rising tiger films
VOLTRON FILM SCHOOL – PART II: An Interview With Actor And Filmmaker Edmond Shum
As such, its been nearly two years since this fine indie film group landed on my radar and almost a year since I’ve met them in person. Hopefully it won’t be the last time as fun as it has been while covering these people and I look forward to even more of their endeavors following Black Scar Blues, for which I cannot wait to share my review.
VOLTRON FILM SCHOOL – PART I: An Interview With Actor And Filmmaker Leroy Nguyen
For certain, actor and filmmaker Leroy Nguyen can attest to these and much, having cut his teeth for well over a decade through his own projects, as well as shared ventures with numerous other aspiring film professionals, and with a distinct interest in action and martial arts. Joined by longtime friend and film cohort, Edmond Shum, the two have found a unique working chemistry through their craft under the banner Rising Tiger Films, with such projects as the prolific Do The Damn Thing webseries in association with Jabronie Pictures, as well as festival shortfilm favorites like Baddest, These Dog Days and The Exit Wound.
THE HIT LIST – March 21, 2016
The last entry is a teaser clip from Jyo Carolino’s upcoming indie action short, I Am Spartan with a full fight scene that initally premiered at MidSouthCon in Tennessee last week. The shortfilm, in whole will premiere on April 27, starring Carolino as a traumatized soldier forced to fight a new war at home in order to redeem himself. Jai Tanghal, and Drew Russom are also featured in the clip.
EXCLUSIVE: Filming Resumes For Rising Tiger Hit Short, BLACK SCAR BLUES Amid Distribution Talks
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!
THE HIT LIST: September 21, 2015
Off the heels of my most recent three year anniversary piece, I sit here writing this at the wonder of seeing so much content floating online. I feel proud to share it all in my weekly Hit List and I sincerely hope it further benefits everyone I share…
…and that includes those currently comprising this week’s entries, starting off with a meaty playlist full of stunt and tricking montages. First up is a drone-shot view of a recent Battle Of Fury 2015 tricking gathering thanks to lensman Nick Marino, with a slate of reels hosted by Trevor Logan, and a finshing round of female talent with Haley Wright, Cheri Haight, Amy Lynn Tuttle, Deanna Graci and PeiPei Alena Yuan all showing out their best.
As for trailers, quite a few are circulating right now including Daren Nop’s latest short film twofer, Shadow Of 13, the story of a homeless man who often risks his own life for the good of his neighborhood. Both shorts released between last year and this year and were tentatively removed as per requirements for their run at Cannes this year. They’re going back up soon, and so we have a compilation trailer now running.
Other trailers include a fight concept from actor and stuntman Alfred Hsing inspired by the Death Note manga and movie franchise, T.C. De Witt’s long-awaited Halo fan film, Fallen and the latest promo from Nathyn Masters for Crashing Darkness.
Trailer SHADOW OF 13 from Madjinn Films on Vimeo.
It’s been a while since I shared any real freerunning and parkour videos, so I thought I’d snag a few for another brief playlist full of snazzy urban tumblers, firstly with a trailer for Omar Zaki‘s channel, along with an update from Jesse LaFlair, a cool gathering of trickers by way of the Ronnie Street Stunts channel, a montage of stunts in Lepzig from the [IF] Crew, and footage from the summer from the Hurgan debut gathering in Mongolia!
And now it’s time to get fighting, and kicking this segment is a nifty little playlist of short test fights. Mykola Galagan starts things off with a robust little samurai bit followed by Joey Min’s latest spectacular testament to epic pillow fighting and Dylan Hintz in a challenge of water bottle etiquette courtesy of DC Stunt Coalition. Rounding out the playlist are fights also featuring Alex Au‘s latest exchange between Kaitlin Hiller and choreographer Joseph Le, a newly edited and isolated CQC scene from a 2011 short courtesy of Dardrex Productions, a stellar piece of high-flying “Evil Kung Fu” fight work by Airon Armstrong, and Cinematic Fight Studio’s newest piece, Roomies.
Now we move on to the longer-form material and first to the list here is the latest from Saudi Arabia-based Stunt Guys titled The Escape, directed by Helal Mohamad. It’s a little loosely produced and it’s entirely in Arabic with no subs, but it serves up a nice little action and comedy experiment with a few noteworthy set pieces and gags, including a woman on a cell phone and a jar of Vaseline (no, this is not that kind of video.). Watch!
Up next is the latest induction from EMC Monkeys in their newest short story centered on a boxer who makes a comeback against a few neighborhood bullies led by Robert Dill.. what a meanie!
Check it out below and don’t forget to support them on Patreon in the description!
The next short hails straight from filmmaker, actor and stuntman Michael Lehr whose career progression remains in training and helping out with various productions. Otherwise, he’s working on his own gems to share with action fans, including his current webseries in conjunction with Fight Factory Stunt Team, VerseS, which marinates our anti-hero, Finn, in a world of poetic violence, justified or not. You be the judge and catch the latest webisode below!
