Taurus World Stunt Awards

Overview

The Taurus World Stunt Awards are the only annual ceremony dedicated exclusively to stunt work in feature films. Founded in 2001 by Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire behind Red Bull, the awards recognize stunt performers, coordinators, and 2nd unit directors across 9 competitive categories plus a Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony takes place in Los Angeles and draws stunt professionals from around the world.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on April 10, 2025, that it will introduce the Achievement Award for Stunt Design at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028, honoring films released in 2027. Until that category exists, the Taurus Awards remain the highest-profile dedicated recognition for stunt work in the film industry. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards added stunt ensemble categories in 2008, but those awards honor overall ensemble work rather than individual stunt achievements.

The full Taurus World Stunt Awards rules and category definitions are published on the official website.

Eligibility and Submission Rules

Submissions are open to credited stunt professionals who performed or coordinated stunts appearing in a film's final cut. Each category recognizes up to 5 individuals. A Blue Ribbon Committee, comprised of leading stunt professionals and community members, reviews all submissions, verifies eligibility, and resolves disputes. The committee also nominates and selects the annual Lifetime Achievement Award recipients.

Category-specific eligibility rules define what qualifies for each award. Best Fight covers fights with or without weapons, including street fighting, boxing, wrestling, and martial arts. Best High Work covers jumps, falls, dives, descenders, and other stunts performed on or near bridges, buildings, and terrain, but skydiving is not eligible in this category. Best Work with a Vehicle covers driving stunts involving any vehicle type, including crashes, chases, turnovers, ramp jumps, and dragging. Best Specialty Stunt covers work not encompassed by other categories, including water work, animal work, aircraft work, parkour, gymnastics, fire, and explosives. Best Stunt Rigging recognizes the technical rigging of stunts, including descenders, ratchets, and rigging equipment, and goes to the top 5 riggers responsible for a sequence, not stunt performers. Hardest Hit covers being hit by, thrown into, or landing on an object, whether staged or practical.

Key Categories

• Best Stunt Coordination and/or 2nd Unit Direction - awarded to the Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director for best overall stunt coordination across an entire motion picture
• Best Fight - for the principal stunt performer in fight choreography
• Best High Work - for the stunt performer in high-fall, jump, or descent stunts
• Best Work with a Vehicle - for the principal stunt performer and/or driver in vehicle stunts
• Best Specialty Stunt - for water, animal, aircraft, fire, explosive, or parkour stunts
• Best Stunt Rigging - for the top 5 riggers responsible for a sequence's technical rigging
• Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman - for the best overall stunt performed by a female stunt performer
• Hardest Hit - for the stunt performer taking the impact hit
• Lifetime Achievement Award - selected by the Blue Ribbon Committee

History

Dietrich Mateschitz created the Taurus World Stunt Awards in 2001 to fill a gap in the awards landscape. The Academy Awards have never included a stunt category, despite decades of advocacy from the stunt community. The Taurus Awards were established to give stunt professionals peer-recognized validation for work that audiences experience as seamless entertainment but that carries genuine physical risk.

The award statue, sculpted by Rainer Mordmuller, is a figure in the form of a winged bull, reflecting the Taurus name and the Red Bull connection. The first ceremony took place in 2001, and the awards have been presented annually since.

Past honorees include stunt coordinators and performers from the Mission: Impossible, John Wick, Mad Max, Marvel Cinematic Universe, and James Bond franchises. The 2024 ceremony recognized Extraction 2 for Best Stunt Coordination, John Wick Chapter 4 for Best Fight and Hardest Hit, and Fast X for Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman. The 2025 ceremony awarded The Fall Guy for Best Stunt Coordination, Best High Work, and Best Work with a Vehicle, while Deadpool and Wolverine won Best Fight and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga won Best Stunt Rigging.

