A Times reporter gets a lesson in stunt driving. Next stop: ‘Fast & Furious 11’?
Vin Diesel, take note: Mark Potts can now do a 180-degree spin. He’s ready to join the family.
As “Fast X” slides into theaters this weekend, fans of the high-octane muscle-car franchise are bracing themselves for the beginning of the end. With the 11th (and reportedly final) installment in the works, L.A. Times videographer and dreamer Mark Potts realized this might be his last chance to pitch himself to star/producer/tone-setter Vin Diesel for a role in the action series that’s been filling multiplexes since 2001.
Earlier this month, the L.A. Times team visited the Motion Picture Driving Clinic at its location in Rosamond’s Willow Springs Raceway to see if Potts had the right stuff (for a beginner stunt driving class).
The Motion Picture Driving Clinic was founded in 1997 by Rick Seaman, a newly retired stunt driver with more than 50 years’ experience. In 2020, stunt professional Ryan Sturz and his wife, Olivia Salinas, took over the school. Sturz, who has about 150 stunt-driving credits, was a student at the Motion Picture Driving Clinic in 2009 before becoming an intern and working his way up to instructor.
The trailer that serves as a Motion Picture Driving Clinic classroom is adorned with posters of movies with memorable driving sequences, including “Baby Driver,” “Ford v Ferrari” and “The Other Guys.” Each of them employed drivers who had trained at the clinic.
“Anything that has a car in it has pretty much had a student of ours behind the wheel,” said senior instructor Chris Christensen, who has taught such A-listers as Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Jason Statham (a veteran of five Fast & Furious films and one spinoff).
But it’s not just the stars who visit. Aspiring stunt performers and drivers take classes in hopes of kickstarting their careers in a competitive industry.
More from our Explaining Hollywood series: How to get a job performing stunts
Though official credentials are not required to become a stunt driver, Salinas said, it’s imperative to get working stunt professionals in the industry to trust you in order to get hired for jobs. All the Motion Picture Driving Clinic instructors are also working professionals, she said.
“Cars are one of the biggest safety risks that you take on set,” she said. “In a split second, something could go really wrong. So you want to make sure [that] who you’re hiring, who’s behind the wheel, really knows what they’re doing.”
When The Times video crew visited, Christensen showed off some basic tricks — what industry folks often call “gags” — including skid turns and 180- and 360-degree spins. He also showed us a more advanced stunt, where he threw the car into a 45-degree slide one way, then brought it around to a 90-degree slide and hit the mark in the other direction.
It’s about precision, he said. Stunt drivers could be asked to do a 90-degree spin, but they need to know whether to make it short and abrupt or long and drawn out, he explained.
“Our entire goal as stunt performers in general — but stunt drivers in particular — is to fool the camera into believing we’re doing something that’s wildly out of control, even though we’re well within our means of keeping it under our control,” said Christensen. “That’s exactly our job. So while it looks terrifying from the outside, once you get in, after a couple runs, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not quite so bad.’”
For Potts’ inaugural gag, Christensen suggested a 180-degree spin. The first step, he explained, was teaching him how to get a rear wheel lockup.
It’s one thing to want to get hired by the film and TV industry, Salinas said, but anyone can learn how to stunt drive. Recently, a couple in their 50s who were empty nesters dropped by. Christensen said he once taught an 81 year old who had it on his bucket list to learn how to do a 180.
Salinas herself used to be extremely nervous around cars. Sturz took her to the Motion Picture Driving Clinic on one of their first dates, and she lasted only about five minutes, she said. But many years later, after the couple decided to buy the school, she took the courses so she’d be able to explain stunt driving to prospective students. Now, she’s there every day.
Christensen has been working at the school since he was 12. “Any time I wasn’t in regular school, I was at this school, chasing cones, working on cars and eventually driving and instructing,” he said.
But even though he’s been doing this since he was a teenager, Christensen still gets an adrenaline rush every time he’s on the racetrack.
It’s his happy place, he said. “The older I’ve gotten, the less I like working on cars, but I will never ever not like driving them.”
Have big Hollywood dreams? Read the L.A. Times guide to entertainment industry careers
Earlier this month, the L.A. Times team visited the Motion Picture Driving Clinic at its location in Rosamond’s Willow Springs Raceway to see if Potts had the right stuff (for a beginner stunt driving class).
The Motion Picture Driving Clinic was founded in 1997 by Rick Seaman, a newly retired stunt driver with more than 50 years’ experience. In 2020, stunt professional Ryan Sturz and his wife, Olivia Salinas, took over the school. Sturz, who has about 150 stunt-driving credits, was a student at the Motion Picture Driving Clinic in 2009 before becoming an intern and working his way up to instructor.
The trailer that serves as a Motion Picture Driving Clinic classroom is adorned with posters of movies with memorable driving sequences, including “Baby Driver,” “Ford v Ferrari” and “The Other Guys.” Each of them employed drivers who had trained at the clinic.
“Anything that has a car in it has pretty much had a student of ours behind the wheel,” said senior instructor Chris Christensen, who has taught such A-listers as Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Jason Statham (a veteran of five Fast & Furious films and one spinoff).
But it’s not just the stars who visit. Aspiring stunt performers and drivers take classes in hopes of kickstarting their careers in a competitive industry.
More from our Explaining Hollywood series: How to get a job performing stunts
Though official credentials are not required to become a stunt driver, Salinas said, it’s imperative to get working stunt professionals in the industry to trust you in order to get hired for jobs. All the Motion Picture Driving Clinic instructors are also working professionals, she said.
“Cars are one of the biggest safety risks that you take on set,” she said. “In a split second, something could go really wrong. So you want to make sure [that] who you’re hiring, who’s behind the wheel, really knows what they’re doing.”
When The Times video crew visited, Christensen showed off some basic tricks — what industry folks often call “gags” — including skid turns and 180- and 360-degree spins. He also showed us a more advanced stunt, where he threw the car into a 45-degree slide one way, then brought it around to a 90-degree slide and hit the mark in the other direction.
It’s about precision, he said. Stunt drivers could be asked to do a 90-degree spin, but they need to know whether to make it short and abrupt or long and drawn out, he explained.
“Our entire goal as stunt performers in general — but stunt drivers in particular — is to fool the camera into believing we’re doing something that’s wildly out of control, even though we’re well within our means of keeping it under our control,” said Christensen. “That’s exactly our job. So while it looks terrifying from the outside, once you get in, after a couple runs, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not quite so bad.’”
For Potts’ inaugural gag, Christensen suggested a 180-degree spin. The first step, he explained, was teaching him how to get a rear wheel lockup.
It’s one thing to want to get hired by the film and TV industry, Salinas said, but anyone can learn how to stunt drive. Recently, a couple in their 50s who were empty nesters dropped by. Christensen said he once taught an 81 year old who had it on his bucket list to learn how to do a 180.
Salinas herself used to be extremely nervous around cars. Sturz took her to the Motion Picture Driving Clinic on one of their first dates, and she lasted only about five minutes, she said. But many years later, after the couple decided to buy the school, she took the courses so she’d be able to explain stunt driving to prospective students. Now, she’s there every day.
Christensen has been working at the school since he was 12. “Any time I wasn’t in regular school, I was at this school, chasing cones, working on cars and eventually driving and instructing,” he said.
But even though he’s been doing this since he was a teenager, Christensen still gets an adrenaline rush every time he’s on the racetrack.
It’s his happy place, he said. “The older I’ve gotten, the less I like working on cars, but I will never ever not like driving them.”
Have big Hollywood dreams? Read the L.A. Times guide to entertainment industry careers
