Marc Wolff brings a fresh approach to the role of second unit director, adding a dimension which comes from over 30 years of working on a wide variety of films from some of the most successful features of all time to small scale documentaries, commercials and television.
Marc's career in films began as a camera and stunt pilot. His work has taken him to over 65 countries on 6 continents, in all manner of climates and working conditions, from Africa to the Arctic. This wide-ranging experience of many cultures, locations and landscapes - desert, mountain, jungle, city - on over 140 feature films, enables him to visualise on a grand scale. Marc has directed a wide range of sequences from big stunts, car chases and fire fights to intimate dialogue scenes with actors in the studio. His directing experience extends from day to night, interior to exterior, studio and location, on the water, under the ground and in the air.
He has learned his trade by working with the best in the business: directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Steven Speilberg, Ridley and Tony Scott, George Lucas, Mike Nichols, Brian De Palma, Steven Soderburg, Oliver Stone, Michael Apted, Gillian Armstrong, Martin Campbell, Roger Spottiswode, Taylor Hackford, Wolfgang Petersen, Sharon Maguire, Mike Newell, Guy Ritchie, and Hugh Hudson, and top second unit directors such as Vic Armstrong, Simon Crane, Alexander Witt, Mic Rogers, Doug Coleman and Mickey Moore as well as new, young, directing talent including: Neil Marshall, Brett Eisner, David Gordon Green, Jaume Collet-Serra, and Stephen Gaghan. Following in their footsteps, Marc's goal is to bring magical images to the screen that both captivate and thrill the audience.
Marc has also directed a number of actors, demonstrating the ability to handle sensitive situations, challenging characters, and difficult personalities while obtaining moving performances. They include:
Hugh Grant, Robert Carlyle,Tom Courtney, Mel Gibson, Hilary Swank, Ralph Brown, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Crutchley, Sean Pertwee, Darren Morfit, Nora Jane Noone, Rick Warden, Angus Banett, Gary George, Jade Davidson, Tom Hardy, Leslie Simpson, Chris Robson, Natalie Boltt, Diane Kruger, Aidan Quinn, January Jones, Mido Hamada, Stipe Erceg, Olivier Schneider and Sebastian Koch and others.
He has shown he can handle difficult personalities under tight time constraints in stressful circumstances, gaining the actors' confidence, allowing them to relax and open themselves to the role while achieving his vision. He has directed some of the principal cast in films such as Bridget Jones Diary, Air America, Flood, Amelia and Doomsday.
Marc has strong views on the role of a second unit director. He believes passionately that the second unit director must complement and enhance the work and vision of the main unit director. He studies the main unit director's style, composition, pacing and camera movement to ensure that scenes and sequences shot by the second unit blend seamlessly, and cut together in harmony, with those of the main unit. He achieves this by placing the highest priority on close communication, and co-operation with the director and co-ordination with all of the main unit's key personnel, especially the production designer, the director of photography and the editor. He insists that all the second unit's HODs liaise closely with their respective department heads on the main unit. Marc strives to become an extension of the main unit director, emphasising loyalty, and shooting what the director wants, thereby ensuring that the work of the second unit ends up in the film.
Marc also places the strongest possible emphasis on working efficiently, with a reputation for completing his day's work on time, staying on budget and remaining on schedule. On Universal Picture's Doomsday, he shot a 67 day second unit schedule in South Africa, London and Scotland, finishing on schedule and having gone into overtime only once, for a half hour. Marc works closely with the producer and production manager to insure that the money spent on the second unit ends up on screen. He achieves this through thorough preparation and good communication, tapping into the skill, talent and energy of the whole unit. He creates a positive atmosphere on-set with his boundless energy and infectious enthusiasm, encouraging and motivating the crew with good humour and determination, so they all participate and contribute to the final product.
His attention to detail and safety, strong personality and precise working habits bring order, control and efficiency to complex set-ups and stunt sequences. His talent and eye for composition, movement and pacing make his second unit work stunning to look at, exciting to watch and affordable to shoot.
