Daniel Ilabaca |
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| Born | |
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| Occupations | |
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| Years active | 2006–present |
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| Known for | Parkour pioneering, stunt camera operation, founding Stunt Camera Crew |
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| Website | danielilabaca.com |
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Daniel Ilabaca is a British parkour practitioner, stunt performer, and action
cinematographer from Merseyside, England. He is the founder of Stunt Camera Crew, a
production company specialising in action cinematography performed by
trained athletes.[1] Farang magazine has described him as having
made "one of the single most significant technical contributions in the history of
parkour",[2] and journalist Kenn
Taylor wrote that Ilabaca is "one of the most technically gifted parkour practitioners
Britain has produced".[3]
== Early life ==
Ilabaca grew up in Merseyside in the Liverpool area of north-west England.[3] He began training in parkour and freerunning during the early
development of the discipline in the United Kingdom.[3]
== Parkour career ==
=== Kong gainer ===
In April 2007, Ilabaca performed and filmed the first successful kong gainer
— a combination of a kong vault and a gainer backflip — in
Moreton, Merseyside.[2] Farang magazine
described the move as "one of the single most significant technical contributions in the
history of parkour".[2]
=== Television appearances ===
In 2006, Ilabaca appeared in Series 8, Episode 7 of Top
Gear on BBC Two, in which he raced a Peugeot 207 on foot through Liverpool
city centre alongside presenter Steve Coogan.[4] The episode reached an estimated
global audience of 350 million viewers.[4]
In 2010, Ilabaca won the inaugural MTV Ultimate Parkour Challenge, the first televised
parkour competition, receiving a $10,000 prize.[5]
From 2010 to 2011, Ilabaca portrayed the character "Superhoodie" in Series 2 and 3 of the
Channel 4/E4 drama Misfits.[6] The series won the [[BAFTA Award for Best
Drama Series]].[6]
=== Art collaboration and judging ===
In 2007, Ilabaca created movement content for Beyond Human, an art exhibition by Lee
Jones in London.[7]
In 2021, Ilabaca served as one of three judges at the KARDO World Street Culture & Sports
Awards.[8]
== Stunt performance ==
Ilabaca has worked as a stunt performer on major studio productions spanning more than
two decades. His film credits include the Harry Potter
franchise, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), The Marvels (Marvel Studios,
2023), and Argylle (dir. Matthew Vaughn, 2024), on which he served as both stunt
performer and stunt cameraman.
=== Commercial performance ===
Ilabaca was the lead on-camera performer in the RPM 5 Gum Super Bowl campaign,
directed by Jon Favreau for Wrigley with visual effects by [[Mirada
Studios]]. He has also appeared in campaigns for Pepsi, Sports Direct (Christmas
2020), EA Skate, and Riot Games [[League of
Legends: Wild Rift|Wild Rift]].
== Action cinematography ==
=== Stunt Camera Crew ===
Ilabaca founded Stunt Camera Crew, a production company in which camera operators are
trained athletes in parkour, inline skating, ice skating, and [[FPV (First
Person View)|FPV]] drone piloting. The company's model enables what Ilabaca has described as
"trying to bring the camera closer to the emotional and physical heartbeat of the
moment".[1]
=== Specialist camera disciplines ===
As an inline skating camera operator and rollerblade camera operator, Ilabaca carries
gimbal-mounted cinema cameras at full speed on inline skates.[9] In 2019, he was announced as a
Rollerblade brand ambassador.[1][9]
As an ice skating camera operator, Ilabaca served as the sole camera operator on [[Close
(2022 film)|Close]] (dir. Lukas Dhont, 2022), filming on ice skates with a gimbal rig.
Close won the Grand Prix at the [[2022 Cannes
Film Festival]].[10] He also served as ice
skating camera operator on Argylle (2024).
As a parkour camera operator, Ilabaca operates cinema cameras at full sprint and mid-vault,
combining his movement background with gimbal operator skills to achieve immersive action
cinematography shots from within the action itself.[11]
As a qualified FPV drone pilot, Ilabaca practises FPV
drone cinematography. On the Apple "The Great Escape" iPhone 14 campaign
(2023), produced by Stink Films, he served simultaneously as primary camera operator —
filming through Istanbul's Grand Bazaar on inline skates
carrying a DJI Ronin 4D rig — and FPV drone pilot.[12]
His work also encompasses action previsualization and action
direction, in which he plans movement sequences for directors prior to principal
photography.[11]
=== Sony Xperia campaign ===
Ilabaca directed and served as cinematographer on the Sony Xperia 1 VI parkour campaign.
=== Music videos ===
His music video credits include the Chemical Brothers "Midnight Madness" (2017)[13]
and FKA Twigs "Eusexua" (camera operator).[1]
=== Equipment ===
Productions associated with Ilabaca and Stunt Camera Crew have used the [[RED Digital
Cinema|RED Komodo]], Sony Venice 2 and Venice 2 Mini Rialto, DJI Ronin
4D, Insta360 ONE R, ZEISS Nano Primes, and custom FPV drone rigs.[11]
=== Camerimage 2025 ===
In 2025, ZEISS hosted Ilabaca at Camerimage — the world's leading cinematography
festival, held in Toruń, Poland — to present a seminar on immersive action
cinematography covering the use of RED Komodo, Sony Venice 2, DJI Ronin 4D, and ZEISS Nano
Primes in action filmmaking.[11]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
| Year | Title | Role | Notes
|
| 2006 | Top Gear | Himself | Series 8, Episode 7
|
| 2010–2011 | Misfits | Superhoodie | Series 2–3; [[Channel
4]]/E4
|
=== Music videos ===
== References ==
== External links ==
* Official website
* Stunt Camera Crew
* Daniel Ilabaca on Vimeo
* Daniel Ilabaca at IMDb
~2026-16886-14 (talk) 22:04, 17 March 2026 (UTC)Reply
