**Becoming a Stunt Driver: A Beginner's Journey**

A while back we made this sick video about creating Hollywood stunts. (tires screeching) - Yo, Tann, nice angle, dude. Way to hang it out. That's how we talked to each other.

In that video, we talked about how stunt drivers do their job, but we never actually covered how stunt drivers got their job. I mean, if starting today I wanted to dedicate my life to becoming a stunt driver, where would I start? How long would it take?

And could someone like me, a total novice with almost no connections, actually be able to break into the industry? To gain some insight, we talked to these guys - professional drivers Dan Brockett and Tanner Foust. They've worked on TV shows like...

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WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- A while back we made this sick videoabout creating Hollywood stunts.(tires screeching)- Yo, Tann, nice angle, dude.Way to hang it out.That's how we talked to each other.- In that video we talked abouthow stunt drivers do their job,but we never actually coveredhow stunt drivers got their job.I mean, if starting todayI wanted to dedicate my lifeto becoming a stunt driver,where would I start?How long would it take?And could someone like me,a total novice with almost no connections,actually be able tobreak into the industry?To gain some insight wetalked to these guys,professional drivers DanBrockett and Tanner Foust.They've worked on TV showslike "Better Call Saul"and films like "Need for Speed"and "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift",and of course some videoson this very channel.They were generous enoughto share their storiesof breaking into the industry.And honestlyit's given me hope.Stunt people are badasses.They can take punches,they light themselves on fire,they jump out of buildings,and they can drive pretty dang well, too.So if you want to gethired as a stunt driveryou have to be better atdriving than those people are.And nowadays it's harder than ever.Obviously there are abunch of different skillsand qualities required to becomea professional stunt driver.But before we get to those,let's talk about theway most stunt driversbreak into the industryin the first place.- My first movie was "Dukes of Hazard".I'd been racing for about seven years.Club racing, rally racing, and drifting.But it just happened to bethat the director who wasdoing "Dukes of Hazard"was doing a rally race.So he wanted rallyracers to drive the cars.You do get a little bit of a side door inif you have a motorsports backgroundor you have a car control background,because it is exceptionally difficultfor traditional stunt peoplewho have all the contacts,it's very difficult for themto get to be experts at it.- So having some racingbackground obviously helps,but is there any other way?The most common by faris by family introductioninto the industry.One of the reasons isbecause of your parentsand the second reason is becauseyou start off with thestunt mentality of training.Literally three-year-olds.Stunt people that canjump off of buildings,light themselves on fire,are martial arts experts,and can skydive off buildings and stuff,they have been trainingsince they were threeyears old or two years old.- Now before you get all workedup about how unfair this is,let me remind you that thisis nothing new or unique.Think about the NFL with theMannings and the Hasselbacks,or Hollywood with the Hemingsworthsand the Culkins out there.Or the Hanks, shout out to Chet Hanks.Greatest rapper alive.So what if you don't haveany family connectionsand only a small amountof racing experience,something like a couple ofseasons in Formula Drift perhaps?It's not like you couldjust be on set one dayworking as an extraand all of a sudden the director is like"Hey, can you drive stick,"and next thing you you'rea professional driver.Oh wait.That's exactly what happenedto our friend Dan Brockett.- Signed up for my firstseason of Formula Driftand it's way moreexpensive than I thought.So to pay the bills in the in-betweens,I responded to a Craigslistad asking for extrasto be on this show called "Manhattan".They're filming a scenewhere I'm sitting in theback of a World War II Jeep.They flew in an actor from LA.He's out there, he was rehearsinghis lines all the time,and he was like, "Dude, I don'tknow how to drive a manual."And I was like, "It's easy."Just think of it like a see-saw."You're balancing theclutch with the gas pedal."He was like, "Oh cool,yeah, I can do that."They call "Action," the guy stalls."Cut."The director's yelling atthis poor actor, like dude.And one of the hair andmakeup ladies was like,"Well, let him do it."He's a professional driver,"'cause I told her I wasdoing Formula Drift.And the stunt coordinatorcomes over and pulls me asideand he's like, "Well,what's your background?"And I gave him my littlespiel and he was like,"All right cool, you're in."Do not (bleep) this up."I go up the hill, hit the mark.The dude delivers his lines.We all drive off.The stunt coordinatorpulled me aside againand he was like, "Good job."If we come back next season"I want you to be in one ofthe vehicles all the time."