THE HIT LIST - August 10, 2015

It's been a busy, busy year for the blog, and I seem to notice I'm running out of outstanding stunt reels. I may have to substitute if this keeps going, although I hope this turns around. Anyway, this week has a new Hit List installment and it should be an awesome evening or morning for you, wherever you are in the world as there are plenty of shorts and bits of webserial content to share with at least one being a matter of catching up for me.

I almost wish there were two of me for this thing.

Starting things off here is the stuntreel playlist with samplers by Robert Watson and Sean Taylor's stunt highlights from work on Josh Trank's Fant4stic, as well as reels by Tony Flores, Noah Woods, Lisa LoCascio, an excellent new reel from stunt coordinator and stuntman, Arnold Chon and a fantastic action reel courtesy of Martial Club's own Daniel Mah!

Now it's time to get fighting, and kicking things off are a trio of quick little fight action jewels, and I have a favorite from these. Cinematic Fight Studio initiates this round here with a test fight starring CFS student Nhan Du and martial artist and upcoming actor Tom Caserto, followed by Jeff Centauri's latest bit of madness in Young Model Fights Back: Secrets, a nifty little video from our German entertainers within the Noobtown Monkeys as dueling roommates, Player VS. Player and the latest test fight short, Captured, from Wolf Stunts!

Taking a moment to help share a little bit of webseries, YouTube Space has proven to be quite the breeding ground of ideas for Toku creative, indie filmmaker Bueno. The latest idea to come to fruition has finally taken shape in the new webseries, Ayakashi Zamurai, with Kimura Keisaku starring as a fugitive and wandering drifter armed with a kickass...puppy. Yes, I'm calling it a puppy until you see it for yourself.

The second video comes from the kind folks over at Shuriken Films in the wake of their new webseries launch, Warigami, starring Sam Marra in the story of a warrior on a mission to protect ancient scrolls while facing an opposition with a shared, unique skillset. It's visually impressive and the story and action share as every bit of intensity as you'd hope, and if you're new to the webseries, then you're just in luck. Because you can also catch the second episode today after you've seen the first in the player below!

And lastly, though far from least, oft contributor and independent action coordinator, James Couche, has a few gems of his own now out and about. One is the latest long-awaited short Demon Hunters:  Zero Mission, now online as of last week and serving up a nice little slice of sci-fi action cheese circa the mid-90's.

The second, and final video of the Hit List this week comes by the good graces of the latest milestone success of the current Kickstarter for director Michael Neal's webseries, Swords Of Insurgency, with the unveiling of the pilot while crowdfunding continues. Couche's team, DC Stunt Coalition led by stunt coordinator Dylan Hintz, designed the action with actress Rebecca Hausman front and center of this post-apocalyptic tale of one woman's struggle to survive tyrannical usurpers of the future.

Click here for more info, otherwise, enjoy both videos below!

Swords of Insurgency - Pilot Episode from Michael Neal on Vimeo.

A few noteworthy mentions here are necessary this week, particularly for independent filmmaker Frank T. Ziede who is currently around the corner with his latest military action series, Black. In the meantime, he's also promoting the Wednesday online premiere of his latest shortfilm, Dogs Of War, and there's an event page where you can join and view the trailer as well.

As for all else, there's plenty to catch up with if you're new to the Hit List, and last week's list is full of goodies if you missed any. And, if you or someone you know have QUALITY content you would like to host in our weekly Hit List, e-mail us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com.

THE HIT LIST - June 1, 2015

Another big week has rolled by for some more amazing feats of independent action for domestic and international, with at least a few gems lending a spotlight to longstanding thespians respective to their own bases. These Hit Lists are always so loaded with content so I hope you are all able to keep up, too.

That said, let's get the show going here with some notable fight, stunt and tricking reels in the following embedded playlist, and a few of these are quite the favorites among some fans out there. Jessie Graff's most recent reel came out in April and so I've finally caught up with it myself, in addition to many more performers, including Katie Kramer, Esther Ballesteros, Michael Lehr, Goran Stjepanovic, Matt Mullins, Peter Jang, Aaron Toney, Jordan Okubo, the EMC Monkeys and the amazingly talented Celine Tran in a beautiful sword performance video from Godefroy Ryckewaert (if you'd like to see her kill zombies instead, you can do that too).

It's trailer time, and there are only a couple of these projects now active in some form or another, firstly with the current episode one webseries release of J.F.K. from actor and filmmaker Kyle Wong over at Black Ice 140. There's no relation here to the 35th President Of The U.S. and much more of a cross between The Hangover and The Twilight Zone with a story centered on three friends forced to piece together the events that occured the night they all got a little too drunk; The project is a reworking of its previous iteration, shot entirely new for a more cohesive story. There's comedy, a little drama, and only one fight scene in its current six-part setup, which is fine for what Wong envisions, and there are three character trailers on the channel to serve as a nice intro - Kyle's character trailer is at the very top.

