A few Years ago I was talking to Michael
Wilson, the well-known producer of a string of 007 movies,
about staging film stunts and finding the appropriate location. "It
must be awful", he said.
"There's a bunch of nutters sitting around a table coming up with one crazy
idea after another and you're the guy who's got to make it all happen!" And
that's precisely what I've been doing for the past 20 years, since I decided
to go into the business of producing action movies: landing from a ski jump on
a moving car, arranging for James Bond (Golden Eye) to catch up with an aircraft
in free fall, climb into the cockpit and fly away, plus a host of other daredevil
stunts. 1965 I moved to North America when I was 20. I'd always been into extreme
skiing and soon got a job as an instructor. Not long after, I discovered skiing
for commercials and decided that films was my real calling lay. One thing led
to another, and in 1969 I was a Stuntman / skier in "On Her Majesty's Secret
Service", the first of eight Bond Films I was involved in. The same year
I appeared
as Robert Redford's double for skiing sequences in "Downhill Racer" and then, following a serious stunt accident in 1970, decided to go into production.
Since then I've worked in various production and management capacities with
directors like Bob Fosse, George Lucas, Ron Howard, Kennet Branagh, Steven
Spielberg and almost four dozen movies, "Cabaret", "Willow", "Frankenstein", "Golden
Eye"; "Band of Brothers".
Big names,
big budgets, is what you're probably thinking. But you'd be wrong. Today my
Company, Alpine
Films, handles the production side of sequences in nerve-tingling
glaciers and mountain-top locations all over the world at a
price that won't make a hole in your finances. For instance
in Switzerland we can Helicopter 25 crew plus camera equipment
from a very close by wheelbase into a glacier location (in
the Interlaken / Jungfrau-Region, St. Moritz in the Engadine
or Zermatt from about US $ 5'000.-(helicopter costs only)per
day.
We can also provide mountain guides, extreme skiers /
snowboarders / climbers and other special services on request.
Megarent Zürich, for example, rents out the most up to
date camera 35mm /16mm / Video equipment as well as lighting
and grip equipment, and we also supply you with camera helimounts.
Add to that the advantages of filming in a country (Switzerland)
with an uncomplicated bureaucracy (cuts out the hassle involved
in obtaining permits) plus a perfect working infrastructure
(including hotels in every
category, shops and services), and you'll understand why shooting in Switzerland
could be your best move. Send us your storyboard for a free estimate without
any obligation to yourself.
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