webseries
Will Yick Delivers Espionage, Danger And Action Chops In The New Series Trailer, DISAVOWED
A little slice of intrigue, a dash of danger and a touch of deadly hand-to-hand combat can make for nice little online gem, particularly arriving soon in the form of independent filmmaker and actor Will Yick‘s new webseries, Disavowed. A purveyor of Filipino martial arts for six years, the series is an inspired product by Yick who wanted to incorporate comprehensive storytelling and acting with his own personal knowledge of military, having served both in the Navy and Army.
Yick also directed, produced, edited, co-wrote and designed action sequences for the new series which he says will be much more character driven than some of his previous work. “I didn’t want to oversaturate the series with too much action this time around.” he says. “My goal was to have a balance of drama, plots and sub-plots, and enough action to get people interested, although I won’t always use this formula always because I love action. So, in the future, I will definitely incorporate more action.”.
Yick has a few other surprises in store for indie action fans this year with several projects to come, while Disavowed finishes production on just a few more episodes left to its 19-episode slate – each episode ranging from two-to-five minutes upon its upcoming air date. To keep track of the series, head over and subscribe to the official Facebook page until then. In the meantime, watch the new series trailer and stick around for more info.
Loyalties will be tested within a government agency as the lines between right and wrong become blurred.
STREET FIGHTER: ASSASSIN'S FIST – A Case For Better Action Movies
I remember when 1993 or ’94 came when Jean-Claude Van Damme was entering the peak of his career with Capcom’s first live-action theatrical interpretation of the Street Fighter universe that saw military character Guile as the lead. To some, including myself, it was good for its time despite not even coming close to owning up to the source material, and mainly because it was a kids’ film, geared toward young teens who liked Van Damme movies and appealed to watching actors in Street Fighter costumes imitating characters from the game.
Growing Pains Pack A Punch In The New Indiegogo Promo For Webseries, FIGHTER'S HIGH
Interestingly enough, Ryons goes on to say a little more about how the latter actor, famously known for his prolific performances under several ‘Ranger’ iterations as the series character, “Tommy Oliver”, saying in part “…At first it was all about his fight scenes. To me, he really brought it in the fight scenes and I thought that he should have been doing martial arts movies back then. I did some research on him and his martial arts background and that kinda nailed it for me as far as studying martial arts and wanting to make fight scenes and such. I forever credit him as the reason ‘Fighter’s High’ was created.”.
AWESOME ASIAN BAD GUYS Attack Los Angeles This Month!
From L to R: George Cheung, Stephen Dypiangco, Jasmine Currey, Partrick Epino, Tamlyn Tomita, Al Leong and Randall Park
The 30th Annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival kicks off today, featuring a variety of films and shorts programs from now until May 11, where National Film Society filmmaking duo Stephen Dypiangco and Patrick Epino will be hosting their brand new series, Awesome Asian Bad Guys.
The series began its active development, crowdfunding and subsequent production within the last few years, rooted in genuine appreciation and love for classic action movies and their memorable beloved unsung heroes – the Asian villains. According to co-director and co-star Dypianco, the series has already garnered major approval among viewing audiences since the series premiered earlier this year at CAAM Fest 2014. “We’ve been really happy with the reception thus far,” says Dypiangco. “Audiences have responded very positively to the project overall and how we’ve brought it to life.”.
This week, in light of the upcoming events at LAAPFF, the National Film Society released its brand new poster for the series which you can check out below, in addition to the festival synopsis written by Abraham Ferrer.
The official poster for AWESOME ASIAN BAD GUYS: Top row (L to R) Randall Park, Yuji Okumoto, Tamlyn Tomita, Al Leong and George Cheung/ Bottom row (L ro R):Dante Basco, Stephen Dypiangco, Patrick Epino and Aaron Takahashi
The “fourth wall” comes crashing down, in a BIG way, in AWESOME ASIAN BAD GUYS, the brainchild of internet sensations Patrick Epino (VOID, Festival 2005) and Stephen Dypiangco. Having met nearly four years ago during Festival Week 2010, Epino — an alumnus of San Francisco State University’s Cinematic Arts program and Visual Communications’ own Armed With a Camera Fellowship — and NYU Film School graduate Dypiangco established the online destination, The National Film Society, as a means of promoting face-to-face dialogue with Asian Pacific American independent and mainstream entertainment professionals on all things pertinent to APA cinema.
