Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: the bondsman

The Bondsman Stunt Coordinator on TV/Film, Oleson, Directing & More

Stunt coordinator James Hutchinson III (Doom Patrol) spoke with us about Prime Video's The Bondsman, working in TV and Film, and much more.

James Hutchinson III thrives on being a jack-of-all-trades on set, whether it's coordinating stunts, appearing on screen in a bit role, or in the case of the Prime Video series The Bondsman, directing. Since his debut in 2011's Zombie Parkour, Hutchinson has done it all from smaller indie projects, blockbusters, and franchises across film and television, with his most notable works in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Fox's Castle and Glee, Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC's Watchmen and Doom Patrol. His latest is the Prime Video supernatural thriller series The Bondsman, which follows a bounty hunter (Kevin Bacon) who gains a new purpose in life, hunting demons after a bounty-gone-wrong forced him into this new predicament. Hutchinson spoke to Bleeding Cool about how an MCU connection got him involved in the series, reuniting with showrunner Erik Oleson, and trying his hand at directing.

The Bondsman Stunt Coordinator & Second Unit Director on His Latest Supernatural Adventure

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with 'The Bondsman' and what intrigued you about the series?
A friend of mine, Hank Amos, was the supervising stunt coordinator they had initially hired. I'd worked with him on prior shows, like 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' and 'Ms. Marvel', and we'd always had a great working relationship, but had never worked together in the capacity of coordinating a show together. He hit me up and was like, "Hey, I dig your work ethic, and I want to do the show with you.' The gist was that he would focus on directing the second unit, and I would be coordinating the show. That turned into me eventually taking over the show, because he ended up going over to do 'Peacemaker' season two. As far as what interested me in the show, "Kevin Bacon killing demons!" [laughs] Let's be honest, man. That's a pretty good draw to want to do a show.

Whether it's your film or TV work, does the scale affect how much time is dedicated to the sequences?

It's funny. I've worked a fair bit in television. I've worked on 'Doom Patrol,' ran some other shows, 'The Staircase,' 'Average Joe.' I did a movie last fall, it was a Mel Gibson film, I think it's called 'The Blood of Man.' I got a taste of the difference between film versus TV, and TV is more of a challenge. In the midst of prepping one big sequence, and they're already on you about the next episode, and they want to see a previs for that while you're currently shooting a pretty action-heavy sequence.

With film, you usually get a fair bit of time between when you're prepping your sequences to going to camera, so it gives you a lot more time to revise and go back to the well on some of those stunt sequences. Those like Marvel sometimes want to see various iterations of a previs for TV. It's like you get one shot. You're going to do the previs, and you better hope that you deliver on that because you're not going to get a chance to go back and do another.

You've worked with showrunner Erik Oleson before on 'Daredevil.' What was it like to reunite with him, and if you could break down his creative process?

Yeah, Eric was great. I interviewed with him to coordinate 'Daredevil' season three and ended up going with Gary Stearns, who's a great coordinator and did a fantastic job. Then I ended up getting called to work up there. We did the whole big one-er that was in the prison. I don't remember Erik being there. It was such a chaotic sequence, and there were so many people and so much going on that I just don't honestly recall him being there.

When we got around to doing 'The Bondsman', and I was able to remind him, "Hey, [do you] remember when I interviewed with you a few years back for 'Daredevil?" And he remembered to his credit that man is he's got a memory. It was nice to be able to work with him in a more creative capacity because he has a specific vision about what he wants, and open to people's input. It was great to be able to have that ability to go to my showrunner and say, "Hey, what do you think about this gag?" Usually, he's like, "Oh, that's cool," and entertains it. If it's something that he feels is outside the scope of what they're going for, he'll say, "You know what? That's great, but let's try this." He loves to be able to riff on things, and he was a lot of fun to work with.

You've pulled double duty this time, becoming the second unit director. What was that experience like for you to put on those multiple hats? Was it something that came naturally to you, or did it become more chaotic and not something you want to do again?

Somebody had asked me this recently in regard to finally getting to put on that hat. There's a thing in this industry, or rather many industries, that's commonly called impostor syndrome, where you just feel like, "Man, I don't know if I'm the right guy for this," and then eventually, especially as a coordinator, we're watching all the time. We shoot previs, so we're in essence directing a lot. When we watch our directors do things, sometimes I'm like, "I would have done that differently. That wasn't quite right."

When you finally get your chance to walk a mile in those shoes, then you can say definitively, "Yeah, I can do this!" When the time came and I was given that chance, I got thrown right into the deep end with that, and I had to prove myself to the show's producers since they wanted Hank. Hank, unfortunately, had to leave, and they were willing to go in a different direction and put me in to handle a sequence to see if I could do the job.

It was after that day they came to me and said the job as second unit director is yours, and it's challenging, man! I'm the type of guy who, when I'm there, I'm directing and coordinating; I want to help everybody. If I see a PA struggling with something or one of my crew members, I'm going over there and lending a hand. That's hard as a director, because they're trying to keep you right there at Video Village to keep track of everything. At the end of my day, once we had accomplished our mission, got all the shots we needed, I was able to focus on what everybody else was doing. That's when I was able to step in and lend a hand to help my PAs, or any departments that needed it. I stayed as late as I could to lend my people a hand.

The Bondsman, which also stars Jennifer Nettles, Beth Grant, Damon Herriman, Maxwell Jenkins, Jolene Purdy, and Denitra Isler, is available to stream on Prime Video.

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