Hollywood Stunt Coordinator Visits Solebury School

Submitted by Solebury School:

Stunt coordinator Manny Severio visited Solebury School today to oversee safety and advise and teach students some of the skills required in their recreation of a scene from the original movie, "The Fast and the Furious." With over 500 films and TV shows to his credit, Severio offered sage advice and tricks-of-the-trade that transformed our students’ production exercise into a unique and safe learning experience.

For the scene, sophomore Gianluca Sturla and his classmates filmed our student actors, juniors Gabe Parsons and Chanler Sharpe. "Manny taught us with stunts, safety first. Take it slow before you take it fast," said Gianluca, a self-described movie buff. "One day, I would love to become a director. This is my favorite class. I've always loved cinema and have wanted to take a class like this."

Why "The Fast and the Furious?"

“Each trimester my co-instructor, Laura Napier and I let the students choose scenes from a film I produced or assistant directed to recreate in class,” explained Scene by Seen instructor, Doug Claybourne, who served as executive producer of the film in 2001. “This group knew immediately what movie they wanted.” A veteran of the industry, Claybourne has produced or assistant directed some of Hollywood’s most unforgettable films, including Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, The Escape Artist, The Black Stallion, Rumble Fish, Peggy Sue Got Married, War of the Roses, The Mask of Zorro, and many more.

“We want to give the kids real working knowledge of the film industry,” explains Claybourne’s co-teacher and professional partner, Laura Napier. “By the time the course is over, the students have filled each crew role, acted in scenes, and worked with pros like Manny. They are getting real, hands-on experience.”

Scene by Seen is a hands on introduction to producing and directing taught by an award-winning producer and writer/director team Doug Claybourne and Laura Napier.

Students learn multiple filmmaking techniques by staging and reshooting scenes from film while discussing the producing and directorial elements, the aesthetics, philosophy of the individual director and/or producer during the making of the feature film.

PHOTO: Manny Severio and Doug Claybourne working with Solebury Film Students, submitted by Solebury School

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