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Memory Alpha
Real world article
(written from a production point of view)

Michael "Mike" Gunther is a 2nd Unit Director, stuntman, stunt coordinator, director, and film maker who served as stunt double for Chris Pine in Star Trek. Gunther also worked as stunt performer on Star Trek Into Darkness. He worked as stunt coordinator on Star Trek Beyond.

Stunt career[]

Gunther's first experiences in the stunt business includes stunt work in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (starring Joe Lando), Babylon 5 (1994, alongside Andreas Katsulas, Richard Chaves, and Gary Wayton), and High Tide. He performed stunts in Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), doubled Ralph Fiennes in Strange Days (1995), and Linden Ashby in Spy Game, which features Keith Szarabajka, Denise Crosby, and stuntmen Brian Avery and Edward Conna.

Gunther also performed stunts in V.I.P., Martial Law (1998-1999, co-starring Tom Wright), and Roswell (starring William Sadler), and served as stunt coordinator on Executive Power (1997, with Joanna Cassidy, Denise Crosby, and Michael Horton), several episodes of The King of Queens, The Pretender, and as wire stunt coordinator on Charmed (2001).

Other television projects including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998-2001), J.J. Abrams' Alias, 24, Firefly, Angel (1999-2003, also as stunt coordinator), CSI: New York, Brannon Braga's Threshold (starring Brent Spiner), and Bones (2005-2014). Among his feature film credits are Scary Movie 2 (2001, with Woody Bosco, Drew Renkewitz, Suzanne Bianqui, Mark Barrett, LaFaye Baker, Tim Rigby, Bridgett Riley, Chris Palermo, Antony Acker, Craig Shugart, and Geneviere Anderson), American Pie 2 (2001), The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003, starring Laurence Fishburne,with Anthony Zerbe), Hulk (2003), Underworld (2003, with Kevin Grevioux and Scott McElroy) Van Helsing (2004), Spider-Man 2 and Catwoman (both 2004), as stunt double for Scott Speedman and fight choreographer in Underworld: Evolution (2006), and Gridiron Gang (2006, with The Rock).

He then coordinated for Jericho (2007, with Alicia Coppola), Brothers & Sisters (2007), Fallen (2007, with Rick Worthy), and Live Free or Die Hard (2007, with Tim Russ). Gunther performed stunts in Disturbia (2007), Heroes (2007, with Zachary Quinto, Cristine Rose, Malcolm McDowell, stunts by Gary Wayton, and coordinated by Ian Quinn), and the television drama Skip Tracer (2008, starring Diedrich Bader).

Gunther is also a skilled motion capture stunt performer for video games, including Max Steel and The Bounty Hunter and worked on several commercials for Coca Cola, Foot Locker, Absolute Vodka, McDonald's, Nike, Reebok, UPS, and Volkswagen. He also performed stunts in music videos for artists such as Methods of Mayhem and Linkin' Park.

Gunther worked as stunt double for Keanu Reeves in the thriller The Night Watchman (2008), performed stunts in Days of Wrath (2008, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and was the stunt coordinator for Fighting (2008). He performed stunts in the Stargate: Atlantis episode "Enemy at the Gate" (2009, with Robert Picardo, Paul McGillion, and Lauro Chartrand), served as stunt coordinator on Fast & Furious (2009, with stunts by Greg Barnett, Craig Baxley, Jr., Edward Conna, Zach Duhame, Diana R. Lupo, Heidi Moneymaker, Lin Oeding, Tim Trella, and Chrissy Weathersby), and worked as stunt coordinator on three episodes of Dollhouse (2009, with stunts by Gary Wayton). His work on Fast & Furious earned him a Taurus World Stunt Award in the category Best Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director: Feature Film in 2010.

Further stunt work includes episodes of Grey's Anatomy (2009), Lie to Me (2009, with Jimmy N. Roberts), Criminal Minds (2009), Cold Case (2009, with Jennifer Caputo), Castle (2010, with Shauna Duggins and coordinated by Dennis Madalone), and The Event (2010, wrking with Charlie Brewer, Tony Donno, Dana Dru Evenson, Henry Kingi, Jr., Manny Perry, and Boni Yanagisawa), Angels & Demons (2009), The Book of Eli (2010), Iron Man 2 (2010), and Takers (2010).

As stunt coordinator Gunther worked on Fighting (2009, along with fellow stunt coordinator Mic Rodgers), the short horror film Road to Moloch (2009, with stunts by Troy Brenna and Gary Wayton), Zeke and Luther (2009-2010), Community (2009-2011), and The Nine Lives of Chloe King (2011, starring Amy Pietz and with Alicia Coppola and Samantha Eggar), Priest (2011, with Karl Urban, Brad Dourif, and Christopher Plummer), and Fast Five (2011, starring Dwayne Johnson and directed by Justin Lin). The latter one earned him three Taurus World Stunt Awards in 2012 in the categories Best Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director: Feature, shared with Spiro Razatos, Best Fight and Best High Work.

Gunther also performed stunts in The Avengers (2012, starring Chris Hemsworth) and in Banshee (2013-2014). Other projects as stunt coordinator include R.I.P.D. (2013), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), the pilot episode of Scorpion (2014, directed by Justin Lin, produced by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and April Nocifora, and music by Brian Tyler), Ouija (2014, with stunts by Mark Wagner and Ray Siegle), Entourage (2015, with stunts by Rex J. Reddick, Mike Mukatis, Katie Eischen, and Tim Connolly), Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015), and Hollywood Adventures (2015, with Bridgett Riley, Lorin McCraley, Thomas DuPont, and Josh Drennen).

Film companies[]

In 2005 Gunther founded the production company "Gunny Entertainment" alongside his long time production partner Mike Behrman. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA). He wrote, produced, and directed the special features Underworld Evolution: Inside the Action (2006), Ghost Rider: Inside the Action (2007) and Live Free or Die Hard: Inside the Action (2007). Further projects as director, writer, and producer with Gunny Entertainment include the short action film 6th and Santa Fe (2008, starring Theo Kypri and co-produced by Marcus Young), the action thriller Beatdown (2010, with Jace Jeanes and stunt coordination by Marcus Young), and Setup (2011, with Jay Karnes, Theo Kypri, Chris Torres, and Marty Murray).

In 2010, Gunther left Gunny Entertainment and formed "5150 Action", a company with creates high-impact and visually arresting action. Gunther continued to work as producer on the television series Dr0ne (2012, with Hiram A. Murray and stunts by Martin De Boer) and End of Watch (2012) on which he also worked as stunt coordinator.

Gunther later worked as writer, director and producer on the television series Runner (2013, starring Martin De Boer and executive produced by Justin Lin) and the following film adaptation Runner (2016) and as director and producer on Smash (2016).

External links[]

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