dragon phoenix entertainment
THE HIT LIST: May 13, 2019
At long last, it’s been another two weeks since then and so it’s time to present the latest finds from around the web for another installment of The Hit List.
THE HIT LIST: January 14, 2019
I had a busy weekend, frankly. No time really to BS or lounge about but for all good reasons… but that’s for another post.
THE HIT LIST: September 17, 2018
Apart from working on The Hit List and other content, Bleach pretty much took the brunt of my attention over the weekend and I have no regrets. I love that movie to bits.
THE HIT LIST: August 13, 2018
My weekend was a slow one, but I’m happy to have kept my mind a little busy with some posting. Season seven of Voltron: Legendary Defender was absolutely stellar and I can’t wait to see how the final season bookends such a virbrant, energizing sci-fi tale.
THE HIT LIST: August 6, 2018
I’m finally one of those late bloomers that got to see Mission: Impossible – FALLOUT this weekend! Pretty much my highlight thusfar next to managing to screen BuyBust and with another review coming later this week, in addition to another offering of THE HIT LIST…
THE HIT LIST: July 10, 2017
Well, at least for me the bad news is that I relapsed again and now I have another cold. That makes two this summer.
The good news is I had stuff to do so I got in some time to write two reviews, one of which you can check out on your own time. As for all else, I had people sending me stuff for the Hit List and there was no way I could pass up sharing it. Some of you know me as much.
Kicking it off this week is a brand new block of jam-packed stunt and action reels starting with the latest from Black Site star, actress and martial artist Samantha Schnitzler via Vimeo. The playlist beneath cues onward from there beginning with legendary stunt coordinator Bruce Law followed by reels from Alyma Dorsey, David Conk, Tyler Witte, Jonathan Pang, Marissa Labog, Lee Gifford, Jyo “Six” Carolino, Leonard Zhang, Ryan Carr, Mami Spéede Ito, Yavuz Topuz and Martial Club’s own Andy Le.
Samantha Schnitzler : Action Reel from Samantha Schnitzler on Vimeo.
As far as promotion goes, some of this is pretty large scale and I only have mostly Vimeo uploads to work with, so my apologies ahead of time. The stuff here is pretty intense and especially with what lies ahead from Felix King and Eric Van Arsdale in the upcoming short, Broken Wing. Stunt and action sequences respectively from Elizabeth Davidovich and choreographer Gui DaSilva aren’t much to sample from here in this teaser but we have Spencer Mulligan engulfed in flames and looking several degrees of pissed. I smell vengeance coming.
Following that is a project I’ve had the pleasure to screen among the workstash of actor, martial artist and budding filmmaker Peter Jang with the new crime thriller, Nothing Is Sacred. Jang and actor Christian Howard present a grim tale of betrayal and redemption where a gang enforcer’s only means of protecting his sister and niece from his adopted mother’s sex trafficking ring is to follow her instructions and kill his brother in-law. After winning Best Action Thriller at the Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival and Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards in addition to Best Producer(s) and Best First Time Filmmaker, its next stop will be the Shortz! Film Festival in Chico, CA on July 16th.
Last and far from least is a trailer for Shelagh Rowan-Legg’s second shortfilm, Flow, following a crowdfunding campaign for a dystopian action comedy set in a post-Brexit UK amid an epic battle wherein two female soldiers, Taylor and Smith, are tenaciously fighting a war of their own. Flow stars Jamie Birkett and Lucy Clements and is set to screen on July 29 at Fantasia Festival in accordance with the premiere of Lowell Dean’s action horror sequel, Another Wolfcop.
Of course, there’s also the matter of a newly released photo from the past week if you’re a fan of online action hero, actor and martial artist Eric Jacobus. Blindsided 2 is well underway from director and noted Hollywood stunt professional Clayton Barber with his star currently seen squaring off with fellow actor and martial artist David William No who produced the first short as he does the new installment.
There’s more action to come, but it’s time for a bit of a music break and I tip my hat to stunt coordinator Cory DeMeyers for pointing into the direction of Bad Royale’s latest music video premiere with Silver, All I Can Do. Actor Deangelo Harding leads the way as the hero of his own video game-themed tale as he fights to reunite with his date, actress Bree Essrig, against a horde of bouncers, a wrestler, a kickass tailor, and actor Jarrett Sleeper armed with delicious lemonbars and some deadly moves of his own. Enjoy!
Time to get into the action this week and the first comes courtesy of Vimeo with a late entry from stunt performer Lee Gifford. You’ll find his latest reel in the initial playlist while his own shortfilm contribution here leads the way for this segment of the Hit List with Waheed AlQawasmi’s 2016 action comedy short, Delta Goldfish.
Beneath that is this week’s playlist ripe with a batch of test fight action pieces and shortfilm projects including one that just released today. Dardrex Production‘s own Martin Chan and Leonard Zhang get things started along with the latest test fight collab with Arman Ansari and Douglas Dapaah-Agyemang over in Finland, and YouTube comedic personality, Tiburcio teaching Darren Holmquist and Rustic B. a thing or two in Black Belt vs. Mexican Belt.
