eric jacobus
ROPE-A-DOPE 2 Goes Ringside With New Set Photos
Independent filmmaker, martial arts action cinema favorite Eric Jacobus is back once more with the current filming of the action comedy follow-up short, Rope-A-Dope 2: The Return Of The Martial Arts Mafia. The sequel officially began production back in May, roughly a year since the first installment, Rope-A-Dope, was released, featuring Jacobus in a Groundhog Day-style short story about a Dope who wakes up everyday re-living the same bad luck over and over again until he finds a way to break the vicious cycle, leading to a hyper-kinetic final fight with a gang of martial arts thugs, led by Barrio Brawler co-star, actor and longstanding member of The Stunt People, Dennis Ruel.
Produced by Hollywood stuntman Clayton J. Barber and Death Grip co-star, actress Rebecca Ahn, Rope-A-Dope ultimately began its film festival run last summer, leading to a second place award at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival last November, and an award for best short film at the Sundial Film Festival in California earlier this year, among other things. This time, Jacobus and his team are back with an immensely talented line-up of action actors and stunt performers helping embody the Dope’s next misadventures as we learn more about the Martial Arts Mafia, and that the Dope is not the only one who can restart the day.
Filming is expected to continue from now through Monday with a hopeful release sometime in the Fall. In the meantime, a batch of new set pics are now making the rounds courtesy of the team, and you can now check those out below. And while you’re here, subscribe to the official Facebook page and spread the word!
Watch The New Re-Release From The Stunt People, UNDERCUT
It’s been about a decade since we got our first computer here, and for me, it marked an adventurous beginning for me on the internet as an action fan. MySpace was popular, Netscape and AOL/AIM were cool, and most importantly, my random searches for all things kung fu and film related ultimately led me to the world of indie action, and it was simply a matter of time before I would come across the official website for The Stunt People and their hit shortfilm, Undercut, directed by independent filmmaker Stephen Reedy.
It was my introduction to actor, martial artist, fight choreographer and stuntman Eric Jacobus and his team prior to seeing his later work online, having grown fond of what the independent film scene is capable of for better action movies ever since. It’s people like Jacobus and Andy Leung that have brought me to where I am now as a fan, and I am more than happy to be able to share this on my own platform here at Film Combat Syndicate.
Loaded with wacky poltical satire, cheesy acting and loads of pseudo-violent lightning-fast kung fu ninja action, then you’re in for a real treat. It’s projects like this that pay true homage to a genre that will never die and a great way to kill sometime online other than fishing through cat videos. So give yourself a half-hour sometime soon, and enjoy!
The 2006 MTV Movie Award Nominee “Undercut”! American Ninja Eric loses his job as a state employed peace officer when his job is outsourced to Chinese Ninja Andy. As if dealing with the hardships of unemployment weren’t stressful enough, Ninja Dog is sick and needs expensive medicine.
Eric Jacobus 'Wheels' Out Unseen Fight Footage From ROPE-A-DOPE!
It takes some pretty good editing to make a scene in a film look like something entirely different from what would have looked like another version of it. That being said, I never would have guessed the following clip was part of last year’s shortfilm festival favorite, Rope-A-Dope, starring The Stunt People co-founder, actor, stuntman and Kicktionary author Eric Jacobus.
Remixed with Keith Morrison’s final fight music from the U.S. version of the 1984 Jackie Chan classic, Wheels On Meals (a.k.a. Spartan X), Jacobus revives a partial version of the final fight from Rope-A-Dope which you can check out below. Also, be sure to check out the full shortfilm now available in the same link and subscribe to the channel as well.
And in case you haven’t heard, Rope-A-Dope 2 is coming. True story.
Stay tuned!
Reel Time: 200+ Kicks With ERIC JACOBUS!
That’s right… videogames! Because that’s the standard he’s setting, dabbling in various styles to formulate up to 200+ kicks, each with a name, and some of which he may have invented.
The Stunt People's Eric Jacobus Gets Engaged Behind Our Backs, And We’re Not Mad About It At All!
Eric and his bride-to-be take a happy selfie.
It’s been roughly a decade or so since I began following the independent action scene, having become a fan of several film groups over the years and slowly accumulating my online social circle within the industry. Having said this, please forgive me for feeling a little sappy today-and no, I don’t plan on doing this sort of thing all the time as I don’t normally do this, nor do I know all the details and exploits of the personal lives of these folks. But I’m in a mood.
So, I just wanted to write a special congratulations to Facebook friend, independent filmmaker Eric Jacobus‘s new engagement to lady friend Chiara. I’ve known Eric off-and-on since the mid-2000s having become a fan of his team, The Stunt People, primarily watching him in helmer Stephen Reedy’s spectactular shortfilm, Undercut, and being one of the first people to purchase a copy of their 2006 feature, Contour (a.k.a. The Agent).
I try to follow the careers of these people as closely as possible. And as a result, my service as a freelance film enthusiast and blogger is a caveat that comes with such a privilege. So I see and hear things from these folks and almost become a part of their virtual personal lives. And to see Jacobus take a grand step forward in his own life is something I am thankful and humbled in a way to write about, aside from his career.
Not everyone is as lucky, although we can all hope for such good luck. And these two kids look like a tremendously happy, wonderful and lucky couple…. Amazing.