As the film starts, our loveable, awkward duo wrap up yet another installment of NFS for upload. Only problem is, the episode is ruined when a trespasser somehow walks through the living room door and photo-bombs the shoot. The interloper turns out to be none other than veteran actress Tamlyn Tomita, who avails upon the guys to assemble a team of veteran Asian American bad-guy actors for the purpose of avenging a dastardly wrong, executed by one Aaron Takahashi (Aaron Takahashi), the leader of the ruthless Wang Chung crime syndicate. Unfortunately, the motley crew of “legendary” Asian American heavies they put together — Al Leong, Yuji Okumoto, George Cheung and Randall Park (whose sole purpose seems to be the “useless” and not-quite-awesome Asian Bad Guy) — can’t stand each other.
Filled with a rapid-fire string of in-jokes and stereotypes turned on its collective heads, this rollicking send-up of just about every kind of genre and schlock-cinema beloved by our NFS heroes plays it strictly for laughs. Oh yes, every obligatory KARATE KID 2 reference, every DIE HARD throw-away line, every fake ROCKY training sequence, and so much more are crammed into the film, courtesy of a screenplay by award-winning writer/producer Milton Liu (JESUS HENRY CHRIST, Festival 2004). It’s hard to imagine that AWESOME ASIAN BAD GUYS was created as a six-episode web series — with a story so deliciously dopey, implausible, and just-plain silly, why couldn’t this heartfelt effort be enjoyed on the big screen first?
Things are still early for Dypiangco and Epino as they are currently inquiring about more festivals to showcase their work, while looking for distribution partners to help release the series to the public this year, preferably as soon as possible. In the meantime, while funding for the first season did have its fair share of challenges, Dypiangco insists there is still interest in doing a second season, but not without proper discretion. “We’ve talked about crowdfunding for any additional seasons, but we haven’t decided on that yet,” he says. “While crowdfunding was incredibly rewarding allowed us to get Awesome Asian Bad Guys, it was also a super intense and draining experience that we wouldn’t just jump back into without carefully thinking it through.”.
As for potential season two casting hopefuls, Dypiangco tells Film Combat Syndicate the following: “We’re certainly interested in continuing Awesome Asian Bad Guys beyond this first season, but we haven’t started reaching out to more bad guys just yet. Our bad guy wish list includes Bolo and Cary Tagawa for sure. And we’d love to work with bad girls like Kelly Hu and Maggie Q.”.
Awesome Asian Bad Guys will make its way to LAPFF on May 3 and May 7. You can learn more about the series, the festival and the current programming line-up at the official website. Watch the official series teaser below and get your tickets now!
*Special thanks to Stephen Dypiangco for answering my questions, and to Melanie-Anne Padernal for reaching out!
Go For The Kill: An Interview With KUNG FU FEMMES Producer And Director Tony Laudati
I enjoyed previewing this interview for myself beforehand and learning of all of the names of the ladies involved in this massive project, and I am very glad to have had Wiley on board for the time I did as this is his final piece for the site before he moves on to other projects and responsibilities. And now, it is my pleasure to now share that very discussion with you, and help expand and grant the audience that Kung Fu Femmes deserves.
A Brand New Clip From MMPR Features Two Soldiers At A Crossroads
Hopefully you haven’t fallen too out of the loop since the official trailer for the forthcoming first installment of the MMPR series of fan films aired late last year. With another episode well on its way to filming with another cast member, director Dominick Sivili and his team haven’t forgotten about the fans who’ve supported their cause in the past two years since the conception of this ambitious new project, and to show for their efforts, actress Dina Cataldi and producer Mack Khur have released a new special announcement video thanking their fans, accompanied by a brand new preview clip from the upcoming first fan film, featuring Cataldi as the Blue Ranger.
Later MMPR fan films will star actors Don Money and Ricky Barksdale, and actresses Kimberly and Ashley Carvalho as the Red, Black, and Yellow Ranger, respectively. They are joined by actors John Damroth and Matt Meinsen, along with actors Robert Axelrod and Jerry Murdock as the voice and body of a Lord Zedd, and original American series actor David Fielding returning to the role of Zordon.
