THE HIT LIST - July 20, 2015

Well, I'm certainly proud after last night. I don't get to have too many adventures with stunt professionals, but when I do, they're all inarguably some of the most fun experiences I continue to have. I guess I can only hope to share those experiences with even more people I include in the weekly Hit List...for now though, distance and affordability are my disadvantages. But that doesn't stop me from bringing the action where it is, so...

...let's get this shindig started with a new playlist of stunt and action demo reels. The names here include Alfred Hsing, Bonnie Pisciotta, Janelle Beaudry, David Ausem, Michelle DeMond, Petra Sprecher, Alvin Hsing and Julien Briau.

I thought I'd advance things a bit with the inclusion of a couple of parkour videos this week since content is a bit low. Plus, sometimes I do include freerunning videos to spice things up seeing as how such a dynamic sport has much to do with how we view cinematic action. And this week, Ilya Semyonov, Will Sutton, and the freerunning talent in a new reel hosted by the Epic Metal Piece channel have it down packed!

It was back in March that Stunt 360's own Jacob Sebastian Malm shared a trailer to showcase the names of talented martial artists enlisted in this Summer's presentation of Giacmo Puccini's Turandot at Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria. This month, we have a new highlight video featuring all of our talent hard at work behind the scenes and rehearsing, and to be honest though, I've never seen Turandot myself, so I've never been familiar with it until as of late, although considering what we're seeing here, it looks like an exciting show we could all wrap our heads around.

Anyway, as you are about to see, one of the show's key performers includes filmmaker and Martial Club creator Andy Le who himself has another video on his team channel featuring some more behind-the-scenes work, and this time with indepenedent action performer and member of Zero Gravity, Unlucky Stars star Ken Quitugua. Not much is being said about this project other than its title, The Challenger (I'm already sold), so there isn't much to go by except for Le's own insight and some of the exclusive footage Le is introducing to all of us. Check it all out now!

Also offering some extra behind-the-scenes goodies are on-set highlights from the production of Lunar Stunts Action Cinema's Spring short film release, Tough Street. You can find it on their channel as of three months ago, while this week you can now observe just how director Eric Nguyen puts together action sequences and tells stories in the process. His channel is full of morsels and if you haven't heard of him now, hopefully this will clue you in.

The fight action now ensues in several new test fights and shorts from here on out. Kicking things off is a new little gem from action actors Anthony Pho and Alex Levand and Shift Media's latest action short -The Reveal with Craig Canning and Grant Steven.

The remaning three videos recapitulating this week's Hit List are now here - a few of which you may be familar. The first is a new addition to the blog courtesy of Glasgow-based martial arts studio Hybrid Fight Academy who have experimented with cinematic action before. They always do solid work and moviegoers may even find some of their touch applied to filmmaker Christian Sesma's forthcoming installment sequelizing the long-awaited release of one of his recent titles, Vigilante Diaries.

In the meantime, you can find their latest contribution to action cinema with their brand new short, Interrogation, principally featuring Hybrid fight instructor, actor, choreographer and director George Johnston.

INTERROGATION from Refract Visuals on Vimeo.

Consider these latter two as honorable mentions, with the first coming from independent filmmaker Frank Hernandez in the form of the new action drama short, Heart, and Fabien Garcia's newest hard-hitting epic piece of post-apocalyptic action fanlore, Drained World, which is now seeking funding from the public, as well as interested investors for a full webseries season. Click HERE and HERE for more info.

That about wraps things up on this end, but if you have time to spare and you missed last week's Hit List, please feel free to have at it. Otherwise, if you or someone you know is a content creator with QUALITY work that could use some publicity in a future Hit List article, send an awesome e-mail 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 - May 18, 2015

Stunt reels, freerunning, tricking, fighting and more. The Hit List is back this week and there's at least one video you should check out here as it pertains to an upcoming televsion series arriving this Fall.

For now, the Hit List begins in the only way it should, particularly considering anyone who knows who action star Donnie Yen is knows he has a sister. Alas, Chris Yen's latest reel comes first and foremost, with others from Amy Sturdivant, Kiki Okubo, Christopher Llorca, Paul Clark and David Rodriguez, as well as a new fight choreography reel Paradox Pollack, and an absolutely fantastic stunt coordinator reel from Philippe Guegan!

Now we get to do a little bit of freerunning, and to kick things off, the folks over at Precision Parkour have a new video out which you can view right now, with other entries from Team Farang's own Pasha Petkuns, 16-year old prodigy Serafina Ferraro, and a recent video from the amazing content creators and cinephiles at SubOverHype titled Midnight Mayhem!, taking parkour and car stunts to yet another level of pure physical genius!

