We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christopher Brewster. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christopher below.
Alright, Christopher thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Most film and television directors are brought up through the traditional film school standards, focusing on establishing shots and telling a story through dialogue. However, the new wave of action directors are action designers that come from an elaborate stunt background. Like Sam Hargrave (Extraction), David Leach (Bullet Train), and Chad Stahuelski (John Wick), I learned the art of filmmaking and story telling through action design. My elaborate “stunt previs” – concept footage of the stunt team rehearsing action scenes brought me a lot of attention, and has opened doors to both second unit and now main unit directing. Nobody knows how to shoot action better than the people who have been performing action for their entire careers.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Well, my name is Chris. The ninja turtles (Raphael specifically) motivated me to start martial arts at 4. By 12, I was a black belt and national champion. By 20, I had 3 black belts and 13 world titles. That opened the doors for me to perform worldwide, and compete on America’s Got Talent (my team were finalists in year 2 of the show). I then got to live my dream of being a superhero. I stunt doubled Captain America, Daredevil, and a whole bunch of epic characters. Now I am not only performing, but I get to coordinate and direct. I am literally living my dream. I was so inspired at such a young age, and now I am hoping to do the same for the next generation. From performing as cool characters on screen, to designing and directing exciting sequences on camera; I hope to spark excitement and motivation in people across the world. Everybody watches TV and movies. I like to think that what they see can change their lives.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
My team and I are still working to fund the next stage of our master plan. We are trying to build the world’s most fantastic and epic stunt training facility, right here in Georgia. Not only would we be training ourselves, prepping the show and films that we are working on, etc… But we would be training the next generation of stunt performers and action actors. There is so much work in Atlanta, and the entertainment business is always growing. By building the next generation of performers, we will be raising the level of action on screen for years to come, while keeping every person on set as safe as they possibly can be. Stunts, of course, is a business of calculated risk. However, the more knowledgable a performer is, the more they can protect themselves along their journey.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist in the entertainment industry, is having the ability to build a community of like minded individuals, and amazing human beings to surround yourself with. I am forever grateful for the team that I have. My teammates are a never ending source of inspiration, support, love, and comfort. If you are truly doing what you love, with the people that you care about, it will never seem like work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.NinjaBrewski.com
- Instagram: Ninjabrewski
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/christopher.brewster.982
- Linkedin: ninjabrewski
- Twitter: ninjabrewski
Image Credits
I have the rights.