SAG presses for stunt coordinator Oscar

LOS ANGELES - An Academy Award category honoring the crucial work of stunt coordinators should be added, the Screen Actors Guild said Friday.

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"Through incredible skill and daring, stunt coordinators provide critical safety and artistic contributions that must be acknowledged," SAG President Melissa Gilbert. "Not only do they keep actors safe, they maintain the safety of every single person in the proximity of every stunt that is performed."

All requests for new categories are reviewed by the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences but are rarely successful, said academy spokesman John Pavlik.

The last new categories added were animated feature films in 2001 - and makeup in 1981.

"The subject of an award for stunt people has come up several times in the past decade and a half and has been rejected by the board each time," Pavlik said.

Gilbert called the honor overdue and said SAG officials would work with the stunt community to continue lobbying the academy.

The next meeting of the board of governors is in May.

--From the Tuesday, February 22, 2005 online edition of the Augusta Chronicle