The second trailer comes directly from blogger and filmmaker Michael S. Moore whose brand new webseries, Cornered, is airing its first episode on Tuesday, with Donald Brooks starring as a cop forced to fight his way through a gauntlet of deadly fighters to retrieve a briefcase and save the life of a woman from captivity. This doesn't look bad at all for Moore's debut at all and I look forward to what the remainder of this series has to offer, and you can learn more about it at his official Facebook page.

Two other short film trailers are also making the rounds - the first one comes by way of Bryan Sloyer, a filmmaker, stuntman and a consumate work-in-progress with a more mindful approach in his artistic delivery for sometime now, and his upcoming fight short, Music Man, is an example of that. The trailer beneath it is compilation trailer for two shortfilms by French actor and stuntman Daren Nop for Shadow Of 13, both which focus on a young homeless man whose remarkable fighting skills and acts of heroism draw the ire of the local thugs; Both shorts are now offline, but bode highly in their respective parts with stellar performances and design by Nop and his team, Cascade, in association with Taken and Transporter Refueled fight coordinator Alain Figlarz and his team. Moreover, the project just hit Cannes two weeks ago, so I wouldn't be too surprised if a feature film is in the works because of it. Just delighted, really.

The week also brings some cool new pictures from upcoming indie short projects. The first wave comes from Canadian fall guy Alex Chung well underway with Hit Me Apocalypse, now out with two new stills illustrating this, the third in a series of shorts paying hilarious tribute to Fight Club and host to an array of action sequences full of comedic genius...which reminds me... those ARE sticks. And ow. - The second album includes stills from a forthcoming project by George Johnston and his talented crew at Glasgow-based Hybrid Fight Academy. It's been a few years since I heard from this lot, so I look forward to whatevet their stills entail as well.

Time to knuckle up and get the fights out and about! The first four comes with the good graces of actor and martial artist Mathis Landwher taking the lead in a conceptual action sequence for a project titled Trespasser; It looks pretty ambitious and I would love to see more of it if there are plans in the works.

The second, third and fourth short videos below bring us the latest test fight gig from performers Taylor Tai and Ieisha Auyeung, Winner Takes All - the latest from David Conk over at Wolf Stunts, and some Pad Training with a twist courtesy of Movie Do's own Eskindir Tesfay and featuring pad-kicking trainee Robert Masser!

Now merging into some longer material, this final leg of the Hit List is one to truly savour. Actor and choreographer Namphon Arta Thainuruk's latest performance in Fired lends a good start here, with a story focused on an assassin whose concious arises during a job. I'll be honest, whatever happens at the end kinda left me feeling mindfucked a bit.

Bittersweet Beatdown is another new short that grants a bit of dramatic appeal with some action to boot, with performances by Andres Del Toro and director Joren Reyes. Del Toro plays Alessandro, a desperate street fighter in need of a little help that comes in a most awkward, and painfully brutal way. The action is a little sketchy with regard to editing and execution, but it's a watchable package and I recommend checking it out anyway.

Oh...and speaking of Lehr and provided you caught his reel in the embed at the very top, his team at Fight Factory have assembled anothet gem of their own, and it's apparently more suitable in brackets. [kill] is the title here, so make of it what you will. It's stylishly violent, gory and brutal, and for those reasons alone, it's awesome.

Next up is a continuation of a miniseries of action-packed fight experiments from filmmaker Eric Nguyen over at Lunar Stunts Action Cinema. The Fighting Journey has been going for a few years now and each with great results, and his next anf eighth installment, Uncharted, is another to feast the eyes on.

Now, now, in case you're getting weary of learning when you'll hear from Vlad Rimburg again, fear not. I teased his latest project with Tony Chu a few Hit Lists ago and it has since arrived in full, and it packs an array of walloping kicks to the face! Sacrifice is the title here featuring Brendon Huor leading with key performances by Mickey Faccinello, Amy Johnston, V10 Women Stunt Professionals's own Nadia Padilla, and a ghoulish appearance by fellow action actress Gemma Nguyen!

Shenmue - 'Suka High finally arrived from Leroy Nguyen and his team over at Rising Tiger Films, based on the Sega Dreamcast video game of the same name. I admit, I have no idea what the game itself really is since I never owned a Dreamcast, but whatever Nguyen and co-star Daniel Sim have set out to accomplish here, it appears they've done exactly that. You can also catch a making-of video on their channel as well.

While many of independent filmmaker Jeff Centauri's previous shorts feature gorgeous Filipina locals at the center of the action, this time he's bringing the fellas back to the stage once more. That said, Centauri's Kung Ako si ASIONG (If I Were ASIONG) lends the spotlight to the main character in a 2011 feature-length gangster biopic with an entertaining spin, showcasing Jerico Estregan and Eric Ejercito in a bro-infused duality between Asiongs. Oh, and there's a special appearance at the end by Eric's father who played the title role four years ago on the big screen, which I thought was pretty damn cool. Take a look!

