Inside the Craft of Action With Emmy-Nominated Stunt Coordinator Victor Paguia

Emmy-nominated stunt coordinator and performer Victor Paguia joins No Film School’s GG Hawkins to explain how action sequences are designed around character, story, safety, and production realities. Drawing on more than two decades of experience—including his work on I Am Legend, Zombieland, and CBS’s FBI—Paguia discusses breaking into the stunt industry, developing distinct fighting styles for characters, creating ambitious television action on an eight-day prep schedule, and using previsualization to make sequences safer and more effective. He also shares practical advice for independent filmmakers staging action with limited time and resources. In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guest Victor Paguia discuss... How competitive diving prepared Paguia to perform under pressure Crashing the callback that led to his first stunt job on I Am Legend Why effective stunt work must serve the story rather than spectacle Finding the line between exciting action and physically unbelievable action Developing a shared movement language for zombies and other creatures Why fast zombies are more intimidating—and more enjoyable to perform Building action around the established strengths of a character Giving the agents on FBI distinct fighting styles based on personality and physicality Keeping fights, chases, and takedowns fresh across multiple seasons The differences between preparing action for a feature film and a network television series Choreographing and teaching fights to actors while filming on a tight schedule Why filmmakers should slow down instead of rushing on set How stunt doubles help actors learn choreography and improve their performances Using an iPhone to previs camera angles, movement, costumes, and choreography How smaller camera systems have expanded the possibilities for action photography Monitoring multi-camera stunt sequences when playback is unavailable Why micro-budget filmmakers should design action within their actual resources The driving, fighting, falling, and wire-work skills aspiring stunt performers should develop How collaboration between departments creates memorable action Memorable Quotes: “Telling the story of the movie is more important than performing the action.” “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast—and wear sunscreen.” “Stunt doubles aren't just there to perform the action instead of the actor. They're also there to help choreograph and teach and show.” “It's enticing to try to go for bigger than you can actually handle, but it may end up just looking bad or sort of amateur.” Guests: Victor Paguia Resources: Watch Victor Paguia’s Zombieland stunt Extraction 2 Director Sam Hargrave’s Advice on Oners, Stunts, and Emails Find No Film School everywhere: On the Web: No Film School Facebook: No Film School on Facebook Twitter: No Film School on Twitter YouTube: No Film School on YouTube Instagram: No Film School on Instagram 📩 Send us an email with questions or feedback: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices