Independent filmmaking isn’t a hugely smooth process, especially when working on a zero budget. It’s been a lesson well learned for upcoming actor and fight choreo Leroy Nguyen in the years he’s operated online via his indie film banner, Rising Tiger Films – more so following the festival of his latest indie action drama short, Black Scar Blues.
The project is four years in the making with up-and-coming actress Queen Sayat joining Nguyen and Rising Tiger staple Edmond Shum in a story focused two drug runners whose enduring friendship is ultimately tested in the wake of greed, lust and unmitigated ambition. The acting is generally good, but what amplifies it the most is level of intensity drawn from the performances through the script and the intertwining relationship that unfold. I say all this having screened and reviewed the short for myself earlier this year, and I will also add that for a project of this kind, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more layers to explore in this dark and gritty story.
Alas and much to our delight, Film Combat Syndicate can exclusively report that more filming is underway to expand on the narrative and add more scenes to turn Black Scar Blues into a fully-fledged feature. Amid all this, talks have also been in place with North American sales representatives over at Circus Road Films for distribution.
“The film in its current state is about the best I could’ve made it given what I had.” says Nguyen. “I was essentially the only one handling it from 2013 to now, and considering that this has been in production since 2010, that’s a lot of responsibility. That being said, the film is very different from the original concept. Now we have the opportunity to flesh it out even further, and I’m really hoping to tell the story I wanted to tell, and in the way that I wanted to tell it.”
The news comes following its final festival entry two months ago at the Action On Film Festival in Monrovia, California and a deal is not in place as of yet while filming resumes. At any rate, after about a year of running through festivals with a sleeve of laurels to its credit, it’s high time Rising Tiger Films gained some headway with its first feature film, marking another foray into feature film territory for a small film company cultivated in online martial arts fandom.
Nguyen and select members of his group will be attending the Urban Action Showcase & Expo in New York City on the weekend of November 7 to host some more of their work, and with any luck, I’ll be there to meet them later in the evening to get some further insight.
Stay tuned for more info!