MADE IN CHINATOWN: Robert Samuels (H.K.S.A.) Antes Up As Co-Director For The New Martial Arts Mobster Comedy
Tambili Films is producing with R4 Films’ own Samuels and partner Robert Jefferson. Cameras are expected to roll on June 30.
alfred hsing
Martial Arts Mob Comedy MADE IN CHINATOWN Sets Art Camacho To Helm Alfred Hsing Debut
Changes are in the midst for upcoming New York City-set martial arts mobster comedy, Made In Chinatown following last week’s exclusive report. Acclaimed filmmaker, stunt multi-hyphenate and author Art Camacho (Half Past Dead 2, Assassin X, Confessions Of A Pit Fighter) is being tapped to direct the new pic which rolls cameras in June.
Stuntman, world-class wushu stylist and champion Gold medalist, actor Alfred Hsing will make his starring debut from a script by executive producer and author Mark V. Wiley. Mingling tropes from various memorable hit films like Kung Fu Hustle, Analyze This, Micky Blue Eyes and Big Trouble In Little China, Made In Chinatown centers on Vinny, a Chinatown resident who, with the help of his sifu and a select few good friends, works to assimilate himself into the Italian mob lifestyle and gain top-tier status whilst in pursuit of the girl of his dreams.
Dubbed as “The Fight Master” in the 90s among a multitude of other accomplishments, Camacho has well over three decades to his name in stunts for television and film, shared with a line-up of action star favorites like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Ted Jan Roberts, Olivia Grunner, Steven Seagal and Gary Daniels. Next to earning knighthood by the Sacred Order of Saint Michael Arch Angel, his acclaim is recognized by Action On Film International Film Festival, the Hollywood Motion Picture Counsel and the World Martial Arts Association.
Camacho debuted in 2017 with his biography, “Art Camacho: A Filmmaker’s Journey”, which he parented with Martial Arts History Museum curator and Dragonfest event host, Michael Matsuda. He recently served on the fight and stunt action for R. Ellis Frazier’s latest Gary Daniels thriller, Repeater which is currently in production.
Hsing’s recent credits include Ready Player One, Ip Man 3, Birth Of The Dragon and Europe Raiders. His decade-plus career on both ends of the lens shares DNA with the likes of Yuen Woo-Ping, Corey Yuen, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Phillip Ng, Simon Yam, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Orlando Bloom, and directors Phillip Rhee and Steven Spielberg.
Rounding out the extensive cast are Michelle Procida, The Sopranos series vets Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore and Maureen Van Zandt, Goodfellas and upcoming Brawler co-stars Tony Darrow and Artie Pasquale and celebrated action film notables such as Shaw Bros. legend and Ip Man franchise co-star Lo Meng, Emmy Award-winning action director James Lew (Marvel’s Luke Cage, Big Trouble In Little China, Timecop, The Perfect Weapon), Hwang Jang Lee (Drunken Master, Magnificent Warriors, No Retreat, No Surrender II: Raging Thunder) and Robert Samuels (H.K.S.A.) (Red Wolf, Mou Man Tai), as well as Eric Kovaleski and Chuck Zito (The Martial Arts Kid), Shuya Chang (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Snakehead, Revenge of the Green Dragons) and Grandmasters Norman Chin and Wai Hong to name a few.
Production hails from Tambuli Films in association with R4 Films L.L.C.’s own Samuels and partner Robert Jefferson.
MADE IN CHINATOWN: Alfred Hsing To Debut In NYC-Set Martial Arts Gangster Comedy
EXCLUSIVE: Updates are slowly but surely forthcoming as production approaches for martial arts gangster comedy, Made In Chinatown with most of the cast locked for the film’s June 30 start. Casting the lead, however, has been a different tale with a talent search that spanned as far as Malaysia to date.
As of Wednesday this week, I can confirm that actor and martial artist Alfred Hsing will make his lead debut. Suza Singh (Future Shift, Replecan) is directing as well as producing with a script by executive producer and author Mark V. Wiley. Hsing is a versatile wushu stylist with a number of champion wins and tournament activity around the world. His decade-plus career on both ends of the camera shares DNA with the likes of Yuen Woo-Ping, Corey Yuen, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Phillip Ng, Simon Yam, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Orlando Bloom, and directors Phillip Rhee and Steven Spielberg.
Hsing (Ready Player One, Ip Man 3, “Rush Hour”) plays Vincent “Vinny” Chow, our Chinese hero who feels like a failure and doesn’t fit in with his own culture. Instead, he wants respect, charisma, power, la dolce vita – in other words, he wants to be “Made”, to become an Italian Wiseguy like the heroes in all his favorite movies. Vinny rejects his Chinese culture as he tries to win the Italian girl of his dreams, prove himself worthy of MOB membership and even goes against his owns Chinatown to gain respect. With the help of his kung-fu master, the Chinese girl next door, a gay Black actor, and New York’s famous fortunetellers, Vinny finds Chinese culture at the center of who he truly is.
The official website details and extensive cast roster that lists Michelle Procida, Future Shift and Replecan star Asha Annais, The Sopranos series vets Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore and Maureen Van Zandt, Goodfellas and upcoming Brawler co-stars Tony Darrow, Artie Pasquale and celebrated action film notables such as Shaw Bros. legend and Ip Man franchise co-star Lo Meng, James Lew (Timecop, The Perfect Weapon), Hwang Jang Lee (Drunken Master, Magnificent Warriors, No Retreat, No Surrender II: Raging Thunder) and Robert Samuels (H.K.S.A.) (Red Wolf, Mou Man Tai), as well as actor/martial artists Silvio Simac (Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, Street Fighter: Resurrection), Eric Kovaleski and Chuck Zito (The Martial Arts Kid), Shuya Chang (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Snakehead, Revenge of the Green Dragons) and Grandmasters Samuel Kwok and Wai Hong to name a few. The page also presents a lengthy introductory to the film’s premise that hints at a tale mingling tropes from spectacles such as Mickey Blue Eyes, Kung-fu Hustle, Analyze This and John Carpenter classic Big Trouble In Little China.
Reel Diverse and Tambuli Films are producing the pic in association with R4 Films L.L.C.’s own Samuels and partner Robert Jefferson. Take a gander at Hsing’s 2018 stunt reel along with a raft of other reels and gems available at AlfredRocks.com.
THE HIT LIST: April 10, 2017
I may have to take a break from the Hit List next week so as to catch up on projects as well as movies. I miss watching movies these days…it’s funny.
THE HIT LIST: December 19, 2016
The short is just the latest to arrive from Shakesheff in the weeks since the announcement of his latest starring and directorial debut, Kamikaze which is now available on DVD in the U.S. courtesy of Indican Pictures. It’s the first film of its kind to come out of Wales and Shakesheff’s work, stemming from his credits as a bonafide Hollywood stuntman and extended further to online netizens and fans of martial arts action is sure to further put Wales on the map for years to come.
Caitlin Dechelle Hammers Away In A New Fan Fight Tribute To THE RAID 2!
Fans of martial arts action cinema like myself and independent filmmaker Vlad Rimburg represent a majority of people eagerly awaiting the official March 28 release date of writer and director Gareth Evans’s new epic crime thriller, The Raid 2. However, on Tuesday evening, Rimburg took to his channel to offer an inspired look at actress Julie Estelle’s portrayal of the iconic character, Hammer Girl, in a new, brutal, bloody and spectacularly violent fan short by CZ12 co-star and action actress Caitlin Dechelle.
Rehearsed last week in the course of two days and filmed only several days ago, the Hammer Girl fan fight marks Rimburg‘s second project with Dechelle since a chance meeting in 2012 during a photo shoot with photographer and performer Tony Chu. That photo shoot eventually led to their first collaboration later that year for the two-part ensemble action piece, Part 2: Chapter A, and the two had been making an extensive effort to do it all again ever since. Fast forward through 2014, and this is where it gets all kinds of weird and exciting for me, because this is the first time I’m including myself in a report of this nature.
I won’t delve too much into the details as I welcome all of you to read more about how the project came to fruition in the description of the video. But from the bottom of my heart, I am deeply thankful to have such a wonderful extended circle of taleneted acquaintances and friends with like-minded goals. I consider myself very fortunate this week. I am humbled to be included in such a project, and thankful to have inspired such a fine group like this one seen here. They did all the work, and as fans of the action genre, we owe these people our boundless support!
Subscribe to Rimburg‘s channel in the embed below, and stay tuned to Film Combat Syndicate for more exciting content to come!
Alfred Hsing Gets The Beating Of His Life In PINK SWEATER BEATDOWN
This week, there have been a group of actors out in California working incognito to surprise netizens with another up coming gem tailor-made for fans of martial arts action cinema. And while details on that project are being kept under wraps, one of the performers on the scene, actor Alfred Hsing, decide to put his own little skit together with some of the actors, involving himself, wearing a pink zip-up hoodie while he gets the crap kicked out of him to the sounds Bill Conti’s classic anthem from Rocky.
In all likelihood, it’s in no way related to the main project at hand being directed by the one and only Vlad Rimburg, but it does serve as taste of the fun to come seeing as how we are looking at some of the best and most talented screenfighters in film working on an independent gig. Check it out below, and have a chuckle, and for more information on Hsing’s illustrious career, visit his official blog.
Photo: Alfred Rocks