Actress Maria Tran took to social media on Sunday to announce pre-production on upcoming psychological action thriller, Echo 8. Tran will star and make her feature directorial debut, as well as head a cast that also includes local actors Takashi Hara and David Vuong.
Echo 8 centers on a highly trained assassin who finds herself in a strange house with no memories of how she got there, in the wake of a specialized mission gone awry; Think: Jaume Collet-Serra’s Unknown by way of Renny Harlin’s The Long Kiss Goodnight. Script is currently in the last stages of development with screenwriter Elizabeth H. Vu (Mr. Ghost, The Perception) finalizing the latest draft.
The self-funded project hails from Tran’s Phoenix Eye banner where she and cohorts Therese Chen and Nancy Trieu have been working on their film slate with a number of titles, in addition to journeying between locations to share in the exploits of other actors and directors through interviews for their own fans and online viewers.
Chen reportedly pitched this project to Greenlight Network over in New South Wales this weekend and the project came second place. She will serve as producer with Compton School’s David Court, and fellow Phoenix Eye cohort Nancy Trieu on board as art director and co-director of photography.
“David is a producer and a pioneer of new creative business practice who has much experience to share about the Greenlight process.” says Tran of Court, who himself serves as Executive Director for Compton School in Australia.
Echo 8 lands on the fast track for Tran and her team on Phoenix Eye who are also in production on upcoming globe-trotting female stunt documentary, Femme Fatales: Seen & Unheard, as well as a feature adaptation of her award-winning 2013 action comedy short, Hit Girls, and nostalgic, 80s-tethered Hong Kong action vehicle, Tiger Cop.
Some of Tran’s credits further include Roger Corman-produced thriller Fist Of The Dragon and Cuong Ngo’s Tracer. She also stars and directs drama mini-series, Breathless, in which Hara also appears; Hara is also expected to be seen in upcoming Bengali actioner, Opernation Agneepath in December.
Echo 8 will also mark a significant milestone for action actor Vuong who first landed on this site’s radar in 2014 as the ultimate ninja assassin in Sam Gosper’s currently-shelved “Circle Of Ninja” concept proof, Hunt For Hiroshi. His presence of late can now be seen via stunt practice clips of his own via Silver Harvest on YouTube.