Feature Story and Photos by Larry H. Oskin, South Lake Tablet
Kahana’s Stunt & Film School was launched in Groveland 30 years ago by legendary Hollywood stuntman, Kim Kahana. With a successful background in training and mentoring thousands of stuntmen and women, a team of producers, directors, cameramen and grips arrived this week from New York, Florida and the East Coast to create a documentary series and a movie on Kim Kahana Sr.
George Buzzeo, of GB Media Productions and Frank Sollecito recently flew in from New York with their team to produce and direct Kim Kahana in action with actors, stunt doubles and bulldog horses. James Duvall flew from California for this project. He was actually Kim’s stunt double as a younger man. Now in the business for over 65 years, Kahana will celebrate his 93rd birthday on October 16, 2022.
Kim Kahana, Sr. was born in Hawaii and grew up in Pasadena, California. He first became a Samoan Fire Dancer and entertainer with a European Dance Troup. He served the USA in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.
With a friend working as a creative stuntman, getting paid well to fall off a horse, Kahana wanted to do it too. He researched the top Hollywood stuntmen. He started knocking on the doors, asking for the opportunity to be coached, mentored and taught. He found and was trained by legendary Yakima Canutt and Johnny Eppers, the top two Hollywood Stuntmen at the time. With his first job in hand, they had him start by caring for the trained horses. His career exploded with one success after another.
Kim Kahana has been a Stuntman, Stunt Coordinator, 2nd Unit Director, Director, Producer, Technical Adviser, and actor. Kahana has worked on over 300 films with over 1000 television credits. He was a member of the Stuntmen’s Association, the Screen Actors Guild’s Safety Investigative Team and the Stunt Safety Community. He has been a Martial Arts Instructor for over 50 years holding six different black belt degrees.
Kahana’s Stunt & Film School is a division of Stunt Action Coordinators which was founded in 1972 by Mr. Kim Kahana Sr., a former member of the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures, to provide comprehensive education for students wishing to enter the aspect of stunt work for films and movies. The objective of Kahana’s Stunt & Film School is to prepare its students to become professional, creative and technical craftsmen in the motion picture and television industries. Kahana’s Stunt & Film School is more affordable and very different in teaching students with on-the-job training.
Kahana shares, “I keep going, because I love this business! While a career working in movies has its ups and downs, it has been very rewarding for me. With plenty of earnings, I left the Hollywood craziness years ago escaping to retire to buy an island in Greece and then back to Miami. Making millions over the years, he bought himself big toys like helicopters, boats and tractors. He then permanently moved here with his wife Sandra and family to start Kahana’s Stunt & Film School here in quiet Groveland, Florida. I bought 100 hidden Groveland acres. While still at it, I have personally trained over 25,000 stuntmen and actors over the years. This business has unfortunately changed so much over the years with big corporations involved. Many of the kids don’t want to hear it all or to take the time to learn their needed skills. Now some of the most talented ‘kids’ and young talent can start at $1000 a day. It’s a money-making machine. It’s really now all about who you know and not what you know or how talented you are.”
The most important thing taught at school is how to be safe and keep others safe. Acting, setting up stunts, setting up the camera, editing and arranging composites with resumes are also part of the training.
“You need to work hard. I run my school like a boot camp. Everyone must be completely focused and committed to working hard while here. No cameras, cell phones, Internet or computers … and no horseshit! Besides coaching, training and mentoring, I also teach my students how to hustle for the best jobs. I plan to keep going for at least the next 5 to 10 years teaching my students how to do a good safe job and how to make a profitable career with a happy life.”
Kahana has worked as an actor, stuntman double and director with an endless list of hundreds of celebrities too long to list. A few of them include, John Wayne, Paul Newman, Walt Disney, Geraldo Rivera, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley, Sammy Davis, Jr., Danny Thomas, Telly Savalas, Lee Merriweather, Bobby Gentry, Gregory Peck, Dan Blocker and James Garner. He doubled Charles Bronson for 20 years. Kahana’s movie credits include: The Dirty Dozen, Magnificent 7, The Mechanic, Death Wish, Smokey and the Bandit I & II, Good Guys Wear Black, Killer Elite, Danger Island, Earthquake, Cool Hand Luke, Jeepers Creepers, Planet of The Apes, Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Kung Fu and Nickelodeon Guts. He played Chongo in Danger Island cliffhanger.
Frank Sollecito notes, “The extraordinary and unbelievable Kim Kahana success story is one that needs to be told. The mini-series will start on George Buzzeo Live, while the series and movie will eventually be on a major network like Discovery or the History Channel.
The Kahana Stunt & Film School and Stunt Action Coordinators are located in Groveland, Florida. Email:TVStunts@KahanaStunts.com Visit: https://www.facebook.com/kahanastuntschool/ and www.KahanaStuntSchool.com. Call Kim Kahana, Director and Sandra Kahana, Producer at: 352-429-4561.