Continuing all Star Wars fandom is the latest fight video from a group that I'm new to. Trilogy Wars brings John Perez and Alfonso Rodriguez in a tale of two friends talking girls, life, and movies, and as the story would have it, the last one results in an epic lightsaber battle around the house, with a twist at the end you might find amusing but...so much anti-Jar Jar hate though! Wow.

And finally, it's a good year to be actor and director David Sandberg, star of the new online shortfilm, Kung Fury, with 3 millions views in the first 24 hours and rising since Thursday, and now one of the most buzzed-about and warmly-received shorts now hitting festivals with a feature film on par for 2018. If you're new to this finely-crafted piece of retro awesomeness, by all means, let's fix that right now. All it needs are your eyeballs, and just thirty minutes to completely melt your brain through them. It'll feel good, I promise!

Subscribe to the channels and pages above, and if you have a few more minutes, last week's Hit List is still up and running in case you missed. But more importantly, if you have a QUALITY reel/shortfilm/trailer or other action-related material you think deserves an audience, hit us up at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com.

THE HIT LIST: January 26, 2015

If at any point these Hit List articles become weekly events for you, whether it be by yourself or among friends, then I'm truly greatful. I find a lot of these things online, and it surprises me how many videos I come across that remain hidden from us for so long until we're lucky enough to catch on to them, and among this list, there are quite a few within the last few years that I felt were worth sharing given their relevance. So, let's get to it!...

Starting off is a new retrospective video from Lunar Stunts' own in-house action duo, Eric Nguyen and Irvin Nguyen as they look back at last year's highlights. Everything from Fair Game to Eat. Pray. Ninja. and even Rope-A-Dope 2 is included in this reel as the Nguyen bros look ahead to what the new year will hopefully bring.


2015 is looking pretty upworthy for independent filmmaker Charlie Dennis since successfully crowdfunding his latest new action project, Deep Pan Fury. It was late last year that we got a whiff of some of the action we'll be expecting from our cast, including U.K. actor and martial artist Laurent Plancel (a.k.a. Law Jhon) who now has a new action-packed stunt and fight reel to kick off the new year. Check it out below, along with three other spectactular new stunt reels from Elizabeth Carpenter, Jessi Fisher and Tyler Williams.





Short, sweet and to the point, the first of the next two pieces from independent filmmaker Shaun Charney include a new fight short with performances by PeiPei Alena Yuan and Sayaka Pereira. Again, it's pretty short with a silly endin courtesy of Charney's own comedic wit, but the video is quite stylish and worth taking a look at for the minute-and-a-half it plays.

The second is a solo weapons/form video featuring Charney following his previous video which you can check out by CLICKING HERE.



...Meanwhile, it's just another day at the office for the wrecking crew over at stunt training facility, Action Factory. Check out independent filmmaker and stuntman Rustic Bodomov's latest quick experiment behind the lens with principle performances by Kara Petersen, Peter Jang and Matthew Kennedy.


This next video comes from independent filmmaker Sean Dunlap and co-director, actor Andrew Dismuke whose latest shortfilm, Ment, centers on one man's battle to protect a powerful element that could heal the sick and wounded. The execution in the action is very rough around the edges from top to bottom, but the idea here is presentable, and even watchable with the choreography and a concept which suit a shortfilm like this quite nicely.


Here, we have a small sampler from a YouTube account hosting the latest trailers for Jimmy Henderson's latest offering to Cambodian moviegoers titled Hanuman: Year Of The Monkey. The film's prolific aim at showcasing the indigenous ancient style, Bokator stems from the hardworking team over at Bokator Sor Association from which the video below, uploaded last year, is shown on the front page of their official website. If it at all interests you, feel free to pay them a visit after you watch the action demo... or before, whichever suits you best.


Adding to his list of screenfighting eye candy is Jeff Centauri's latest little gem featuring Keanna Reyes opposite El Salamanca in Young Model Fights Back. Centauri is currently working on a Legend Of Korra fan short at the moment, along with a few other shortfilm projects releasing soon prior to his partake in at least two local feature films this year, so it's nice to see him still keeping warmed up behind the camera when he can. In the meantime, take a look at his latest just beneath.


Actor Jonathan Lee's participation with the folks over at Cinematic Fight Studio are proving quite beneficial since collaborating for indie filmmaker Anthony Pellino's upcoming fan-attributed short, Mortal Kombat: The One, wherein you'll likely find Lee donning the iconic black and blue ninja garb as Sub-Zero. This week, the studio has presented its latest fight scene package for fellow client, with Lee opposite working actor Louis Balletta in a scene where Balletta wanted to showcase a lesser-stylish formula of martial arts choreo. Leave it to in-house fight coordinator Lang Yip to design the action, and below is what we get!