- Now at this point in time,he is only what the unionrefers to as a "vehicle driver",not as a stunt driver.And I think it's importantto know the difference.Vehicle drivers are like anextra who gets to drive a car.A stunt driver is more,well, it's all this stuff.(tires screeching)(metallic banging)But Dan did eventually work his way up.- End of the season two rolls around.He says, "You did a fantastic job."You didn't kill anybody,"you didn't hit any cameras,"you didn't hit any actors."He calls me nine monthslater and he's like"I got you three days"to be on a movie calledJust Getting Started"with Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones."Three days is basically what you needto become eligible forScreen Actors Guild.Three days on set as aspecialist for something.That's what's called tart taffley,tart halfly, tart taffely.- Tart-Hartley,which is a voucher to join the union,the Screen Actors Guild Union,and get your SAG card.And that makes youeligible to do future jobs.- I cannot tell you how luckyI got with that happening.- This is mind-blowing.Dan's career as a stunt driverstarted as him just being an extramaking some side cash.I mean, it's clear that luckdefinitely plays a rolein this career path.So let's say you managed to do it.You went from background extrato precision driver to stunt driver,or one of the many other pathshave landed you withyour first call to set.Now what?How do you turn that oneday of work into a career?The first and most important tip,just be a nice person to be around.- How well can you get along with people?How well can you follow directions?Because there are guys thatare really good at what they dobut they don't clickwith anybody else on setor the coordinator orthe other stunt peopleand they ever work again.- Getting along with everybodyis the biggest part of the job.If people don't like hanging out with youwhen they call a wrap or even onset then,you just gotta be likable, friendly,and have a good attitudeand understand that you'rereally lucky to be there.- Second, no matter how skilled you are,be ready to face a ton of pressureand constantly be pushedoutside of your comfort zone.- Most drift guys are like,"Dude, I could totally be a stunt driver."I am really good at drifting and I can,"I'm a badass behind the wheel."Put him in a Toyota Camrywith no hydraulic e-brake,with no 800 horsepower.Will they still be able to performthe exact same thingthat they want you to doat half the speed with 1/16th the car?- Sliding a car is nothing new.But doing it with precisionand having one or two cars towork with for a whole moviethat are really set up right is tricky.- Sometimes the director will be like"We need you to do this reverse180 in this parking garage"but you're gonna beleaned over to the side"and ducked below soyou can't see anything."So then you have to dothe whole stunt blindoff of a count in your head,1001, 1002, 1003,and do your stunt and hope that it works.- But what really surprisedme when we talked to Tanneris that safety is your own responsibility.- When you get getting a race carthere's a rule book that sayshow safe your stuff has to be.You get in the car,they're like, "Okay, isthat what you're gonna wear?"You got a belt?"And you bring your own belt, actually.Lot of people don't know stuntguys bring their own belts.Sometimes you can wear a helmet.I mean, if it's a reallybad one they'll make surethat your head is not gonna ruin the shot.I mean, the way they used to do it,when they rolled the carsthey literally had a strapconnected to the other side of the car.And when the car started going overthey just wrapped their armaround this rope over hereand just grabbed it and pulled themselvesdown into the seat.But it's responsibility,it's called takingresponsibility of your own life.- And finally expand your skills,never stop learning,and make yourself valuable.- Be really good at somethingand have something to offer.That's the bottom line.- Realize that you're,you need to be a sponge on set.Just like your attitude as a racer,you need to always be learning somethingThen people will take you under their wingand they love that energy.And they'll build you up andhelp you stay in the industry.It's lot of people just listening,not really talking about themselves,but just listening to whatother people have to teach them.- So let's recap herewith a quick checklistof what it takes to becomea professional stunt driver.You need to be expertlevel skill at driving,have access to cars andtracks for training,got to be a fun and likable person,have balls of absolute steel,understand the ins andouts of film production,and work under pressure.Freaking go for it.Follow your dreams.If they can do it, guess what?They're human too, just like you.So do it.Big thank you again to DanBrockett and Tanner Foustfor helping us make this video.Could not have done this without them.Thank you very much, guys.Follow Dan Brockett @officer_dan.Followed Tanner @TannerFoust.Be kind, I'll see you next time.