Board of Directors
January 2019 - January 2021
Officers
Chair | Spencer Humm
Spencer has made a living with a sword in his hand for more than twenty five years and has performed over 10,000 live swordfights at festivals and theatres worldwide. He's a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and has taught stage combat at universities and professional training programs all over North America. In 2017, he enjoyed supporting a Marvel production as part of their choreography development team, standing in for Iron Man. Spencer is an expert with the bullwhip and is a lifelong martial artist. He studies close combat with Russian Special Ops unit instructors and boxes competitively, training out of a UFC Gym. An adrenaline junkie, Spencer has appeared as a skydiver, in an energy drink commercial. A founding member of the International Order of the Sword and Pen, he was honored in 2011 with the IOSP with the “Patrick Crean Award”.
Secretary | Samantha Egle
Samantha Egle is a movement director and instructor specializing in dramatic combat and intimate action. Samantha has been training and working as a fight director since 2009 and has more recently expanded her movement direction work to include intimacy for the stage. She is a certified Pilates instructor and the owner of Humble Warrior Movement Arts LLC through which she teaches Pilates and hosts theatrical movement workshops in the American rocky mountain region. Her work focuses on building consent, facilitating communication and developing heightened and affecting moments of physical storytelling on stage. She received her Bachelors of Science from Northwestern University where she studied theatre and creative writing for the media. She has trained and received certifications in dramatic combat with the Society of American Fight Directors, Fight Directors Canada, the Society of Australian Fight Directors Inc., the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat as well as the Nordic Stage Fight Society. She is the current regional representative for the Rocky Mountain Region within the Society of American Fight Directors. She is currently pursuing training with Intimacy Directors International. She has taught at Northwestern University, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver School of the Arts and the University of Denver. In addition to her work as a movement specialist, Samantha additionally works as a house and theatre services manager at the Denver Center for the Performing arts. She has also worked as a stage and events manager and copy editor.
Treasurer| Daniel Ford Bevis
Daniel has been a professional stunt performer since 1996. Over the years Daniel has worked on dozens of productions, from stage to television to film. His credits include dodging flaming reindeer in Just Friends, getting tackled through glass over a cliff in Android Apocalypse, and coordinated episodes of the Canadian series, Rabbit Fall, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Moccasin Flat, Renegadepress.com and Insecurity. Stunts has been a passion of Daniel for many years, but his true calling is teaching. He has taught at the University of Saskatchewan, The Banff Centre, the International Stunt School as well as a variety of workshops in Montreal, Los Angeles, Atlanta among others. Daniel has literally lit hundreds of stunt performers on fire, made students do thousands of high falls, helped administer untold numbers of face punches and groin kicks, engineered numerous stabs with knives and swords, and kept every one of them safe as they did it. Daniel has recently coordinated the upcoming movies: a psychological thriller Chained, a zombie movie 13 Eerie, an action thriller Ferocious, and a vampire movie called Rufus. Check online for his work on the werewolf series, “Lupine Life.”
Directors
Board Member | Bryce Bermingham
Bryce was a ranked tournament free style martial artist growing up and combined that passion with dramatic art to stimulate a long career in film and theatre. While acquiring a BFA and MFA in musical theatre Bryce found time to attend stage combat workshops and even teach and train in the UK, spending 6 months based out of the Welsh College of Music and Drama. Bryce became a fight director with Fight Directors, Canada in 1998 and has since fought and danced his way around North America and the UK. As an actor he toured with the Broadway National Tour of Cats, has performed in 6 companies of Beauty and the Beast and was part of the original workshop production of Snow White for Disney Entertainment in California. As a fight director he has choreographed the violence for musicals such as a national tour of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Beauty and the Beast, and George Stiles The Three Musketeers and well as dozens of Shakespeare and modern theatre works. Bryce recently was the stunt coordinator for The House that Jack Built which premiered at the LA Film Festival, an HBO airing and recently at the Queens International Film Festival winning Audience Favorite and Best Director honors. He can also be seen on 6 book covers as a well-armed assassin of the David Dalglish’s Shadowdance series. Bryce began working with the Paddy Crean workshop in 2000 and has been a workshop coordinator and instructor since 2003. See his website: www.ludio.com.
Board Member| Scott Brown
Scott Brown travels to study, train, and teach extensively with the world’s foremost researchers and practitioners in order to bring the highest level of instruction to the U.S. He is a 25 year veteran of the martial arts that has taught and trained in France, Germany, Hungary, the U.K., Japan, Canada and the U.S.A. Scott holds certificates of rank for Japanese, Philippine and Modern martial arts systems. Studying historical martial arts since around the turn of the century, Scott now focuses his efforts to help revive the European traditions through diligent, practical, hands-on study with top historical specialists, researchers, and practitioners. He currently instructs a full curriculum based on the “Priests” system as depicted in the 13th century text known as R.A. MS. I.33., as well as German longsword principles via the Liechtenauer traditions and falchion according to Lecküchner.
