CLEARWATER, Fla. — Only some people can be stunt performers, no matter how much training they have. It takes a person with a fair level of crazy, a daredevil with an iron, to perform a dangerous stunt. And that is precisely who K-75 Stunt Academy in Clearwater wants to walk through the door.
Launched in March, K-75 Stunt Academy is the brainchild of Indie filmmaker, actor, director, producer David Siracusa and professional stuntman Kevin Rego.
Just for fun, ABC Action News Photojournalist Reed Moeller created a mini "Zombie" movie using some of the outtakes.
ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska first profiled Siracusa in March for an in-depth report on his efforts to bring back state incentives for filmmakers.
Siracusa’s movie was filmed across Pinellas County.
“Why a stunt academy in Clearwater?” Paluska asked.
“Because I'm Clearwater. This is my home, baby, and because I want to see this area develop. We've got so much in the way of natural resources here. We've had a great movie community in the past, and it kind of collapsed in on itself, and now we're sort we're starting to build it back up again, but we want to see that growth again,” Siracusa said. “We want to see more films coming back to this area. And you can't do that unless you have every aspect of the film industry. Stunts is an area that we have not had in Florida for a couple of years now, and we want to get it going again.”
Kevin Rego brings more than 20 years of stunt experience to the academy.
“Hollywood, I’ve performed on Broadway, I’ve done a lot of overseas stuff, a lot of live show stuff, I've been a circus guy,” Rego told Paluska as he tied ropes for the next stunt.
“Is there a market for this in Florida?” Paluska asked.
“A smaller one, but I'd like to make it bigger. I see a lot of guys in the local industry, no offense towards anybody, but they're doing things wrong in this area, people getting hurt, people calling me up, ‘Hey, how do you do this? How do you do that?’ What I say is, ‘dude, hire me on,’ and I'll do my best to make sure nobody gets hurt, and it looks good on camera.”
The stunts were intense. We saw performers falling down stairs, jumping off balconies 10 feet up, getting dragged by a rope behind a truck, and getting ripped to the ground by the ankle sliding into barrels. Paluska also suited up to attempt a stunt where a harness pulled him through several barrels.
For more information on how to sign up, go to theK-75 Stunt Academy website.