We then head off to Marcus Shakesheff and Ashley Beck as they settle their own score at Leavesden Studios in a Star Wars-inspired lightsaber battle to the death before panning over to Wilder Herms 2017 My Rode Reel entry, The Block with Mark Poletti and Julie Zhan. Following that are performers Tatiana DeKhytar and Nicole Mae clashing fisticuffs and cold steel for Dragon Phoenix Entertainment in Weapon Fighter while Matt Philliben and Joe Kras take their pound-for-pound haze to the next level with Bushido Dream.
Continuing the action is filmmaker Danny Leysner whose most recent get-together in Amsterdam with high-caliber action talent and choreographer Joey Ansah saw the Spring release of Leynser’s revenge thriller debut, Cible, starring Geoffrey Thompson as a man afflicted with a near-fatal brain injury that nulls pain, bolstering his vengeful bloodlust against his former crimeboss who murdered the woman he loved. We featured this project back in May, but we’re more than proud to host it again as part of Hit List history and further hope that Danny and Joey will continue to bring even more magic in the months to come.
Last and far from least is a project that turns us once again to actor and martial artist Fabien Garcia (Die Fighting, Drained World, Dragon Ball Z: Light Of Hope) who plays antagonist and fight choreographer to director Anthony Pietromonaco’s newly released and smartly choreographed Star Wars fan film, Dark Legacy, starring Erin Wu as an imprisoned Sith apprentice in training. The shortfilm was exclusively released in the Creators column at Vice.com but we’ve included it as a meaty and supercharged, exciting finale to this week’s Hit List.
The players below are yours forh the taking. You know what to do!…
Delta Goldfish | Action Stunt Film from WAFILMS on Vimeo.
Feel free to check out last week’s entries and endulge to your heart’s content, and sub to the channels for your show of support! Also, if you or someone you know has a project or a reel that deserves an audience or a signal boost of some kind, email us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and run it by us so we can have a stab at it.
Indie Spotlight: ESCALATION And EMBRACE THE VOID Feat. Jerry Quill
It’s been an amazing year so far being able to observe and write about so many independent performers apply their creativity for cinematic action. And this week, that passion most notably arrives in a cool little double-header with two new videos featuring up-and-coming actor and stuntman Jerry Quill.
The first of two new test fight installations includes the latest one from independent filmmaker Emmanuel Manzanares titled Escalation, with fellow LBP member Alexander Hashioka. The short is one of several pieces Quill has done with LBP since late last year, with Manzanares‘s choreography here experimenting with a flurry of non-martial arts-stylized exchanges to depict more of a realistic, brutal struggle.
It’s this kind of creativity which provides a continually fruitful and evolving playing field for Quill in fight choreography and stunt experimentation. And if you haven’t subscribed to LBP Stunts Chicago on Youtube, then you’re in for a treat, to say the least. So by all means, check out the video below and hit the subscribe button.
The second short titled, Embrace The Void, also stars rising action actresses Sharon Berezin and Sarah McCreanor, and comes as the result of inspiration Quill had one day while bored at work. In light of this inspiration, his friendship with Dragon Phoenix Entertainment’s own Shaun Charney earned him a pretty good opportunity to apply himself in a way he had not done before until now, in directing, as well as action design and writing. “I don’t write very often actually,” he says. “But, I decided to push myself to do it for this so I could have something more to shoot than just a fight scene.”.
He also added, “I’ve always had an interest in choreography but never directed before. I want to be able to produce and direct my own projects but didn’t know where to start. So I contacted Shaun for help and advice. He told me he would collaborate and help me put together a small project for learning purposes.”.
Quill also discussed his history with Berezin and how he came across discovering McCreanor, both who I have written about either once or twice in a few previous articles. “I had worked with Sharon several times before through a couple of Shaun’s other projects,” he writes. “We also meet up to train once and a while. She’s been helping me with basic acrobatics.” He continued, “I met Sarah briefly working on a music video. After seeing one of her dance reels, I asked her if she would be interested in doing a small fight scene so I could get some practice directing. Plus, because of Sarah’s dance background and flexibility gave me the chance to try a few different ideas with some of her moves.”.
As experimental as this particular project was, the project was also a test of time management and pressure. Thematically, the short was meant to be much longer and more metaphorical in its delivery, featuring McCreanor as the human emulation of “Death” testing the will of a “slave” played by Berezin. “I originally wanted to tell more of the story through the fight and choreography,” he says. “However due to poor planning on my part, we only had one day to shoot and we were fighting the sunlight and time. So I had to cut most of the choreography in order to finish.”.
Quill also writes, “I learned a lot about what I can do better next time. It was great working with both of them. Thankfully they were both super patient with me throughout this process. Plus, Shaun Charney helped me out A LOT with this project, so kudos to him!”.
It’s very interesting to see as many independent performers grow and improve in the past decade as I have, including within the past year spotting Quill in what would be going into his second year in such an occupation, performing in several pieces for Charney. And adding Berezin and McCreanor in the mix, I can only hope these folks will help keep me busy on this site for the years to come.
Check out Embrace The Void in the embed below, and to follow, you know what to do!