Recent Results (2025 Ceremony)

• Best Stunt Coordination and/or 2nd Unit Director: The Fall Guy
• Best Fight: Deadpool and Wolverine
• Best High Work: The Fall Guy
• Best Work with a Vehicle: The Fall Guy
• Best Stunt Rigging: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Best Specialty Stunt: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
• Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman: The First Omen
• Hardest Hit: The Killer's Game

Business Impact for Filmmakers

For stunt performers and coordinators, a Taurus Award is the highest peer recognition available in their discipline. The discipline-specific categories mean that riggers, fight performers, vehicle specialists, and high-fall artists each receive direct recognition for their particular craft, rather than competing against each other in a single catch-all category.

For directors and producers, Taurus nominations and wins identify the stunt professionals whose work the stunt community itself considers the best in the field. A coordinator with multiple Taurus nominations commands higher day rates and is sought after for major franchise productions. The awards ceremony also functions as a networking event for the stunt community, connecting coordinators with productions seeking action talent.

The announcement of the Academy's Achievement Award for Stunt Design, first to be presented in 2028, will change the landscape for stunt recognition. The Taurus Awards' 25-year head start in evaluating stunt work category by category means its winner database will likely serve as a reference point as the Academy establishes its own evaluation criteria.

Past Winners and What They Won With

The 2025 ceremony awarded The Fall Guy for Best Stunt Coordination, Best High Work, and Best Work with a Vehicle, while Deadpool and Wolverine won Best Fight, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga won Best Stunt Rigging, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F won Best Specialty Stunt, The First Omen won Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman, and The Killer's Game won Hardest Hit. The 2024 ceremony recognized Extraction 2 for Best Stunt Coordination, John Wick Chapter 4 for Best Fight and Hardest Hit, and Fast X for Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman. Past honorees include stunt coordinators and performers from the Mission: Impossible, John Wick, Mad Max, Marvel Cinematic Universe, and James Bond franchises. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on April 10, 2025, that it will introduce the Achievement Award for Stunt Design at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028, honoring films released in 2027.

Eligibility Quirks That Trip People Up

Submissions are open to credited stunt professionals who performed or coordinated stunts appearing in a film's final cut. Each category recognizes up to 5 individuals. A Blue Ribbon Committee, comprised of leading stunt professionals and community members, reviews all submissions, verifies eligibility, and resolves disputes. Best Fight covers fights with or without weapons, including street fighting, boxing, wrestling, and martial arts. Best High Work covers jumps, falls, dives, descenders, and other stunts performed on or near bridges, buildings, and terrain, but skydiving is not eligible in this category. Best Work with a Vehicle covers driving stunts involving any vehicle type, including crashes, chases, turnovers, ramp jumps, and dragging. Best Specialty Stunt covers water work, animal work, aircraft work, parkour, gymnastics, fire, and explosives. Best Stunt Rigging goes to the top 5 riggers responsible for a sequence, not stunt performers. Hardest Hit covers being hit by, thrown into, or landing on an object, whether staged or practical.

Prestige Tier

The Taurus World Stunt Awards are the only annual ceremony dedicated exclusively to stunt work in feature films. Founded in 2001 by Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire behind Red Bull, the awards recognize stunt performers, coordinators, and 2nd unit directors across 9 competitive categories plus a Lifetime Achievement Award. Until the Academy's Achievement Award for Stunt Design is introduced in 2028, the Taurus Awards remain the highest-profile dedicated recognition for stunt work in the film industry. The SAG Awards added stunt ensemble categories in 2008, but those honor overall ensemble work rather than individual stunt achievements. The award statue, sculpted by Rainer Mordmuller, is a figure in the form of a winged bull, reflecting the Taurus name and the Red Bull connection.

Watch

See Also

For understanding how action sequences affect production budgets and schedules, see Budget Breakdown for Independent Films. To model production costs including stunt coordination line items, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator. For evaluating the cost of practical stunt work against CGI alternatives, use the Storage and Footage Calculator.