The Hit List has taken a pretty interesting turn of late now that I actually get to host some video files on behalf of creators. It’s a blessing and I’m real thankful to those of you investing in my own YouTube channel to share your craft.
I’m pondering taking next weekend off for the Hit List. As it stands I have a few screeners that need screening and reviewing and I haven’t at all had the time for them. Plus, a little extra time for myself would be spiffy.
L to R (top): Adele Elasmar, Marrese Crump, Amber Lamarca, Troy Butler, Amy Johnston
L to R (bottom): Noel Schefflin, Monique Ganderton, John Wood, Niahlah Hope, Timothy Eulich
Of course, all that could change depending on the content of the coming week and if it’s too good to hold back, you can expect another entry online stunts and hits. For now, its the 16th of April and back hand-springing in her element is stuntwoman Niahlah Hope for the inaugural reel of this week’s stunt playlist.
Rounding it all out are reels by Max Laferriere, Thaddeus McQueen, John Wood, Amber Lamarca, Ivan Kasnyov, Nakamura Koji, Bryan Dodds, Beni Alexander, Attilla Kiss, Sarah Laidler, Joseph Roark and StormFreerun with a cinematic display of parkour feats featuring athlete Charlie Havill. Last and far from least is a share from Vimeo with a cool fight reel by Timothy Eulich.
Timothy Eulich Fight Coordinator from Timothy Eulich on Vimeo.
Off to promote some stuff!
Beneath is a playlist with two promos and the first hails from actor and martial artist Marrese Crump of The Protector 2 fame now back and stirring the hype a little more with Cash, and upcoming webseries from Diallo Frazier. Following that is a humble update from action cinema favorite, Accident Man actress Amy Johnston following up with a number of updates coinciding with her channel and in conjunction with her latest series, Hero Training, in which she brings aboard fellow entertainment performance artists and stunt players to highlight health, wellness and training methods.
Lastly and greatly is Johnny Balazs, now ramping up at Indiegogo to crowdfund tactical revenge thriller, Night Shift. Several gems have alreasy emerged online courtesy of Balazs at Prima Lux Films, hinting at the style action that will entail with actress Adele Elasmar training hard for the role as production nears.
Balazs is best known for gaining notoriety at multiple festivals in the past year for his stylish, hard-hitting hitman thriller, Dancer, and now looks toward bringing Night Shift centerstage with a worthwhile heroine front and center, and furthermore, with your help suited to equal perks available for you here.
Vimeo played a major role this week in nabbing some accidental finds for the Fights and Films section. Bangkok Dangerous star Daniel O’Neill’s starring role in Matt Routledge’s 2016 thriller, Fixer, was a winning center of attention at producer Soo Cole’s inaugural Fighting Spirit Film Festival and last year’s HBO Urban Action Showcase. It’s an anomaly as to why I’ve only just spotted it this weekend but…better late than never.
The same goes for The Compass Rose from sibling film duo, the Dell Sisters – Producer Elizabeth and writer/director Emily. The two won Best Action at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival in 2014 with stunt talent, actresses Tara Macken and Monique Ganderton; The two also front their own stunt and fight sequencing central to the ministory about one fugitive’s connection to missing letters, and an organization rooted in an enigmatic tattoo.
Both of these amazing projects kick off this week’s Fights and Films section in fitting fashion!
Daniel O’Neill – FIXER (Official Movie) from Daniel O’Neill on Vimeo.
THE COMPASS ROSE from Emily Dell on Vimeo.
Bookending this week’s Hit List is a playlist full of practice fight and thrilling shortform content. Ukraine-based XGST has a pair of vids now up and running, followed by Jefferson Lewis III trading blows in a few new entries this week – one opposite Troy Butler, and in a seperate spy-themed gem with Katie Kramer, and two comedy shorts from Lucia Ordaz’s channel, The Bodyguard and Roomie’s Rules and Regulations.
Matt Philiben gets his game on with a little help from Lo Lieh in Code Of The Dim Mak, and actress and martial artist Chintya Candranaya makes her return to the Hit List this for a second week in a row courtesy of Chevrolet with Silat Assassin 2. Following that is Project 7, a gritty throwback that looks as spectacular as I recently found it, hailing from 2010 as an Action On Film Festival favorite from director Vincent Gatinaud the talented creatives at Cascade Demo Team.
Next on the roster is Fury Fingers, having stepped up to the plate for a roaring fan film inspired by Ubisoft’s latest Far Cry installment with Far Cry: Baptism Of Fire. The Ubisoft Australia-backed fan thriller is directed by Nicholas Cleary who stars along with Hjalmar Marteinsson, Diane Dee Kalei and Eliott Howard.
Last and far from least is actor Noel Schefflin, front and center for Robot Underdog’s most recent rollout of the new unauthorized DC Comics/Stephen King hybrid fan film, Red Hoot: IT. The short is shepherded by film duo Hisonni Johnson and Alberto Triana, and with Jeremy Boone starring and voicing and the prolific balloon-teasing killer clown among a few surprise appearances in this latest fan-driven labor of gruesome joy.
