Cal Johnson, Stunt Coordinator, to be Honored at the Beaufort International Film Festival

Dec. 5, 2011 - PRLog -- Cal Johnson will be presented with the Jean Ribaut Award for Excellence in Stunt Coordination at the 6th annual Beaufort International Film Festival held February 15 - 19, 2012.  Johnson is a stunt coordinator, stuntman, and actor with more than 20 years experience in over 250 film and episodic television shows, videos, national and regional commercials, and live shows. He has worked with many of the world's finest directors in the history of film; such as, Robert Redford, Ridley Scott, Barry Levinson, and Robert Altman.

He has also served as a stunt double for A-List actors such as Matt Damon, Kenneth Branagh, William Macy, Mark Hamill, Robert Duvall, and many others.  In order to successfully coordinate and perform many of the high-risk and dangerous stunts in film,
Johnson, who is ambidextrous, uses his many athletic abilities including: martial arts, gymnastics, precision car driving, sky diving and scuba diving. Johnson has also executed 2,000 high falls from heights up to 150 feet, and has the unique ability to hold one's breath underwater for an extended period of time. His talents and working knowledge enables him to keep actors safe, while allowing directors to get the best possible and exciting shots to captivate the audience.

Johnson's interest in the daring life as a stuntman, began in the 5th grade. Johnson states, "I was watching the movie How the West was Won, and I saw a stuntman jump off a moving train onto a cactus and then roll onto the ground. At that moment I knew I wanted to do that for the rest of my life." Years later, after jumping off 15-story buildings and out of helicopters, crashing cars, and being set on fire, Johnson had the opportunity to have lunch with Loren Janes, the stuntman he had watched jump from the moving train. Janes, one of Hollywood's most famous stuntmen, has doubled Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Jack Nicholson. Johnson recalls, "I told him he was the reason why I was in the film business, and he replied, 'That's cool, hopefully one day you will hear that from someone.'"

Some of Johnson's most notable films and television shows include: The Last Song, The Notebook, Footloose, The Strangers, Nailed, Hannibal, The New Daughter, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Leatherheads, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Forces of Nature, Undertow, Major League 3, The In Crowd, "O", Ride, Polish Wedding, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, One Missed Call, Shooter, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, The Reaping, The Patriot, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Wedding Crashers, The Walking Dead, Zombieland, The General's Daughter and Sweet Home Alabama.

Johnson's  recent projects include the mini-series Coma for A&E, the award-winning Lifetime television series Army Wives, now in their 6th season, and the successful Showtime series Homeland.

For more information about the Beaufort International Film Festival please visit www.beaufortfilmfestival.com.

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The Beaufort Film Society (BFS) is a nonprofit, 501(c) 3, member-supported organization, dedicated to providing the highest levels of entertainment and education to the public from all areas of the film industry.