SURVIVING DISASTER – HIJACK
- 2009
- Wall to Wall
- Spike/Discovery
Don’t be put off by the title. This cult show gives the disaster genre a welcome kick up the ass. Imagine Bear Grylls inserted into a Bruce Willis movie and you’re not far off. Shot in Hollywood, I directed 5 out of 10 of these all-stunts-and-explosions, fully scripted action dramas. “Will you be a survivor or a statistic? The choice is yours.”
The premise is fantastic. Take a former Navy SEAL and drop him into real disasters – a plane hijack, a towering inferno, a violent home invasion, a mall siege, a boat capsized in a perfect storm in horribly shark infested waters. Then have him show the hapless victims – and the audience – how to survive. You make think this is alarmist but as one expert contributor says of this opening show “9/11 changed it all – now you may have to fight back!”. I directed 5 of the 10 episodes and the series became cult viewing in the US.