‘A slap in the face to Coast stuntman’
A VIDEO depicting a man being blasted by a shotgun in the chest has outraged members of the local stunt community.
The slow motion video was uploaded in public posts on stuntman Judd Wild’s Instagram and Facebook pages on August 20.
Mr Wild was the stunt coordinator on the Bliss N Eso music video that left Gold Coast father Johann “Yogi” Ofner dead.
Mr Wild deleted the post when the Bulletin contacted him yesterday.
“Johann was my friend. The last thing I’d want to do is offend his family,” he said last night.
“I think about him every day.”
Mr Wild said it had not occured to him the post could be perceived as insensitive or offensive.
He said the footage was from a comedy sketch in which people were shot at with fingers, not weapons.
“They’re having a shoot out with their fingers. That’s why I didn’t see the correlation,” he said.
“There was no weapon involved in that shoot. I am truly upset about this.”
Mr Ofner, an actor and stuntman who appeared on Australian Ninja Warrior, was fatally shot in the chest by a prop shotgun at close range in January while working on a video being filmed at Brisbane’s Brooklyn Standard Bar.
A senior stunt industry figure described Mr Wild’s video post as “a surreal slap in the face to Yogi’s family and colleagues”.
He said the Instagram video – captioned “Fun time with friends” – was “beyond bad taste”.
“For Judd to replicate a stunt where he was responsible for the safety of his team and someone died – it’s frankly hard to know what he’s thinking,” the stunt veteran said.
Another stunt performer close to Mr Ofner fears Mr Wild’s video might create fresh trauma for Mr Ofner’s family.
“Just imagine the distress of his family if they saw the stunt co-ordinator responsible for Johann’s safety on the day he died replicating in detail the incident that caused his death,” he said.
Mr Ofner’s death was the second onset stunt catastrophe on a production overseen by Mr Wild, following serious injuries to a stuntwoman during filming of a short film in November 2016.
Mr Wild has worked as stunt co-ordinator for YouTube creators the RackaRacka [sic] on a series of comedy stunt scenes, including a sequence shot in Byron Bay where stunt performer Marlee Barber suffered head injuries and a broken pelvis performing a 45ft freefall into water from a cliff.
Footage of the accident was used in RackaRacka’s completed The Naruto Showdown short posted on Youtube.
The Gold Coast Bulletin contacted Ms Barber, who declined to comment.
“For a newly graded stunt co-ordinator to make two catastrophic mistakes is a major red flag,” an industry source said.
“If someone acts irresponsibly, it reflects on the whole stunt community.”
Mr Wild is listed in Stunt Book Australia as a stunt actor, stunt rigger and more recently, stunt co-ordinator with credits as a stunt coordinator on two feature films – The Nightingale (2017) and Boar (2016).
Stunt performers are required to meet the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) National Stunt Committee’s grading requirements to be listed on the database.
The Bulletin contacted the MEAA about Mr Wild’s accreditation.
“Due to a coronial investigation, we are unable to comment on any matters related to the death of Johann Ofner,” a spokesman said.
Queensland Police referred Mr Ofner’s death to the Coroners Court in April.
A Coroners Court of Queensland spokesman said Mr Ofner’s death remained under investigation.
“The Coroner is awaiting reports from other agencies,” the spokesman said.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s investigation into the incident is also ongoing. “Workplace Health and Safety is working closely with QPS on this matter, which is still under investigation,” a spokesman said.