Friday night marked another big event weekend in which I had the opportunity to partially partake. A night of festive dining, laughter and comeradery that felt all too short for me, though I managed to fend off the sleep deprivation for a whole day to write about it. Feel free to check it out of you fancy it.
Of course, the work doesn’t stop there. This week’s installment of the Hit List is packed with a fresh new load of film, stunt and screenfighting talent and much more.
As such, it was actress and martial artist Geneviève Doang (STUDIO+ series Dragon Race) who left a striking impression on me a few Winters ago with one of the best action comedy short you’ll ever see involving two heroes kicking NAZI ass, Le Aventures De Tranh Et Nowak. The short, also starring actor Quentin d’Hainaut, was intially meant as a pilot for a hopeful series that never came to pass but you can still catch the short online. And, in pairing fashion, you will find that footage visible in their latest reels currently kicking off this week’s stunt reel playlist.
Following that is a spectacular sampler from action actor and martial artist Emilien De Falco (Boyka: Undisputed), as well as reels by Greg Rementer, Ben Hinnant, Kai Ferris, Tim Chiou and actor/stuntman Jeremy Sample. The action picks up even more with Nicoletta Hansen sampling us with her latest stage combat reel, with Darcy Hinds and John Palmeri keeping the pace going with reels of their own. The playlist rounds out with a spry new fight compilation reel by Federico Berte (more on him later), and reels by Jason Spector, Justin Berti, an energizing work reel by Frctyl Films., and a pair of demo reels that are just as B.A.D. as Brazen Action Design‘s acronym spells out!
Enjoy!
It was earlier this year in March that I managed to catch up a little bit with actor and filmmaker Robin Deeter whose 2016 pilot, Project Child: Absolution, helped launch development of an inspired new sci-fi action webseries to come. Thus, taking further shape nearly a year later, Deeter sent us the first official teaser for Project Child: Origins while we await an official release date.
Take a look, and feel free to visit the official website.
It’s time for a music break and I try to include these as often as possible considering the stunt talent used in a lot of kickass videos. This one hails from Romanian electronic dance group, Transylvania Damn Fun, whose Vlad Damian and Constantine Zgomot lead the band and, accordingly, their most recent music video from August titled WTF. Visually and conceptually, I found the video to be a fascinating and a fitting Hit List entry from director Lubomir Levitsky who currently resides in Los Angeles.
Hat tip goes to Ukranian actress and stuntwoman Karina Bershadskaya who stars in the video, thus showcasing just why it is I’m thankful to be following her work since last December. (Her stunt reel is also a thing of beauty. ?)
Enjoy!
As always, we finish out the Hit List with a nimble selection of projects now online starting with Federico Berte who gives us plenty to fawn over this week, firstly alongside Haga Akihiro in a Project A-inspired practice fight, followed by a reupload of a dueling swordfight comedy titled Don’t Mess With My Food. (Seriously, if you touch my bacon, Federico’s response will be just as forward as mine ?).
Robert Steven Brown and Jayson Atz take the action close quarters to storage with Conceal, before we move along with the latest chapter pitting Joey Min against the first of The King’s deadly minions, Sifu Brian Kuttel, in The Forgotten Kingdom: A Kung Fu LARP Story from Art School Dropouts.
Following that, we finally get back in touch with Cedric Tellier who initially found his way on our radar in 2014 with action short, Elit Unit. He’s done some truly favorable and attractive work in France and apart from photography, continues to spread the gospel through his recent channel launch, Martial Way.
His journey in film also continued in the past two years since launching crowd funding efforts for the intense new kung fu thriller, Force & Honneur (Strength And Honor), telling of a master forced to defend himself by cornered by a bitter former protègè he banished years earlier. Hoàng Nghi and Yohann Escobar star under the direction of Maxime Cordon and Thibaut Dupuis with Tellier designating the stylish and slick kung fu action for an exemplary shortfilm that ought to do terrific in putting SoWhat Productions on your radar.
Finishing things off in royal fashion is Gong Shu Dao from director Wen Zhang with co-star Jet Li serving as executive producer, and starring Alibaba founder Jack Ma as a kung fu master in a dreamscape and pitted against swarms of masterful foes… Of course the first thing he murders is a basketball. Because the basketball totally had it coming. ?
Twenty minutes of total kung fu fan fare led by a swarm of film stars and athletes with action directed by three of the most heralded figures in Asian film and stunt history, none of whom need further introduction. That said, as Steven Tyler put it: Just push play!
The Hit List will be back next week and hitting as hard as ever with more entries. Be sure to check out our piece from last week, SHARE the Hit List with friends and subscribe to the channels. Moreover, if you have a kickass new stunt reel or a fascinating you film project centric with action and stunts that you feel meets the standards of being a hit, hit us up at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to weigh in.