Alas, it's time to get punchy, kicky, stabby, shooty and all dramaticky and whatnot, as Italy's own D-Unit gets things started with a Donnie Yen-inspired test fight. Peep it.

Up next, actress Kristen Brancaccio got some mighty attention from YA bookworms and sci-fi fans last week with her stellar performance in Leo Kei Angelos's new short, Mockingjay Burn. If you've been keeping up with the updates, you likely already understand the circumstances that kept the short from airing online right away, and for very good reason.

Feast your eyes on the new post-apocalyptic sci-fi short, Day One, which lands you right smackdab in the middle of nowhere with Brancaccio as a seemingly lone survivor on Earth, fighting to live as she counts the days since she last saw human contact. The short was submitted and earned a top-10 place in a competition headlined by HBO's Project Greenlight, which is set to air its new season this September, so there's a good chance we'll see Brancaccio and Angelos on TV this year to learn more about them as aspiring filmmakers.

You can check out a director's cut of the short by clicking here. Otherwise, enjoy the video below!

Here, it's not everyday a shortfilm like this comes around, particularly with regard to subject matter as relevant as what's often seen in the news lately. Chainwheel is the name of the new short from director Sean Tambour Marshall and starring Dwight Taylor and Marisa MacFarlane, featured at several film festivals with one nomination in the past year. It's not a huge action piece aside from what little martial arts elements are added, but its male lead does show some screen acting and fighting skill. This, coupled with a comprehensive message about ancestral and global history in correlation with the systemic degradation of minorities in the face of municipal courruption in corporate America makes Chainwheel definitely worth the viewing.

Watch it right now and all the way through the end credits. Trust.

Back on point here, we now get back in action with a new short from Perry Vangoethem and Quentin Kloos titled Friendship, a story of an assassin assigned to kill his best friend, although evidently the mission ends with a twist. This is the first I've seen from Vangoethem and his team, and while some of YouTube's own editorial handling of this doesn't do it justice, this still looks pretty entertaining for any action fan if I may say so. Check it out!

Next is a fresh bit of throwback fanfare, and not too far back at that. Actor and stuntman Damien Walters was one of several professionals commissioned by Fox to help promote their February release of the theatrical spy romp, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and so what you see below is his contribution at the time. No, I haven't seen the movie yet, and it doesn't mean that I won't, and I'm certain I need to. I've written and learned about it enough to know it's a hit, so it's in my wishlist as we speak.

In the meantime, this was a real gem to find, and continues to be one in many reasons why I support independent film and online action through genuine performers and their platforms. Watch.

Take two assassins and watch as they go about their killing ways while talking about life, love and happiness in the new pilot piece, The Scuttlebutt Assassins following a trailer unveiling a few months ago. It's the latest collaboration from Wusah Productions and Usurp Productions with DY Sao and Wen Ren directing, and it bares mentioning the potential here for something truly amazing to happen, be it for a series or a movie. The acting is good, the dialogue is hilarious, and the action and fight choreography are solid between the fisticuffs, stabbings and double taps. It's the kind of R-rated martial arts action comedy with just the right amount of violence and charm, and I for one, hope the right people will board this to help provide what it needs to give it more than just merely these six-minutes. Enjoy the shit out of this one.

Next to last, it's trailer time with a look into the third chapter of Lunar Stunts's indie trilogy, Pandora's Box 3. Action creator Eric Nguyen directs once more, for this latest chapter of the thrilling drama centered on secretive organization of mercenaries and its brutal and violent hiring (or firing) practices. Nguyen's been making some staunch improvement when it comes to cinematic quality and promotion of his work, and this first teaser alone is a great display of that progress. I say give him a decent feature-length movie budget and let him flex his muscles more than ever. He's more than earned it.

Also, the boys over at Rising Tiger films have a trailer out as well for a new shortfilm contributed to videogame fanfare of their own with their latest project, Shenmue (Suka High). Not that I'm at all familar with this particular game, but I wouldn't put it past this group that this turns out to be another impressive piece of work, and if you're familiar with their channel, you'll know what I'm talking about.


And finally, last night, awards were given, songs were sang, and Taylor Swift won the evening in addition to debuting her latest kick ass music video, Bad Blood with stunt coordination by Don Theerathada and Power Rangers bootleg helmer Joseph Kahn directing a music video in the only way Joseph Kahn would. Expect an array of sexy femme fatales, tons of girl on girl action, and a good share of explosions, spills, kicks and thrills. And Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, for certain.

