McKay Stewart: Flips, fights and facts One hoodie. One garage. A lot of doors opened.

I Made a Garage Fight Teaser With Avatar's Stunt Boss

· McKay Stewart

January 1, 2021. New Year’s Day.

I posted a teaser for a project I was developing with Garrett Warren.

It’s called GLITCH.

One line from that post: “Me in the hoodie.”

McKay Stewart in a dark hoodie stands in the open back doors of a white van inside a parking garage, in a frame from the GLITCH teaser Me in the hoodie, in the back of the van. Frame from the GLITCH teaser, written and directed by Garrett Warren.

Here’s the story of a 2-and-a-half-minute teaser, a stunt legend, and the jobs that came after.

Who is Garrett Warren?

He’s worked on some of the biggest action movies around.

Garrett was the stunt coordinator on James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). He ran the stunts on Alita: Battle Angel (2019). He was second unit director on Logan (2017). That’s the team that shoots a lot of the action.

His IMDb lists 127 stunt credits. His bio there calls him an ex-world champion martial artist. It says he’s taught fight work to Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldaña, Chris Evans and Idris Elba.

He also told Kung-fu Kingdom this about making Avatar:

“‘Avatar’ changed me not just as a filmmaker, but as a human being.”

So yes. When Garrett writes a fight, you show up.

The goal

December 24, 2019. I posted my goals for 2020.

Number one: get GLITCH, with Garrett, picked up by Lightstorm Entertainment.

That’s the production company James Cameron founded in 1990. Dream big, right?

A year later, we had a teaser to show for it.

The teaser

January 1, 2021. I put the GLITCH teaser trailer on my YouTube channel.

Runtime: 2 minutes, 34 seconds.

The word GLITCH in silver letters on a black screen, the title card of the teaser The title card. Frame from the GLITCH teaser.

The credits:

  • Written and directed by Garrett Warren
  • Edited by Dan Liu (he did the sound design too)
  • Produced by me
  • Starring me, Samuel Jaye Paul and Matt Shadden
  • Original score by PARKRow

You might know Dan from my Bond music video post. He’s one of my go-to editors.

In my post, I wrote “RIP” next to Matt’s name. He had passed away. This teaser is one way his work lives on.

What happens in it

It’s a fight. In a parking garage. At night.

Cold blue light. Concrete pillars. A white van.

It opens on a grainy security camera.

Grainy black-and-white security camera view of an empty parking garage with a timecode in the corner The security cam open. Frame from the GLITCH teaser.

Then the guys in tank tops and suspenders show up.

And the hoodie gets to work.

A fighter in a white tank top and suspenders squares up in a dark parking garage Squaring up. Frame from the GLITCH teaser.

The hooded fighter throws a man into the side of a white van in the garage Into the van. Frame from the GLITCH teaser.

Close shot of a muscular fighter in a tank top grappling with the hooded fighter beside the van Close quarters. Frame from the GLITCH teaser.

Fights like this look simple. They’re not.

Every hit is planned. Every fall is rehearsed. The camera has to be in the right spot, or the punch looks fake.

That’s Garrett’s specialty.

The hooded figure stands over two men lying on the garage floor, a white van behind him Last man standing. Frame from the GLITCH teaser.

Watch the whole thing:

GLITCH Teaser Trailer, written and directed by Garrett Warren. Posted January 1, 2021.

In that post I wrote: “Here’s to getting it greenlit in 2021!”

My IMDb bio still lists Glitch as a project in development.

What came next

The teaser was only the start of working with Garrett.

April 1, 2021. I dropped a new action and stunt demo reel. I thanked Garrett first.

August 21, 2021. I did a stunt driving tune-up with @motionpicturedrivingclinic. In my post I thanked Garrett and @unltdvp for hiring me to drive.

Stunt driving tune-up, 14 seconds. From my Aug 21, 2021 X post.

Fun fact: my IMDb trivia says I’m a professional stunt and precision driver, trained by Rick Seaman.

Then came the big one.

Avatar: The Way of Water

December 16, 2022. Avatar: The Way of Water hit theaters.

Garrett was a stunt coordinator and a second unit director on it.

And I’m in the credits too. The American Film Institute listing has me under Utility Stunts.

December 26, 2022. I saw it and posted: “Avatar 2 stunning visuals, worth seeing in IMAX 3D. Thank you @garrettxwarren for the job on it. Was surreal.”

Surreal is the right word. Three years earlier I was posting goals about James Cameron’s company. Now I was working on his movie.

GLITCH in my reel

February 10, 2025. I posted my updated demo reel.

I thanked Ashton Moio and Garrett “for the great scenes.”

The garage fight from GLITCH is in there.

The GLITCH section of my 2025 demo reel. From my Feb 10, 2025 X post.

The short version

  • Dec 24, 2019: Goal posted. Get GLITCH to Lightstorm.
  • Jan 1, 2021: GLITCH teaser drops. Written and directed by Garrett Warren.
  • Apr 1, 2021: New stunt reel. Thanks, Garrett.
  • Aug 21, 2021: Stunt driving tune-up after Garrett hired me to drive.
  • Dec 16, 2022: Avatar: The Way of Water opens. I’m in Utility Stunts.
  • Feb 10, 2025: GLITCH scenes land in my new reel.

One hoodie. One garage. A lot of doors opened.

Thanks, Garrett. Thanks, Dan, Sam and Matt. Let’s get it greenlit.

Sources

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