Behind the scenes in Hollywood: small but growing number make breakthroughs as movie technicians

Ebony, April, 1991 by Aldore Collier

Behind The Scenes In Hollywood

Virtually an unknown army, they spend hours toiling behind the scenes in Hollywood with one objective in mind--to make actors look and sound good.

Their names will never be household words. Their identities and crafts are the credits that roll at the end of movies and television programs. And although their work rarely makes headlines, they are a vital part of Hollywood's production machine. They are set designers, editors, stuntmen, soundmen and other technicians.

For decades, these highly profitable occupations were closed to Blacks. But within recent years a still small but growing number of Blacks have found lucrative positions behind the camera in Hollywood. Many are members of A.B.E.T. (Alliance of Black Entertainment Technicians), a support group founded several years ago.

The visibility of Black technicians increased dramatically in 1989 and 1990 when two Black technicians, Willie Burton and Russell Williams, won Academy Awards in the sound category. Burton won in 1989 for Bird and Williams in 1990 for Glory.

Williams, who also worked on the miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, Heatwave and the hit film Dances With Wolves, says his job is to record the dialogue. "Once my staff and I have met with the director and department heads," he says, "we watch a rehearsal of the scenes and determine the best way to capture the sound. We either do it with overhead microphones or body mikes."

Williams, a Washington, D.C., native, took film courses while a student at American University. After graduating in 1974, he worked as a videotape engineer at a local television station. A couple of years later, he was able to work on the documentary crew.

In 1979, he took a 90-day leave of absence to check out opportunities in Los Angeles. "After 90 days, I had seen enough to convince me to make a go of it and I have been totally free-lance since 1979," he says. Because he wasn't a union member, he had to work with independent producers. He says more and more movies are being done in non-union situations, and that, he says, increases the opportunities for minority technicians. Of the estimated 600 soundmen in Hollywood, only about 12 are Black, he says.

While there are no Oscar winners in the category of stuntmen, an increasing number of Blacks are crashing cars and flying through windows.

Bob Minor, who in 1971 became the first Black member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures, estimates that 50 of the approximately 1,000 Hollywood stuntmen are Black.

Minor was a successful bodybuilder, ready to become a Los Angeles police officer, when he overheard a group of White weight lifters talking about stunt work. "It sounded good to me," he says. "I talked to them and went and looked into it." He found out that Bill Cosby (then starring in I Spy) was the only Black who had action sequences that called for a stunt double. At that time, roles requiring Black stuntmen were traditionally done by White doubles with their faces painted Black. "I said that maybe it was time for me to make a move and not have these White boys putting shoe polish on their faces," Minor says. "I figured Blacks should get some of that money."

He trained by studying boxing techniques and learned how to tumble off tall buildings. Five months later, he landed a job as a double or Beyond the Valleys of the Dolls. He doubled for 12 actors in Come Back Charleston Blue, falling from high-rise buildings and being partially set ablaze. While doubling for Sidney Poitier in Let's Do It Again, Minor had to jump 19 feet from one 13-story building to another.

For six years, he coordinated the work of stuntmen on Magnum, P.I. and served as a double for Roger E. Mosley. While on Magnum, Minor got a chance to serve as second-unit director, a role that allowed him to direct action sequences while the main director worked with actors at another location. He also served as stunt coordinator for the Academy Award-winning film Glory. "I hired 73 stuntmen for that film. As coordinator, I had certain spots for every person to stand and run because I had placed mortars that would go off like bombs."

Unlike stunt work, set designing is subdued, although just as essential. Bill Newmon, one of hollywood's busiest set designers, didn't even know what set designing involved until he got a chance to tour studios as a UCLA political science student.

"I had wanted to be a lawyer," he says, "but after seeing how shows like Danny Kaye's and Andy Williams' were put together, I decided I wanted to work in the movies."

His job calls for him to design graphics that are used in movies and on television shows. He draws skylines, windows and a variety of signs that are used for set backgrounds. "I also select things like draperies and help select the color of wallpaper, carpeting and the kind of flooring that will be used," he says. "I assist the art director or production designer."

After spending several years on the NBC staff, Newmon designed sets for such films as Poltergeist and Walt Disney's The Love Bug II. His television credits include Murder, She Wrote and the pilot for Knot's Landing. For seven years, he did the sets for Little House on the Prairie.