How Michael Bay Made His Death-Defying Parkour Documentary ‘We Are Storror’: ‘I Could Not Condone Anything They Were Doing’

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Michael Bay had a big problem. 

In the peak of COVID-19 in the year 2020, he received a text message from Drew Taylor, who is part of Storror – a renowned seven-member U.K. parkour team whose daring stunts filmed across rooftops from London to Hong Kong have garnered over 3 billion views on YouTube since 2010. Due to their global fame, Bay had employed Storror for his 2020 action movie “6 Underground”, and now Taylor was proposing a documentary about their lives, asking Bay’s opinion on it.

The concept was incredibly compelling, Bay explained to EbMaster. “Picture yourself as a basketball player in the NBA, where every shot you take, you must make them all,” Bay said. “Or imagine being a professional baseball player who has to hit every ball – if you fail, it’s game over. That’s how they play at that level.” Bay didn’t just admire Storror for their incredible athleticism, but also for the artistic elegance of their stunts and the way they’ve captured it on camera. “It’s an art form,” he stated.

However, the high-risk nature of that art form left Bay in a challenging position. He intuitively understood the dramatic potential of portraying these seven friends, who had begun their journey as suburban London teens merely playing around, often teetering on the edge of destruction.

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The risky essence of this art form put Bay in a difficult spot. He felt instinctively that capturing the story of these seven friends – who started off as typical adolescent teenagers in suburban London and frequently found themselves in precarious situations – would be cinematically powerful.

Taylor points out that one of the reasons our work is attractive is its absence of safety measures and need for permissions. He emphasizes that this approach is inherent to what we do; if we were to use safety equipment, we would essentially become stunt performers. However, Storror is about authenticity, not pretense.

As a member of the Directors Guild of America, Bay had the responsibility to make sure that any production he directed carried minimal risks.

Bay expresses that he wouldn’t approve of their actions, stating, “I couldn’t support what they were up to.” He also clarifies that he wouldn’t be present on the set or involved in their filming process. In addition, he emphasizes that he doesn’t want to be the one who encourages an athlete to take a risk, even for a small fraction of a second or millimeter. He recalls instances where stuntmen have taken unnecessary risks to impress the camera, and he doesn’t want any part in creating such pressure on them. Overall, he feels it wouldn’t be ethical or comfortable for him to participate in such activities.

As a passionate cinephile, I’ve always been meticulous about my projects, and this documentary was no exception. For years, my legal team and I have worked tirelessly to find a method that would allow me to direct the film without physically being part of its production process. My primary concern was ensuring everyone’s safety before diving in. So, I stayed detached, refraining from involvement until we could guarantee a secure environment for all involved parties.

“He once said to me, ‘This deal was harder to pull off than “Transformers,”’” Taylor says.

After much effort, Bay and his Storror team finally found a solution, and this evening, Bay will unveil “We Are Storror” – his first feature documentary – at the SXSW Film & TV Festival for the very first time. Speaking with EbMaster, who watched the film ahead of the festival at Bay’s Bel-Air residence, the director was brimming with curiosity to learn how the movie was being received, as the SXSW premiere – which Bay views as a work-in-progress screening – will be his first time watching it with an audience.

He expresses that this film is complete and he hopes it will be moving. However, we’ll have to wait and see what the audience thinks about it.

The group known as Storror, made up of four sets of brothers and three additional members like Taylor, could serve exceptionally well as characters in a Michael Bay movie (since his first non-fiction work, the Max series “Born Evil: The Serial Killer and the Savior” debuted in 2024). Their daredevil stunts – such as scaling a construction crane during the midnight hour to observe a London fireworks display, jumping from perilous cliff edges into turbulent seas, or sneaking past authorities while traversing skyscraper rooftops – mirror the high-risk actions often featured in Bay’s films. However, what particularly fascinated Bay was not just their death-defying feats but rather understanding what compels them to engage in such risks.

Bay emphasizes that we must comprehend the reasons for your actions since they involve life and death. As a director, I’m more interested in the feelings driving the situation.

However, as Bay was unable to join the set or communicate with the crew during filming, he issued a straightforward instruction: Film everything.

Taylor explains, “We maintain a tight grip on our online persona.” She continues, “The documentary starts where we would typically end filming. It’s those moments we wouldn’t normally capture on camera, which I’m discovering is what truly captivates audiences. This encompasses the countless hours of preparation our team puts in before each stunt, from meticulously mapping out routes to ensuring our footing is secure by removing any excess debris.

Following Bay’s guidance, along with his clear disclaimer that he wasn’t endorsing or aware of their actions, the team started creating a sequence of striking stunts in various European locales. These included an abandoned housing estate in Bulgaria and the Maltese rooftops, where they claim their camaraderie as a team initially solidified.

In this gripping cinematic experience, I found myself drawn to the film’s initial setting – a hair-raising, spiral staircase nestled against a towering dam in Portugal. Here, a fellow adventurer met with an unimaginable tragedy, an event caught on camera, serving as a stark reminder of the true danger that lies within Storror’s death-defying stunts.

Taylor expresses that parkour significantly altered our connection with the sport, as well as our perception of risk. He explains, “As kids learning parkour, we’d often tell others it was completely safe because we trained so extensively, but in reality, it was risky for many. This is a form of misguided self-assurance; you can never control every factor.” (Bay mentions that he was completely detached from the project, only learning about the accident after Storror finished filming and shared all their footage with him.)

The documentary ‘We Are Storror’ portrays various group members, now in their 30s, dealing with the aftermath of the incident in Portugal. Some grow more passionate about parkour, while others start to ponder if they wish to carry on at all. Bay employs countless hours of video footage recorded for their YouTube channel to juxtapose their current doubts against the carefree bravery of their youth.

Taylor remarks, ‘This project has been incredibly emotional for everyone involved due to a significant factor.’ He suggests, ‘It’s quite clear that this is more like a farewell performance or an epilogue. We’ll continue producing videos, but I believe that this project signifies the conclusion of the chapter where Storror was pioneering athletes exploring the sport’s physical limits.’

One thing Taylor is certain will always persist is the camaraderie shared among the seven members of Storror. For instance, he explains that the deep-rooted fear of heights in humans lessens significantly when he’s alongside his team.

He remarks, ‘It’s almost like a clever illusion.’ I believe it’s the unusual energy and self-assurance we all share that makes this possible. When we’re up on a rooftop preparing for these jumps, it’s enjoyable. It’s a great time.

Despite that sensation not seeming to be shared by Bay, they endured several months sifting through some of Storror’s thrilling videos. “I’m afraid of heights,” Bay chuckles, “and I still feel queasy just re-watching it!

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2025-03-08 20:53