Subscribe to these channels above and be sure to catch last week's videos if you missed any. Moreover, if you have a QUALITY action short, stunt reel or trailer for a project you're working on, e-mail us 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!

THE HIT LIST - January 5, 2015

The new year has barely begun, and there's already tons of material floating around online with today's entry host to its usual amalagam of largely new and a few dated videos. Yes, it's insane, but it's also a wonderful (and delightfully explosive) reminder of what we can expect for the next 360 days. So, rest assured, lest you self-proclaimed sports and martial arts action fans find yourselves missing out on the immense amount of hidden talent online, there's a world out there full of artists looking to win your approval. And Film Combat Syndicate is happy to oblige.

If you're knowledgeable of the tricking community, the name Jeremy Marinas might ring a bell. He's hugely successful among other professional athletes in a career that has ultimately granted him a chance to work on plenty of feature films and shortfilm projects, namely Man Of Tai Chi (2013), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), and online shorts such as Death Before Dishonor and Garbage Day. If this is your intro to Marinas, then you've arrived just in time to check out his latest sampler below.

Up next is someone I've mentioned before. Again, another popular name in the martial arts community, actress and renowned martial artist and XMA purveyor Rayna Vallandingham has made quite a name for herself among millenials, having become the youngest black belt ever to win eleven (11) world martial arts championship titles by the age of ten. Needless to say, she's been a busy girl in the last three years,  and all prior to landing her latest role in actor and director Phillip Rhee's forthcomimg martial arts drama, Underdog Kids.

Her new demo reel is out and about this month, courtesy of Kickpics. Enjoy!

I think if it weren't for the rising popularity of parkour in the past decade through its communal buildup online, we would have less happier people in the world. I often look at these videos and wish this sport was known to me when I was much younger, as it really does seem to take you places, as does the latest contribution from parkour videographer and enthusiast Joel Eggimann with the new video, Adventure Stories, a testamemt to living life to its fullest purpose.

Check it out below, and if that doesn't fulfill your appetite, then feel free to gaze on two more videos just beneath, courtesy of Lynn Jung, and the traceurs featured on the Flow Channel's 2014 rewind video.

Actor and martial artist Gil Sanabria is someone I've had my eye on for a while now. Currently dabbling in a number of independent projects while working on building his career as a stuntman and fight choreographer, his latest reel should prove as a nice little introduction for you if this is your first time hearing of him.

Up next is a reel featuring a perpetual amount of previous and upcoming work from filmmaker Eric Nguyen over at Lunar Stunts Action Cinema. Shorts like Fair Game, Eat. Pray. Ninja. and El Guerrero are all prime examples of what Nguyen is capable of, and the potential that lies there. It'll be a blast to see what he comes up with this year!

Alas, we get fighting, and it's with great, GREAT pleasure to share the latest get together between action actors Gui DaSilva and Nick Benseman, and LBP Stunts Chicago mainstay Emmanuel Manzanares. It's been a few months since we've seen something from him, and from the looks of his first video of 2015, he's getting things off to a great start. I'm ready for anything!

This one was a late catch on Monday last week, but it still feels good to finally share with you straight from Shaun Charney's YouTube platform over at Dragon Phoenix Entertainment. Charney gets some screentime here alongside actress and model Ishida Sachiko and Slug Street Scrappers co-star Saito Mari. I've written plenty about these three in the past year, so a quick internet search will definitely take you where you can find even more of them on screen. Sample some of it below!

It's pretty clear that things are brewing for something new over in Australia with longstanding film producer Mike Leeder (One Million K-l-icks, Ultimate Justice) on hand. To date, the latest bit of proof has since arrived with recent new pre-viz fight choreography clip courtesy of action choreographer Trung Ly and his students over at Đồng Thanh Alliance Martial Arts in Sydney.

We'll be sure to find out more on what this will all mean come next year. In the meantime, push play!

This next video comes with the great pleasure of having already, finally, gotten a foothold of independent filmmakers Lester "Leroy" Nguyen and Edmund Shum. The two had a great Winter run last year upon making some sparks at the Urban Action Showcase and Expo in New York City while representing their production banner, Rising Tiger Films, and their award-winning Two Minute Fight category short, Baddest, is no exception.

Nguyen and Shum have other plans for 2015, including hopefully finding a proper platform to sell their latest labor of love, Black Scar Blues (and you can read more about that by clicking here), in addition to completing a slate of upcoming project after taking the creative helm of the female-centric action cinema platform, Deadly Dymes, with the first project, Exhit Wounds, officially on the way.

For now, though, let's see which of these Rising Tigers are Baddest!

