Second AD DGA members gathered for their annual brunch meeting hosted by the Western AD/UPM/TC Council’s Second AD Committee at the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters on May 2, 2009. This year’s get-together was entitled Fire in the Hole! and featured an in-depth seminar on how to safely work with stunts and special effects on the set.

Following greetings from Western AD/UPM/TC Council Chair Cleve Landsberg (Bruce Almighty) and Second AD Committee Co-Chair Jennie O’Keefe (The Office), the attendees watched a presentation on the “preflight checklist” that should be implemented before any stunt featuring high falls by stunt rigger Pat Romano (Twilight). The gathering broke into smaller discussion groups, each of which explored a separate subject led by an industry expert and a Second AD moderator.

The group on car chases featured stuntman Mickey Gilbert (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and was moderated by Second AD Shawn Pipkin (Get Smart). Squibs, explosions, gunfire and firework was led by special effects supervisor Joe Pancake (Dragonball Evolution) and stunt coordinator Chuck Picerni (The Taking of Pelham 123) and moderated by Christina Fong (National Treasure 2). Helicopter work was led by pilot/aerial coordinator Craig Hosking (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and moderated by John Elmore (The Mentalist). And water work/water safety was led by safety expert William Hall (The Italian Job) and moderated by Vincent Gonzales (Fools Gold). Notes on each group were taken by Second ADs Marc Newland (The Black Dahlia) and Lisa Chu (Towelhead).

After these sessions, everyone reconvened in the boardroom and each group presented the “safety checklist” for their subject. The day ended with informal networking sessions. ADs.