the artist Bryson Tiller cruising on the hood of a car.
To people who haven’t watched The Science of Stupid, doing that might be easy, but since during the shooting anything could happen, we had to exercise special precaution. Bryson was connected by wires to the hood and these were removed in post. There also was a women Stunt driver driving the $100K BMW I8 making sure the cast and crew were all safe.
2) Next, when the video progresses around 1 minute and 15 seconds the ladies in the background start to float in the air. This too involves great peril if done without any safety measures. But since we were handling everything, the director was satisfied.
3) Upon reaching 2 minutes, the next stunt is unveiled by the video: jet ski. As much as the concept of riding a jet ski in the middle of a road is fancy, so should be the safety protocols governing the stunt (though, a little CGI’s involved here). Of course, we cannot let the artist ride in the splashing waters just to see him get injured.
4) The fourth stunt is that of the hurricane. Yes, there are blue screens involved here. But if there weren’t enough safety, the director might have just called off the scene. There is a tree in the scene, for stunt’s sake, and that too planted artificially.
Managing and coordinating stunts is one thing, but doing it the professional’s way is another. Stunt rigging where an element of expertise is involved seldom see dangers having their way. Same is the case with the music video of Self-Made.
However, this is not just one time that we have helped the director of a music video shoot a scene in perfect security and safety. We have numerous successful projects under our belts and we are looking forward to making it possible for you too. You can visit our websites T-MinusProductions.com.
In today’s entertainment landscape, audiences expect new, innovative action. Directors and producers feel the pressure to deliver. Dramatic effect and dynamic scope are expected, no matter the size of the budget.
A second generation Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director, TJ White has 23+ years experience in Stunts. While growing up on sets such as Stripes, Knight Rider, and BJ and the Bear, TJ caught the bug for Action Directing.