L to R (top): Matt Philliben, Lucia Ordaz, Nicholas Cleary, Tara Macken, Max Laferrier
L to R (bottom): Katie Kramer, Bryan Dodds, Beni Alexander, Thaddeus McQueen, Sarah Laidler
Last week’s entries are a fun gathering as well. Endulge and don’t forget to sub to the channels and share The Hit List with friends! Also, if you have an amazing demo reel or a project that needs promoting or sharing, send it to us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to vet it!
As such, the shortfilm itself which joins Gerhardy with lead actress Victoria Viveiros for a story that centers on a woman dispensing her own brand of justice following the murder of her ex-girlfriend. TakeDown currently has two festival runs to its legacy with splashing results from crowds this month at the Nevada Women’s Film Festival, and last year’s Action On Film Festival with several nominations to its credit including in fight choreography, action sequence and Breakout Action Actress.
My weekend was good! Well… not terrible anyway. Atomic Blonde was on my agenda and I stand by my last words in that piece as we now approach a new week with another installment of The Hit List.
Photo Credit: James Lew, editing by @adoubleleye
Back in 2012, long before I began acclimating myself in the stunt community via social networking and not yet learning who actress and stuntwoman Tara Macken was at the time, I got the chance to see director Gary Ross’s theatrical adaptation of the YA novel, The Hunger Games. It was a film that I thoroughly enjoyed and one I am glad to have seen as that particular franchise progresses its next three films, with Macken also credited in its latest sequel, Catching Fire. It is also a film I was happy to experience as an unforeseen precursor to starting my site and ultimately meeting Macken online, whose growing body of work can now be seen in her latest action reel now available on her YouTube channel in the embed below.
Namely drawing her inspiration from characters such as Angelina Jolie’s lead role in the 2001 film, Tomb Raider, and that of actress Zhang Ziyi and action legend Jackie Chan, Macken has risen significantly in the last seven years since beginning her training in stunts for a professional career in film and television. Upon relocating from the Bay Area to Los Angeles within the last decade, her journey in life has largely immersed itself atheltically and competitively, as well as dancing and acting, a dynamic journey that would ultimately earn her the privilege of working on a number of exciting productions with some truly amazing people. “I have a couple of real fond memories from working on set.” she says. “Most of them involve fighting actors that I’ve grown up watching! [laughs] I got to fight Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3 and Justin Timberlake in an Audi commercial. It was great working with actors that are as awesome off camera as they are on camera.” She continued, “I also love the feeling right after you perform a stunt. There is a breath of silence where everyone is waiting for you to give the sign that your okay, after which follows up with an applause. The theatre geek in me loves this, it reminds me of performing on stage, plus it’s great to watch the cast and crew’s reactions to a stunt.”.
In addition to her role in Josh Waller’s latest Zoë Bell headliner, Raze, some of Macken‘s new ventures in action can now be seen in the new trailer for the upcoming fantasy martial arts adventure, Ninja Apocalypse. And while fans wait to learn more about the film upon its expected tentative release this April, Macken solely expressed praise for its director, Lloyd Lee Barnett, as well as the film’s fight choreographer, Matt Berberi, telling Film Combat Syndicate “…Lloyd Barnett was great communicating his creative vision for the film, and he made sure that the project was fun and enjoyable to be apart of. And I’ve worked for and with Matt on many projects. He is very story driven and technique based in his choreography. He has an encyclopedia of knowledge for action and film, so it’s always a pleasure to work with someone so well versed in the medium.”.
With her career in full bloom, like any artist, Macken‘s successes have allowed her to evolve more creatively, in various aspects of her field. Primarily however, she also expressed an emphasis on the importance of photography in adding to one’s own knowledge and understanding of film. “Over the years, I’ve gotten into photography, as a means to learn how to tell a story through still images and to learn how to use a camera.” she says. “Photography also helps you learn how to be a better performer, model, director and it exercises your imagination. Besides stunts and acting I ultimately want to direct. I directed my first project last year, a music video for a folk pop artist. I’ve also directed little fight shorts and dabbled in stunt coordinating and fight choreography.”.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what the future will bring for Macken and action fans like myself. Ninja Apocalypse looks like it will be a fun film to watch, and at rate she continues to grow as a formidable, multifaceted actress, she promises even more action from here on out, with the second season of the Crackle digital webseries, Cleaners. In addition, she will appear in next week’s theatrical release of Divergent, followed by June 27 release of Transformers: Age Of Extinction and next year’s long-awaited premiere of Fast And Furious 7 on April 10, 2015. And of course, you can be sure there are plenty of surprises to come, and I look forward to sharing them with you all in due time.
For now, check out her new action reel and subscribe to her official Facebook page with links to subscribe via Twitter, her official website, and much more!
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