The remainder of his military duty was as crew on high speed PT type air-sea rescue boats.?After the war, Jack worked as a commercial fisherman and paid crew on yachts.?In?December 1947, he married Joan Burger. Shortly thereafter, while living aboard their schooner, he enrolled at University of Southern California where at the new Department of Cinema Studies he fell to the teaching gift of department head, Slavko Vorkapitch. Jack collaborated with two fellow students, Conrad Hall and Marvin Weinstein, in a class project that won the first (now annual) ASC student film award and sold to TV. High with this success, the partners formed a production company and became entrepreneurs while still university students.?
With his mixed abilities as a naturalist and film maker, Jack joined Walt Disney Studios as a cameraman on the early True Life Adventure, series. One of the great experiences of his early career was a Disney assignment in what was then one of the most remote and least-visited spots on earth. Jack and Conrad and a helper sailed a 28 foot ketch to the Galåpagos Islands where they lived off the land and filmed wildlife for nearly a year.
Jack’s son Michael, now a biological consultant, was born in 1962. Jack worked at Disney for more than ten years in a variety of functions and participated there in the making of more than two dozen movies. Since then, he has worked on TV and feature films for many of Hollywood's production companies and independents. He has published twelve books of both fiction and non-fiction.?His filming travels took him to Africa where he fell in love with the country and a lady at the same time. He lived in Kenya for 32 years and Marchesa Sieuwke Bisleti was his companion until her death in February 2005.?Jack is now sharing his life in California with retired actress Jean Allison who was the ingénue in the first feature film he shot.??
Anonymous
Posted November 18, 2010
Review by Leonard Maltin
The author of this colorful memoir may not be a household name, but he's been involved in everything from Walt Disney's The Living Desert to Out of Africa, from Disney animal movies like The Incredible Journey to Never Cry Wolf.and he has great stories to tell.
Couffer was a naturalist and a seaman before he ever thought of looking through a viewfinder. It was only by chance, when he attended USC on the G.I. bill after World War Two, that he became friendly with a fellow student named Conrad Hall, who persuaded him to try a cinema class. He fell under the spell of the celebrated montage-maker and teacher Slavko Vorkapich, and before long, he, Hall, and another newcomer were filmmaking partners. Couffer's tales of trying to break into the business-and how the three hungry newcomers bent and broke rules to do so in the 1950s-are evocative and still instructive today. How the trio made its first dramatic feature (Running Target) on location, with very little money and not-always-cooperative actors, could still be used as a textbook on indie filmmaking.
Eventually he shot some macro-footage of insects, which got his foot in the door at the Disney studio and his first assignment. He and Hall, who shared his adventurous spirit and love of the outdoors, spent almost a year living in the Galapagos Islands, for starters, filming wildlife that had never been put on film before. He continued working for the company on a freelance basis well into the 1960s, and reveals fascinating details about how some of the remarkable animal footage for films like Nikki, Wild Dog of the North, The Legend of Lobo, and The Incredible Journey was accomplished. He also spills the beans about Disney's not-so-generous attitude toward freelancers, and how-after push came to shove-he got the last laugh.
Couffer isn't bitter, however; he seems to be a pragmatist, and realizes how fortunate he was to do something he genuinely loved and get paid for it. He also has kind words for Walt himself, and marvels at the fact that whenever he chanced to run into the boss, he always knew exactly what Couffer was working on at the time and had a ready supply of questions.
His other far-reaching adventures crisscross the globe and provide insights into the process of working in remote locales, with all sorts of wild creatures, and always coming home with Hollywood-grade material. For some of the animal films-or second-unit work involving animals-preparation work might begin a year ahead of time, raising anything from an eagle to a lion to be able to work in front of a camera. Couffer occasionally got to work with humans, as well, as director of such films as Ring of Bright Water and Living Free. Over the years he became a good writer, which is evidenced by this absorbing, highly readable autobiography.
Some of his funniest stories involve disastrous shoots like Sheena (1984), for which Couffer shot second-unit action under the direction of John Guillermin, who functioned best in an atmosphere of chaos. Another second-unit shoot, for Sydney Pollack on Out of Africa, reveals the darker side of the movie business, where personality clashes take precedence over getting good results on screen.
Ron-CdM
Posted June 27, 2010
A very personal account of a naturalist's long history in world class photographing, writing & producing inspiring animal action movies.
How anyone can continue to enjoy their work year after year while constantly getting shafted by the movie studios is remarkable.
Overview