Photo: Tony Chu Photography
More Girl Trouble For Seshiro In The New Test Fight Short B-GIRL BEATDOWN
Mari Saito gets her kicks while Sharon Berezin flips into position in ‘B-Girl Beatdown’!
Dragon Phoenix Entertainment continues to stay on the map this month with independent filmmaker Shaun “Seishiro Kazama” Charney as he continues getting into more girl trouble, this time with performers Mari Saito and Sharon Berezin. Their new test fight is one of several experimental pieces for the ladies as of the last several years, including Saito whose specialties in dance, acrobatics, Chinese martial arts and working professionally as a cirque peformance artist have been major tools in shaping her craft to work with folks like Charney with whom she recently appeared in the second and third installments of Micah Brock’s fantasy action miniseries, Slug Street Scrappers, in addition to independent filmmaker and photographer, Jeff Centauri.
Berezin, hailing from the great state of New York, began cutting her teeth earlier on in Goju Ryu Karate before stepping into breakdancing scene in Boston, and ultimately moving to Los Angeles to pursue greener pastures as an aspiring actress and screenfighter, having also shared the set with indie filmmaker Leo Kei Angelos just last year. In her praise for Saito, citing her notable flexibility as her inspiration, Berezin also had some positive choice words on working with Charney. “He’s great,” she says. “I was a beginner as far as being in front of a camera and he is very patient.”.
With the unknown road ahead, Berezin remains optimistic and open-minded about the opportunities she looks forward to in the new year, so fans may want to keep their eyes peeled. In the meantime, check out the new video in the embed below where you can also subscribe for more info on Dragon Phoenix Entertainment.
Watch Shaun Charney Get His Kicks With A CAPOIERA GIRL!
For the most part, it has been a busy week on my end and work, on top of certain technological impediments have kept me from being able to keep up with a lot of content. So when I decided to kick myself up real quick and head over to independent filmmaker Shaun Charney‘s YouTube platform at Dragon Phoenix Entertainment, I was delighted to see a new little gem he worked on with actress, stuntwoman and friend of Film Combat Syndicate, Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez.
In the video, we get to see a minute of some pretty cool Capoiera choreography, accompanied by a few extra minutes of Charney and Gonzalez just having fun like kids, and it’s a must-see for anyone who has ever had a childhood. I spoke to Charney on several subjects regarding the video, including his opinions on Capoiera and other martial arts styles for the screen, and believe me, it’s a subject he’s well suited for, with experience dating back to around 1997 having experimenting with well over 74 styles in the years since.
“The flashiness is the first obvious answer.”, Charney writes on what fascinates him about Capoiera as a screenfighting set piece. “The grace, balance, and control is the next. But I have a desire to try and show the combat side of Capoeira…the one that’s actually used for combat.”. He also added “To date, as far as I know, it hasn’t been seen in films since the flashy dancing aspect has always been the more ‘exciting’ one to film. And sadly, that has many people believing that’s what Capoeira is, and that it does not work in a real fight-I guess that means Capoeira stood true in its deception, having its opponents believe it’s a harmless dance! Haha”.
I’ve always enjoyed watching Charney perform in the past decade I have grown to appreciate online action. And furthermore, to top it all off, having become a fan since first seeing Gonzalez in several episodes of Robert Griffith’s webseries, The Adventures Of Super 7, which led me to my next inquiry about what he enjoys most about their collaborations. “I’ve known her for less than a year, but it has been a beautiful year, knowing her.”, he writes. “She is super fun to work with, and funny…lightening up the mood and atmosphere. She’s very pro, and knows the score, and is open and adaptable to changes, which certainly makes her very good to work with. And she’s HOT! Haha! But for me, the big plus is that she is able to be silly on set. Silly, but a professional at the right time!”.
Throughout his evolving career, Charney is as busy as busy can get-part of the reason why this piece took so long to share with you all. However, action fans can look forward to a lot more from Dragon Phoenix Entertainment as the years rolls on, as he hopes to produce more samurai and ninja-themed videos adhering toward more Eastern philosophical perspectives that reflect the martial spirit. Charney also shared other plans he hopes to initiate regarding his foray into artwork and literature, with compilations of some of his own artwork through the years.
He also hopes to explore all 74 of his favorite styles for the camera, which may boggle your mind as to how he is so familiar with so many systems. On the other hand though, Charney remains grounded about his experience. “I am a master of none,” he says “…but I am a fan and practitioner of each.”.
In my own shared opinion with Charney‘s, Capoiera isn’t something we see all the time in martial arts cinema. And so when we see it in its pure, raw form, it makes for great action cinema eye candy, especially when it is shot well and the performers are having fun. And clearly, particularly in the last two minutes, this was the case.
Thank you for reading this, and watch the video below where you may also subscribe to Charney‘s channel.
SLUG STREET SCRAPPERS 3 Is Now Available Online For Viewing
Today is the day indie martial arts cinema fans and internet viewers finally get to see the release of stunt actor and filmmaker Micah Brock’s webseries feature-length finale, Slug Street Scrappers 3: Beat Em’ Up, from Whirlwind Action and Dragon Phoenix Entertainment.
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