On our way out, Rising Tiger Films has been on a roll this year with the film festivals as they’ve been ramping up their channel on YouTube. As such, we now have their latest short, These Dog Days, making the rounds ahead of its Urban Action Showcase and Expo this November; a short and brutal tale of vengeance with Leroy Nguyen and Daniel Sim in the ring, and Buddy The Dog spectating!
And last but far from least, who knew that a good drink and a pair of sneakers would be the answer to life’s problems? Brian Parker directs Fists of Absinthe アブサンの拳 in association with YouTube Space Tokyo and Quiet Flame Stunts, and starring Chuck Johnson, Kawahata Masahito and Hayakawa Tomoko. Have a brew and enjoy this drunken and feudal tumble through time with ninjas, samurais, and bad teeth!
Wicked. And you know what? The same could absolutely be said for last week’s Hit List, so take it all in if you have time. As for beyond here, link to the channels and show your love and support. And also, if you make kickass action movies and/or have a superb stunt reel that are up to par, share it and send it to us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!
THE HIT LIST – May 25, 2015
Glad I took my time in getting this Hit List together with all the videos and pics to display. Its been a busy week for me so I hope this will suffice. I should, right?
THE HIT LIST – May 4, 2015
Talk about down to the wire… this Hit List article was almost a no-show today as I was getting other things done in the process. Thankfully it IS here, and as alway, it’s choc-filled with goods from the web. Before I begin though, if you missed the trailer for the upcoming short, Temple, then please take a look at it. It’s poised for presentation to hopeful backers of a feature-length expansion and you only need to see the teaser once to be convinced why it deserves your attention and that of sales’ agents…
As for the Hit List, well…let’s get things started in here with a small grouping of stunt reels from folks like stuntwomen Janine Parkinson and Eileen Weisinger, and others from Omid Zader, Ogiwara Satoru, Johann Ofner, Sergei Dmitriev, John Sharpe, Jack Hansen and a fresh new, and Kombatastic reel from LBP Stunts Chicago!
As far as teasers and trailers go, there are a few more worth highlighting here, one from the Asians On Film YouTube channel for a new webseries titled Gun Girl from Asian Cinema Entertainment and In Yo Face Films featuring femme fatale character, “Diona Bran”, played by actress Rebecca Grant. Gorby Shih directs and it looks like it will premiere some time in July but I advise following the channel for more info just in case. The trailer below that is for a new shortfilm from the growing workload of the folks over at Fight Factory Stunt Team titled Deliver(ed) with Vaughndio Forbes and Oscar Leiva among its cast.
And now, we get fighting, and the first of our action finale in this chapter of our Hit List begins with Mathew Lorenceau‘s most recent working of the lends for a skeletal pre-viz lightsaber battle concept. The second is a good old-fashioned test fight to initiate performer Daniel Sim into the ranks with Leroy Nguyen over at Rising Tiger Films; both starred in Nguyen’s recently-celebrated short, Black Scar Blues which is still making the festival rounds so feel free to check out their channel for more info as well. Beneath that is the latest video from the fellas over at Beat Down Boogie titled Kung Fu Avengers, released days beforehand in celebration of the weekend U.S. premiere of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, while the other three come from Mikko Lopponen, Germany-based Noobtown Monkeys and Aracade Killers Cape Town, respectively, with Samurait Kalassatamassa, Girlfriend VS Boyfriend, and Mission Staircase.
And to finish, some slightly longer content, beginning with the usual comedic action styling of Fernando Jay Huerto in Tim And Michael Go To Canada, performing with Anthony Noceda, DL MacDonald and Alex Chung among others. The remaining two include a fresh new episode from the darkly-lit, comprehensive martial arts webseries drama, The Way: Fighters Twitch, and Joshua Zacharias’s latest Donnie Yen-flavored action short, Deception!
But before I go though…
The ‘Apocalypse’ is NEAR, so CLICK HERE to catch up!
Subscribe to these channels above and click here for last week’s entries. More importantly though, if you have a QUALITY demo reel, trailer or short you would like featured on our site, email us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!
THE HIT LIST – January 5, 2015
For now, though, let’s see which of these Rising Tigers are Baddest!
Nothing Is Sacred In The New Shortfilm Trailer For BLACK SCAR BLUES
It certainly comes with great pleasure that I finally get to talk about the longstanding work from filmmakers Lester “Leroy” Nguyen, and Edmond Shum and the folks over at independent filmgroup, Rising Tiger Films. While I had known of them for some time, I’ve come into the new year with an ample opportunity to finally observe more of their material with an eye on several of their latest projects, namely their latest shortfilm crime drama, Black Scar Blues.
Clocked in at about forty-five minutes, the shortfilm is the team’s biggest project so far, featuring Nguyen and Shum in a gritty, gruesome character study centered on a friendship between two low-level drug pushers, and the destruction that ensues when high ambitions deepen personal wounds. Its neo-noir setting, coupled with some great performances by Nguyen and actress Queen Sayat, and strong color contrasts between the intense drama and violent imagery make for a well-balanced head-stomping ode to the genre that, in my humble opinion, would make Brian De Palma quite proud.
Black Scar Blues is currenrly awaiting confirmation from its other film festival entires for this year before its planned commercial release. In the meantime check out the trailer for Black Scar Blues in the player below.