Local stunt gym trains next generation of award winners

Paul visits ATL Stunts in Norcross

Good Day's Paul Milliken visited ATL Stunts in Norcross on Thursday morning. ATL Stunts offers professional stunt training for people who are in or want to be in the film industry. 

NORCROSS, Ga. - In just two years, the Academy Awards will debut a competitive category for Achievement in Stunt Design — and don’t be surprised if a future Oscar winner thanks ATL Stunts in their speech.

ATL Stunts is the professional stunt training facility owned and operated by award-winning stunt coordinator and performer Brian Krainson. As Krainson discussed with Good Day Atlanta during previous visits, he created ATL Stunts out of necessity, so that he and his film and TV colleagues would have a place to train in metro Atlanta. In the years since, ATL Stunts has evolved into a key networking spot for industry professionals and offers classes and workshops covering all aspects of stunt work, including on-camera fighting, wire work, and tactical training. Upcoming events include the continuation of a light saber/sword series taught by martial arts instructor John Palmeri.

Krainson says performers with these skills remain in high demand because just about every kind of film or TV project utilizes stunts of some kind.

"A lot of people have the misconception that only action films need stunt performers, but literally we’ve done so many commercials, comedies, romance," he told Good Day during a visit last year.

Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards are set to be announced this morning — and while stunts aren’t yet among the honored skills, many of this year’s Oscar contenders rely heavily on stunt work. We’re talking hits like "Sinners," "One Battle After Another," "Wicked: For Good," and the Georgia-filmed "Superman."

Oscar nomination morning seemed like a good opportunity to return to ATL Stunts and get another look at the incredible work being done by Brian Kraison and his team. Click the video player in this article to check it out — and click here for more information on ATL Stunts.