Eric J. Foerster is an American stuntman, film director, second unit director, and actor most known for his collaborations with Tom Dey, Breck Eisner, and Brian Levant.

Career

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In 1993, Foerster started his second unit directing career on Patrick Hasburgh's Aspen Extreme. In a 2021 interview, Hasburgh credits Foerster with shooting Doug Coombs, saying "Doug Coombs. I mean, fuck, Doug Coombs. It was done with movie magic, but boy did that work as a piece of film. I have to give credit to E.J. Foerster [second unit director]; he shot that part. Even to this day, that film captures Doug."[1]

His next credit as second-unit director is James Cameron's 1994 film True Lies, with him taking over the big chase scene. According to cinematographer Russell Carpenter, Foerster and the second unit continued work on the scene after Cameron and the rest of the first unit crew left to shoot more scenes. "We shot a lot of the sequence at Boreal, a ski resort near Lake Tahoe, and the rest at Donner Pass, in California... The first unit spent three or four days there, and the second unit, led by director E.J. Foerster and cinematographer Shelly Johnson, spent about five more days. While the first unit was off shooting other scenes, the second unit blocked in the lighting for all four quadrants. Fill light was usually just bounced off the snow. Our thinking was, 'We've got the world's biggest bounce cards right here/ so we would fill by bouncing a conventional HMI into the snow."[2]

Foerster joined the Rhythm & Hues Commercial Studios in early 2009.[3]

In 2023, Foerster made his directorial debut with the father-daughter coming-of-age comedy-drama film Gringa, starring Steve Zahn.[4]

The films Foerster has directed second unit on include The Chronicles of Riddick, Year One, Snow Dogs, Vice, Godzilla, Tropic Thunder, Sahara, The Crazies, and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.[5]

Filmography

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Year Title Stunts Second unit director Director
1993 Aspen Extreme No Yes Patrick Hasburgh
1994 True Lies No Yes James Cameron
1996 Alaska No Yes Fraser Clarke Heston
1997 Private Parts No Yes Betty Thomas
Out to Sea No Yes Martha Coolidge
Kundun No Yes Martin Scorsese
1998 Deep Impact No Yes Mimi Leder
The X-Files No Yes Rob Bowman
Patch Adams No Yes Tom Shadyac
1999 The 13th Warrior No Yes John McTiernan
2000 Shanghai Noon No Yes Tom Dey
2002 Snow Dogs No Yes Brian Levant
Showtime No Yes Tom Dey
2003 Shanghai Knights No Yes David Dobkin
The Rundown No Yes Peter Berg
Dreamcatcher No Yes Lawrence Kasdan
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick No Yes David Twohy
2005 Sahara No Yes Breck Eisner
2006 The Shaggy Dog No Yes Brian Robbins
Charlotte's Web No Yes Gary Winick
Eragon No Yes Stefen Fangmeier
2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer No Yes Tim Story
2008 Tropic Thunder No Yes Ben Stiller
The X-Files: I Want to Believe No Yes Chris Carter
2009 Year One No Yes Harold Ramis
2010 The Crazies Yes Yes Breck Eisner
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse No Yes David Slade
2011 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 No Yes Bill Condon
2012 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 No Yes
2013 Carrie No Yes Kimberly Peirce
2014 Godzilla No Yes Gareth Edwards
2015 Hot Pursuit Yes Yes Anne Fletcher
2016 Office Christmas Party No Yes Will Speck and Josh Gordon
2017 Max 2: White House Hero No Yes Brian Levant
Snatched No Yes Jonathan Levine
The Greatest Showman No Yes Michael Gracey
2018 Vice Yes Yes Adam McKay
Death Wish Yes Yes Eli Roth
2023 Murder Mystery 2 Yes Yes Jeremy Garelick

References

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  1. ^ "The Writer of 'Aspen Extreme' Had an Entirely Different Movie in Mind". Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "The American Society of Cinematographers - True Lies Tests Cinema's Limits". Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "Rhythm+Hues Adds Director E.J. Foerster". Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  4. ^ "Steve Zahn Escapes "Planet of the Apes" for "Gringa"". Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "E.J. Foerster". Retrieved October 29, 2024.