"I just was interested in the creation of the story from script to production." " T.J. White
From living around Amish buggies to making a film called “Angel,” a former Geauga County resident sprouted wings and made his fame as a Hollywood stunt coordinator.
But T.J. White, who grew up in Middlefield, is remaining true to his Northeast Ohio roots with an upcoming film, which will take place in Warren.
White said T-Minus Productions, of Los Angeles, will produce the piece. The stunts will also be produced by T-Minus, White and his team. “Angel”?is a coming-of-age story about a drug dealer rising through the ranks of a drug ring in the early 1990s, he added.
White, who is also a producer, will make his feature directorial debut soon with the movie, said his publicist, David Roberson of Roberson Public Relations in Los Angeles.
Roberson said White is a stunt coordinator and second-unit director, who also designs and produces action scenes for some of Hollywood’s most creative directors and producers in various media such as film, television, animation and music videos.
“The difference between a first-unit and second-unit director is philosophical,” White said. “The first-unit director develops the script, casts the film, and directs the actors with their action. The second-unit director shoots scenes the first-unit director can’t always shoot for any numuber of reasons, including time, logistics and scheduling.”
White, the grandson of longtime Middlefield resident Graydon White, attended Cardinal High School and graduated in 1991.
He said his family was “entrenched” in Middlefield. At one time, the family owned White Bros. Grocery Store, which was the biggest grocery store in Geauga County.
His parents divorced when White was young and his father moved to Los Angeles to become a stunt man. Growing up, White was bitten by the stunt bug and, after graduation, he followed his father to the City of Angels.
Spending summer vacations in Los Angeles, White attended college in Marietta, Ga., to become a chiropractor and graduated from Life University in 1997. He said he wanted another career in addition to stunt work.
“I was one of the ghosts in Scream 2 and also worked on ‘Andersonville’ (a film about a Civil War prison),” White said, adding he worked on stunts for a decade or so.
He has worked on films that starred big names, such as Mark Wahlberg and Eminem, as well as pop stars like Britney Spears, ‘N Sync and Katy Perry.
One of his videos, “I Wanna Go,” by Britney Spears, has over 156 million views. A teaser video of one of White’s stunts has notched more than eight million views so far.
“I’ve stunt-coordinated over 100 music videos and work with directors and producers to create action sequences,” he said. Recently he started his own stunt-rigging company, T-Minus Stunt Rigging, Inc.
“We are in charge of producing the action, and we do anything from lighting people on fire, flipping cars, and rigging people flying through the air in films, television and commercials,”?White said.
After viewing the film “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” about movie mogul Robert Evans, White learned how to become a producer.
“I just was interested in the creation of the story from script to production. It was a defining step of me moving into producing,” he said.
With “Angel,” he credited both the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and Ohio Film Office for getting the movie off the ground.
Ohio has had recent success with films such as “Captain America II” and “Draft Day,” both of which were filmed in Greater Cleveland.
“We’re hoping to shoot this film in the fall and we’re meeting with actors right now,” White said. “We want to get it to film festivals in order to get national distribution. It’s a story about redemption and overcoming problems.”
Although stunts can be exciting, White said “safety first” is the number-one goal of his team.
“It takes years, if not a more than decade, to be a well-qualified, experienced and respected stunt person,” White said. “Taking a class or course may be a good start, but it cannot either teach the culture of safety that must exist or replace years of experience and paying one’s dues by working your way up the ladder.”
For more information about T-Minus Productions, visit www.t-minusproductions.com.