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As the world celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Power Rangers, a controlling paramilitary group known as The Silver Guardians has taken over the duty of protecting the citizens of Angel Grove. Claire Ashmore (Dina Cataldi) is a former top soldier of the Silver Guardians, until she unearths the plans made by the head of the organization, General E.A. Collins (John Damroth). For the first time on the other side of a conflict, Claire must stop the Silver Guardians before it is too late. She will stumble upon the help of the ancient mythological being known as Zordon, the former mentor of the Power Rangers, as she unravels the mystery and attempts to steal the Power Morphers from the Silver Guardians.
A new war has begun between the Power Rangers, The Silver Guardians and the returning Lord Zedd!
Fisticuffs, Knives And Hammers Are Weapons Of Choice In The New Short, SmokeCity: BLOODLAND
For Michael Chin, the only way out is to fight his way out in SecondCity: BLOODLAND!
It was just last week that action fans like myself got to witness actor and martial artist Michael Chin in the latest action release from Doghouse 73 Pictures for Malaysian director James Lee’s pilot shortfilm, Second Life. It was an impressive introduction, at least for me as I was just learning about Lee’s new production platform. However, it was also not Chin‘s first stint in cinematic action as his career harkens back just a little earlier with one piece dating back to 2012 in the form of the new shortfilm, SmokeCity: Bloodland, a story of two petty criminals who find themselves way in over their heads when confronted by the men responsible for the crime they are helping commit.
The shortfilm was actually aired back in late 2012 after filming in September that year, before ultimately being taken down by its director, Adrian Lai, so he could revamp his channel and remaster the original edit. It was also a new step at the time for action coordinator Chee Hong and his stunt team, Low Angle Productions, who decided that this presented an opportunity to experiment with less flashier techniques to allow for more grittier and violent action sequences. To our delight, the result is what you see below, and it is well worth the eleven minutes of your time and appreciation as an action fan.
Plans for a second installation are already in the works with the hopes of casting female fighters, although it will take some time considering it is an independent production. But with any luck, SmokeCity 2 will see its fair share of brutal cat fights accompanied by some hardcore action design in the months to come.
In the meantime, by way of re-release, enjoy SmokeCity: Bloodland, and stay tuned for more info!
DRAGON BALL Z: THE LIGHT OF HOPE Brings New Hope For A New Webseries!
Amy Johnston lends an evil glare as Android 18 in the new trailer for DRAGON BALL Z: THE LIGHT OF HOPE
On Monday, husband and wife, and independent filmmaking and production duo Donnie and Rita McMillin unveiled a brand new crowdfunding campaign for an ambitious new live-action webseries take on a familiar Shonen Jump manga classic with Dragon Ball Z: The Light Of Hope. The project headlines the latest efforts from their content creation platform, Robot Underdog, which began roughly a year and a half ago, now succeeded by a new and growing website, and a Facebook page with well over 11,000 loyal followers. “In it’s core, Robot Underdog is simply the idea that when normal people come together we can make awesome things.”, says Underdog, in a recent discussion with both Donnie who directs, and Rita who serves as producer for all RUD projects. “We had a lot of learning & growing to do at the beginning stages – but the website launched officially about six months ago and from there spawned the Facebook, Twitter & instagram movements.”.
Dragon Ball Z: The Light Of Hope also marks the latest live-action vision of many to arrive over the years, one being as recently as the 2009 film that did not particularly bode well with a lot of fans of the original material. The project itself also faced its share of scrutiny following irreconcilable differences with a former friend and longtime collaborator who brought up the idea long prior to leaving the group, as Underdog tells Film Combat Syndicate the following: “After doing a couple of concept photo shoots and initiating the project, it became clear that we just weren’t going to see eye-to-eye on DBZ with our old friend. He ended up abandoning the project after the photo shoots and tried his best to kill it completely. At this point, we had assembled an incredibly talented team and had also garnered a very supporting fan base. We made the decision to continue the project for our team and for the fans. We knew we’d have a lot of rebuilding to do – but there was no way we could tell the fans and our team the project was off. So I guess in short – while the idea to do a DBZ project initiated from one source – the inspiration to keep going definitely came from the fans & from our core RUD team.”.
For the story, the McMillins detailed choosing the futuristic timeline to explore “The History Of Trunks”, headlined by a younger rendition of the titular half human Saiyan son of Bulma and Vegeta, played by actor Jack Wald, who Underdog also spoke highly of while reflecting on his previous cast read for the part. “One of most memorable parts was during Jack’s callback – He reached in his jacket and threw what appeared to be a normal tiny yarn ball at us. Little did we know that it was in fact a ‘ball of Ki’ he’d made out of yarn at school that day. We were all dying laughing in the casting studio.”.
