Want to be a professional stunt person? There's a class for that in the Bay Area

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The newest school in Clearwater doesn’t teach math and writing. Learning how to fight safely on camera and gaining confidence on a movie set are part of the courseload.

K75 Stunt Academy opened about a month and a half ago and its instructor, Kevin Rego, teaches people how to become a stunt person.

"It’ll give people a clear path where, like, for some of us, the older guys and guys before me, we had a go around choosing, you know, picking skills from all these different guys," Rego said.

"I wanted a place where everyone can just go to one central spot and learn those skills in a safe environment, with people who had the skills or the experience and be here," he said. "It’s a fun spot… get in shape, learn to get that tough skin and that strength," Rego said.

Rego has been in the industry and done stunt work for more than two decades. He opened the Academy with David Siracusa, a local actor and producer. The two met on a movie set and Rego was in Siracusa’s movie, "The Uncivil War."

"While we were doing it [filming the movie], someone said, ‘hey, you need to do stunts in it. Kevin Rego should be your stunt guy,’" Siracusa said. "I said, ‘okay,’ I mean stunts… we throw a punch or two in there. There's not much to it. Biggest mistake I ever made. I should have had Kevin on set much, much more, and that was a big light bulb moment for me. I said, I'm never going to, you know, cut corners on stunts," he said.

Siracusa said he always wanted to learn how to do stunts, too, and trains with Rego.

"Stunts are all about taking a bump and keep on going. Keep on going is being tough. So, I'll send them to cardio, then we'll do grounds through the course. What I mean by groundwork, I mean they get your body used to taking those bumps, taking those rolls, taking those falls," Rego said.

Both Rego and Siracusa said the Academy will help the local film scene overall.

"We can say, ‘look, we have developed this great group of local actors and actresses here. They can just pop in. You don't have to bring someone from LA. You don't have to come a day or two early and train people. We've got them. They'll make it look really good. It'll be seamless for you,’" Siracusa said. "So, we want to keep those big films coming to this area."

The Academy’s membership is $100 a month. Classes are offered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. It’s open to all skill levels.

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