Eric, I wish you and the lovely lady all the best from here on out.
Cheers to the both of you.
Now, where was I?… Ah! Right. Movies. Stay tuned for more info! And remember to buy Death Grip on DVD and BluRay!
Hammergirl Launches Her Subway Assault In A New Clip From THE RAID 2
The North American limited theatrical premiere of writer and director Gareth Evans‘s new film, The Raid 2 is just a week and a half away with a wider release expected next month. I’m jusy going to say it: I envy everyone who has seen it other than me! The film screened over this past weekend here in New York City, followed by an event two days later at Apple Store SoHo, and were it not for the job (or my relentless cold this month), I would have attended. But, priorities remain.
However, the one thing I am thankful for is being a part of a recent fan-based effort attributed to the film courtesy of independent filmmaker Vlad Rimburg whose latest short, Hammergirl, won fan-wide praise and approval among his niche, as well as the film’s select cast and crew since its airing last week. It was in August of last year that the character, originally played for Evans‘s new film played by actress Julie Estelle, made waves with an exclusive clip available only to Film4 Frightfest attendees, and much to their delight at that. And this week, MTV is offering just a taste of that very same scene from the film which you can now check below.
Mind you, it’s NFSW. So, by all means, go some place where sensitive eyes won’t lurk. And endulge!
H/T to Eric Jacobus (The Stunt People) for the assist!
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Feel The Sting Of Action In The New Shortfilm Trailer For THE BLACK WASP STRIKES
The Black Wasp is a secret agent of the Chinese government who specializes in group combat and stealth. When the terrorist Mr. White kidnaps the daughter of Chinese diplomat Tang Lee, Black Wasp is tasked with saving her. Can the Black Wasp infiltrate Mr. White’s hideout? Will he be able to defeat his ferocious female bodyguards? Can he even defeat the insane Mr. White? It’s up to The Black Wasp to save the day!
DEATH GRIP Is Now Available For Pre-Order With A New DVD Release Date!
It has taken a couple of years since the crowdfunded production, completion and independent distribution of actor, martial arts stunt impressario and filmmaker Eric Jacobus landed his third directorial feature, Death Grip. And with other projects in the works, this particular film has since earned a rightful place with several distributors worldwide, including its new North American home at Osiris Entertainment with pre-order period open to the public as of a few days ago, and a street date set for March 11, 2014.
Slovakia Gets Its Own Dope To Rope In The New Shortfilm, NEVER SURRENDER!
You may recall last year that independent filmmaker and stunt impressario Eric Jacobus made serious headway in the film festival circuit with his 2013 shortfilm, Rope-A-Dope, a groundhog-style martial arts comedy that saw a dope take on the challenge of changing what he needed to derail the events that led to him getting knocked unconcious. The shortfilm left such an impression among fans that even action star Scott Adkins retweeted it on Twitter, among other important folks in the world of action.
That said, as Jacobus marks fifteen years as founding member of The Stunt People, his work continues to sustain its place as a blueprint for other aspiring action actors and stunt team founders alike, including actor Julius Kmak in the good company of his people representing Slovakian indie film group 3 Media Production with their new shortfilm, Never Surrender. And while it won’t be hard to notice some of the obvious similarities in story and action choreography between this and Rope-A-Dope, it hasn’t been the first time the work of The Stunt People have been copied. However in large part, Jacobus himself is taking it all in stride. “I pride myself on coming up with new ideas,” he tells Film Combat Syndicate. “…so it’s great to see people taking those ideas and using them as vehicles for making their fight scenes come to life.”.
Never Surrender is just a small handful of videos 3 Media has up on its YouTube channel as they have just newly formed as of late last year. Sure, it may be a Rope-A-Dope imitation, but it does pack a punch or two, and even a few laughs to boot, in which case, do watch this little jewel through to the end. And by all means, subscribe to their channel!
Vader Wants A First Person Rematch In VADER STRIKES 2
You may remember back when martial arts action filmmaker and stunt performer Eric Jacobus won the hearts and minds of Star Wars fanboys and girls everywhere when he completed the conceptual GoPro take on the Star Wars shortfilm, Vader Strikes. Unquestionable praise and approval from the online viewing and blogging community has since contributed to the development of a sequel, which is starting to look very good for its prospects as having a type of potential for a webseries if the powers that be help make it happen.
Hiroshi Adachi And Shogo Moriyama In SHOWDOWN
The future continued to look promising for Hiroshi Adachi, then, who left his home in Tokyo to attend San Francisco State University in 2008. It was then that he met and befriended the founder of The Stunt People, Eric Jacobus, setting off a chain of events that would allow Hiroshi to apply his 15 years of martial arts training to the field of independent action films in such projects as Ness, Graduation, Hand Over Fist, and the feature film, Detective Story which is currently available on DVD at the Stunt People Store.
“MARINE CORE” Is Coming To Recruit You In 2014!
Synopsis: Down-and-out dishonorably discharged marine Kurt Hammer is invited by his old commander to a remote Marines alumni retreat in the woods, where he instead finds himself the live target of 6 elite special forces soldiers who have been set on a mission to hunt and kill him in a deadly game of survival.