With more to be cast along the way, the inspired new series also stars Anton Bex as Future Gohan, opposite actor Tyler Tackett and rising martial arts action star and Lady Bloodfight lead actress Amy Johnston, who play villainous superpowered characters Android 17 and Android 18, respectively, which Underdog also recalled of the latter two actors’ cast reading as “something special”. They also added the following, expressing much of their appreciation for sci-fi behind choosing these particular characters for their approach to the Dragon Ball canon. “…We really dig the idea of ‘Androids, Cyborgs & Terminators’.” says Underdog. “We’re huge Terminator fans and I would say that was a large draw towards the “Future Timeline’. Plus, The Future Timeline is also the darkest & most gritty timeline in all of Dragon Ball Z, which easily makes it our favorite.”.
Following today’s trailer unveiling further signifies the beginning stages of many turns for the McMillins and their Robot Underdog creative team, with plenty of opportunities sure to come their way. For now, especially in risking it all to help please fans with a newer interpretation of the Dragon Ball storyline and the great potential it carries, the first step meant getting their vision right for the fans. “It seems like most other live-action projects attempt to bring the Anime to life. And we’ve been very transparent with the fans that ‘re-creating the Anime’ is not our goal.” Underdog tells us. “Our adaptation will be darker, more realistic & more cinematic than any other DBZ they’ve seen before. I think our writer Derek Padula put it best in a recent interview when he said ‘It’s not about recreating the anime, it’s about telling a universal story in the Dragon Ball setting with the Dragon Ball characters in a Dragon Ball way.’”.
You can now view some of that universal testament to one of Japan’s best-selling properties now in the following trailer embedded below where you may also subscribe to Robot Underdog via YouTube. And, if you wish to see more of what Robot Underdog can deliver to you from the world of Dragon Ball, visit their official Indiegogo campaign page for donation and gift info, with more to discover at their official website.
Crowdfunding Begins For Martial Arts Action Webseries, STREETS OF MYTH
Following the unveiling of an action packed shortfilm promo last November with new concept art earlier this year (seen above), the new Kickstarter has officially begun to fund independent filmmaker Brandon Kahn‘s ambitious online martial arts webseries, Streets Of Myth. Featuring a prominent cast of talented actors and performers led by UK martial arts stalwart, actress Zara Phythian, the set up takes place in England, where society shaped itself into warring factions co-existing in social toxicity where any and all matters are settled in a hail of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts weaponry.
Kahn is looking toward raising £30,000 to fund the production costs prior to the hopeful pre-production and filming of the first episode titled “The King’s Arms” this summer for a September airing, off-setting a ten-to-twelve episode season with each episode lasting thirty minutes. That’s right! Not six or ten or fifteen, but whole half-hour episodes replete with dramatic storytelling with high impact martial arts choreography by series co-star Beau Fowler.
If you missed the earlier shortfilm promo, Enter The Streets Of Myth used to pitch the project late last year, you can watch it by clicking HERE. Otherwise, THE OFFICIAL KICKSTARTER PAGE for Streets Of Myth is up and running with more details on the first episode, the campaign itself, and information on what you can donate and the perks offered for your generosity.
A Terrorist Act Unveils Something Much More Explosive In The New Webseries, THE GAMBIT
After making some notable moves last year with the inspired vision shared in his series installment of Grayson: Earth One, independent filmmaker Hisonni Johnson has since kept on his toes with other creative works, and his latest has just arrived in the form of the new action crime/drama miniseries, The Gambit. The new series reunites Johnson with actor Raj Bhavsar who leads the new story filled intrigue, suspense and intensity, with a compelling plot centered on a small squad of heavily armed ex-cops led by a disgruntled former police Sergeant who takes the Captain’s daughter hostage, and a janitorial worker caught in the middle of it all.
Fans of Johnson‘s work can expect more from the Grayson storyline rougly in the coming year. For now, The Gambit is in play with two new episodes already available via his Youtube channel where you may also subscribe.
Life Is A Drag In The New Trailer For Action Comedy Series, DOS FAT GUYS
Dos Fat Guys Trailer from Stuntworks on Vimeo.
Akuma Erects His Demonic Pose In New Banner Pics For STREET FIGHTER: ASSASSIN'S FIST
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