Board Member| Meghan Cooke
Originally trained as a dancer, Meghan studied musical theatre at Sheridan College (Canada), drama at the Guildhall School (England), and trained with Fight Directors Canada and the United Stuntmen’s Association. Meghan is a two-time recipient of Alberta Foundation for the Arts grants for studies in stage combat, and she holds a B.A. from Western University (Canada). She has worked professionally as a stuntwoman, musical theatre performer, fight consultant, choreographer for film and stage, and competed in fitness at a national level. With a focus on communicating through movement, Meghan coaches stunt and dramatic fight skills at workshops and schools. She has served on the Board of Directors of several Canadian arts organizations including London Musical Theatre and Fight Directors Canada, as well as working in fund development for The Banff Centre and as an Artistic Assistant at Alberta Ballet. While remaining involved in performing arts, in recent years Meghan has trained and now works as a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and wellness coach, teaching at-risk communities near her Vancouver home about the importance of health, nutrition and well-being.
Board Member| Simon Manns
Simon has over 25 years of experience working with stage and film as a professional. He has toured Sweden more times than he can remember, and his talents has taken him North America, Africa, the greater part of Europe and New Zealand, but he has primarily worked in Sweden and Scandinavia. The work Simon has done is mostly on stage as an actor and performer, but he has also directed and choreographed several performances. Simons professional career started in the Show/Theatre group Ung utan Pung primarily in Sweden and he has now more than 2500 played performances in his luggage since his professional start 1994/1995. Simon has worked with some of the biggest names in Swedish theatre and film. In front of the camera, Simon has appeared in numerous films, short films and series, where for an unknown reason, several has won prices. When Simon doesn’t work as an actor, stunt performer or fight director, he teaches stage arts at various schools and institutions. Simon is also a Honourary Fight Director for Fight Directors Canada and was the chairperson for NSFS (Nordic Stage Fight Society) 2014-2017. Currently, Simon is getting his Bachelor’s in Arts Management in NZ and is at the same time creating a new fight society for NZ called Aotearoa Fight Directors.
Board Member| Nicholas Oddson
Nick Oddson has been involved with the IOSP and it’s founders (Brad, Lloyd, and Pops) since early days more than 2 decades ago. Originally connected into the Paddy Crean workshop by John Brogan and Paddy himself - it set the course for him attain performer certifications with Fight Directors Canada, eventually becoming a certified teacher with FDC. Nick has been involved as a movement coach, fight choreographer and fight director with upwards of 100 different shows with community theatres throughout Southwestern Ontario.
Board Member| Rick Skene
Rick Skene has worked extensively in the film/television industry for over 30 years. He is the leading Stunt Coordinator/Action Sequence Director in central Canada with over 200 feature film and series credits. His expertise covers a wide range of stunt work, including car stunts, body burns, wire-work, ratchets, air rams, high falls, fight choreography etc. He is a highly respected stunt driver and works frequently in this capacity designing and executing major chase/crash sequences. Rick often works as director/second unit director planning the shots and directing the filming of stunt and fight sequences. In addition, Rick has an extensive acting resume which includes playing the serial killer lead in Steven C. Miller’s feature film reboot of the horror classic Silent Night. Rick recently directed The Last Ride, a documentary short produced for Bravo Channel. It was admitted into the prestigious 2017 Edmonton International Film Festival where it won Best Canadian Documentary Short.
Board Member | Carrie Thiel
Carrie received her BFA in acting from the University of Alberta in 1997, and shortly thereafter started specializing in staged combat and stunt work. She has worked as a stunt double, fight choreographer, staged combat instructor and performance director in Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Her work has spanned theatre, ballet, opera, film, television and video games. Along the way she has had the great pleasure and fortune of training and working with talented fight masters from around the globe, including the late Patrick Crean and the late Bob Anderson. Carrie enjoys working with directors, actors, dancers, stunt and movement specialists as well as animators and vfx companies, and has contributed combat action to various theatre and film projects including The Royal New Zealand Ballet and Alberta Ballet productions of Romeo and Juliet, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns and Oliver Stone’s Alexander the Great. She currently resides in Wellington, New Zealand, where she maintains her chief executive role as ’mom’. She also teaches the art of acting for digital effects at various universities and film schools, and offers workshops worldwide that focus on performance (motion) capture with a strong emphasis on creature and non-human movement.