Mike Gunther

Michael "Mike" Gunther is a 2nd Unit Director, stuntman, stunt coordinator, director, and film maker who served as stunt double for Chris Pine in . Gunther also worked as stunt performer on . He worked as stunt coordinator on .
== Stunt career ==
Gunther's first experiences in the stunt business includes stunt work in (starring Joe Lando), Babylon 5 (1994, alongside Andreas Katsulas, Richard Chaves, and Gary Wayton), and High Tide. He performed stunts in (1994), doubled in (1995), and in , which features Keith Szarabajka, Denise Crosby, and stuntmen Brian Avery and Edward Conna.
Gunther also performed stunts in , Martial Law (1998-99, co-starring Tom Wright), and (starring William Sadler), and served as stunt coordinator on Executive Power (1997, with Joanna Cassidy, Denise Crosby, and Michael Horton), several episodes of , The Pretender, and as wire stunt coordinator on (2001).
Other television projects including (1998-2001), J.J. Abrams' , , , (1999-2003, also as stunt coordinator), , Brannon Braga's (starring Brent Spiner), and (2005-14). Among his feature film credits are (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), (2001), and (both 2003, starring Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss, with Anthony Zerbe), (2003), (2003, with Kevin Grevioux and Scott McElroy) (2004), and (both 2004), as stunt double for and fight choreographer in (2006), and (2006, with The Rock).
He then coordinated for (2007, with Alicia Coppola), (2007), (2007, with Rick Worthy), and (2007, with Tim Russ). Gunther performed stunts in (2007), (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 in the thriller The Night Watchman (2008), performed stunts in (2008, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and was the stunt coordinator for (2008). He performed stunts in the episode "Enemy at the Gate" (2009, with Robert Picardo, Paul McGillion, and Lauro Chartrand), served as stunt coordinator on (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 (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 (2009), Lie to Me (2009, with Jimmy N. Roberts), (2009), (2009, with Jennifer Caputo), (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), (2009), (2010), (2010), and (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), (2009-10), Community (2009-11), and (2011, starring Amy Pietz and with Alicia Coppola and Samantha Eggar), (2011, with Karl Urban, Brad Dourif, and Christopher Plummer), and (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 (2012, starring Chris Hemsworth) and in (2013-14). Other projects as stunt coordinator include (2013), (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), (2014, with stunts by Mark Wagner and Ray Siegle), (2015, with stunts by Rex J. Reddick, Mike Mukatis, Katie Eischen, and Tim Connolly), (2015), and (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 (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 (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 ==
* – official website site
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* at the 
* at the 
Category:Stunt performers
Category:Film performers
Category:Stunt department
Category:Performers