It was quite a delightful surprise when I came across Malaysian filmmaker and stunt professional Ayez Shaukat Fonseca's YouTube channel. He's been up and coming in the field of stunts and action direction for some time now, and the most recent short film on his channel, Kejar, is a pretty good example of his progress. The end caption is a reflective moral following a short story of how a simple act of kindness can change things for the better; Indeed, there are no shortcuts in life, although this nice, simple little action short is a worthy exception.


This particular video seems to make the rounds often. It's a clip from a New Zealand satirical comedy series titled Auckland Daze which began its run in 2012 and centers on the lives of four hapless professionals trying to make it in the entertainment industry in some fashion. That said, check out the clip below featuring series co-star, actor and martial artist Glen Levy and guest star, actor Liam McIntyre (The Legend Of Hercules).


With the Naruto franchise still garnering mass appeal, it's easy to see why fans have become so creative and inspired in their own ways to tap into the fanbase through action and filmmaking. The most notable example so far has been Thousand Pounds Action Company's 2012 milestone hit, Naruto Shippuden: Dreamer's Fight, which evidently became a source of inspiration for independent filmmaker Brian Huynh over at Ohh Wow Films with Naruto Shippuden: Root that same year. It's worth a look now if you've haven't seen it yet, particularly in the wake of two forthcoming releases, one of them being the long-awaited Dreamer's Fight follow-up, Epic Rival's Naruto Shippuden: Dance Of War on Feburary 16, before the limited U.S. release of the animated feature, The Last: Naruto The Movie later that week.

And an awesome week it will be!



...And here as a nice little segway into the pre-viz department, with two freshly-released choreography videos in the players below. The first is a prep video for Epic Rival's Clandestine project series featuring key sequences that couldn't be included in the final product due to time and money restraints. The other is a blocking video attributed to the U.K. student-produced action short, Prime Contact which was successfully crowdfunded and filmed in the last two years. The short film eventually screened last Summer and Fall for two separate events at the University Of York, and there's currently no word on its release or even a trailer. Thankfully, the choreography team over at SG Action released some concept footage this week representing a principle fight scene in the third act.

As a noteworthy mention, I had the opportunity to screen it for myself last year, and it's a real solid piece of work with a very professional and large scale appeal. I sincerely hope to share it as soon as I hear more.



Sometimes I have a habit of catching up with myself. Having covered actor and martial artist, Wildchild Gil Sanabria from time to time, it's with great credit that his career continues to grow beyond contributing to Puerto Rico's first ever martial arts action film, El Testigo also starring lead actor Jose Manuel. The film went on to earn a flurry of nominations and runner-up acknowledgements at the Action On Film Festival in 2012, including two wins for best action sequence and best fight choreography, making it a good year for director Andres Ramirez and the folks behind this amazing film.

And to think, it all spawned from a 2009 action short. Check it out below, and also check out a teaser from last summer from another indie actioner from Manuel's own channel titled Driven To Kill.



Injuries are no joke, especially when it comes to parkour, but its always inspiring when these athletes are able to showcase their stories of recovery in such style. Alas, observe freerunners, stuntman Ronnie Shalvis as well as Sanabria in the players below, along with other freerunning and tricking reels featuring Nick Provost, Sérgio Bödtker-Lund, Albert Vallardares, tricker Vellu Saarela's sampler promoting a jam-packed tricking gathering in Finland this April, and the latest featurette for the new post-apocalyptic zombie game, Dying Light, with actor and parkour founder David Belle (Banlieue 13, Babylon A.D.) as main highlight.

Last but not at all least, healing continues a week since news of the passing of actor and action legend Darren Shahlavi earlier this month shook the world of martial arts cinema from its core. Efforts are now being made to help fundraise for a Hollywood memorial, as well traveling expenses and funeral arrangements for relatives as well as the body of the late actor between the U.S. and the U.K., and if you want to learn more in addition to the facts surrounding the news of his passing, CLICK HERE.

Shahalvi, 42, spawned a fruitful career from his roots as a Hong Kong stunt professional to an otherwise prolific action star with credits like Bloodmoon, 300, Mortal Kombat Legacy and Arrow, with upcoming appearances in several more projects along the way. Gladly, Shahlavi's fanbase has grown so much so that any number of searches will turn up with showreels featuring the late star in his element, and this week, you can check out a some of the legendary actor's highlights in an amazing promo reel from the humble folks over at Iron Dragon TV.


Subscribe to these channels right now and CLICK HERE if you missed any videos from last week. If you have a QUALITY shortfilm, reel or teaser/trailer of any kind you would like showcased on Film Combat Syndicate, send them to filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com!