This next one is quite the throwback, dating back to just a few years ago when wristband company, EFX, got together with Russian martial arts and tricking sports team, Street Union to create an advertisement. I found it on Friday morning last week and I figured this would be something worth sharing, particularly since there isn't a lot of recent content on this channel, and I certainly hope that this remarkable team is still active in some capacity.

At any rate, here is their 2012 EFX-RUS ad, Fight For The Bracelet, with Ilya Pozdnyakov and Mikhail Belskiy.

This next one is another in any number of online action shorts I've unfortunately overlooked in the past year. This one was written and directed by actor Roberto Lopez who first came on my radar with a hilarious and entertaining series pitch titled Dos Fat Guys with co-star Marcos Miranda. I certainly hope that one manages to pick up some steam at some point in the near future, but in the meantime, here's a little something Lopez put together ans unveiled online last summer titled Killer Wives, with Stephanie Vovou, Micole Aubertin Murray and one of my favorite people in the Earthrealm, actress and stuntwoman Kimmy Suzuki. And as you'll see, it'll take a lot more than act of national security to protect this man from his infidelity.

Killer Wifes from Stuntworks on Vimeo.

Over here...well, I guess it just goes to show that gratitude is much more open to interpretation these days. This one is called My Hero, the first video from the screenfighting and film production platform over at New York City's Cinematic Fight Studio, directed by Lang Yip with key performances by actress Judy C. Yang, actor Jeremy Rafal and Cinematic Fight Studio's own in-house fight professor, actor Adam Lee. Take a looksy!

The folks over at Martial Club had a great year last year putting out quite a few shorts while expanding themselves in competitive martial arts tricking. They've been around for several years now, having appeared in numerous collaborations, and even performing some stuntwork in the first of two principal episodes for the long-awaited release of Epic Rival's inspired new series, Clandestine.

In kind, their ambitions toward film also come entrenched in an immersive display of Asian philosophy and culture, embodied largely by a tremendous appreciation of, and respect for kung fu cinema. And at the top of the year, they have now returned with a brand new online gem that further sets the Martial Club example of this, led by actor and martial artist Andy Le in the new shortfilm, The Greatest Adversary 對頭. Check it out below!

An undercover cop desperate to keep his identity a secret until a deal goes bad and he's forced to fight for his life - That's pretty much the basic story setup as can now be seen in full with the release of director Fabien Carrabin's new long-awaited crime short, Iron. Filmed back in November 2013, producer, actor and stuntman Eddy Benguedih leads the way as he fights his way out of a hail of bullets and a squad of thugs bent on taking him out.

Cedric Teller (Elit Unit) directed the action, and while a few of the action sequences appear to be cut short for some reason, there are some highs to compensate for the lows, including good acting and great cinematography between certain shots. Perhaps all we really need now are some subtitles, because as of this write-up, there are none, although I imagine it would be fun to interpret, somewhat.

If you're familiar with the caliber of film and action talent from the folks over at German martial arts and film team, Young Masters and enjoyed recent online gems like Tribal Ties and Future Boss, you'll be glad to see just how they've kicked off the new year with the brand new shortfilm release, Mister. The project was last summer as a homage to Lee Jeong-beom's 2010 thriller, The Man From Nowhere, and would have released earlier if other time-consuming obligations weren't an issue.

Nonetheless, it's finally here, and presents another fine example of what great filmmaking can achieve for other hungry and inspired professionals. And in the case of writing/directing/action duo, badass in black Felix Fukuyoshi Ruwwe, and the guitar-wielding killer stylings of Lorenz Hideyoshi Ruwwe, there's nothing but potential, and I certainly hope they achieve even more greatness in 2015.

And last but far from least, martial artist and stuntman Bryan Sloyer has become much sharper in the past year I've been paying attention to his shortfilms, with respect to writing and character development, as well as music, editing and fight choreography overall. He made much of this clear in his previous project, One Rule, and now he's returned to put his cinematic growth on display once more with the new short, The Keeper, with key performances by Alvin Hsing and Jay Kwon.

Action and drama aside, Sloyer's upping the ante a bit this time around, and it's worth noting as we enter a new year with plenty in store from an inspired, and otherwise fully-fledged artist.

CLICK HERE to catch last week's year-end Hit List with a link to previous entries, and if you have a QUALITY action short or a trailer to a project you are working on and you would like it shared on Film Combat Syndicate, email us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com.

THE HIT LIST - December 29, 2014

It's been another amazing year of presenting independent action to help their respective creators attain bigger audiences. There were a few that were supposed to come out by now, but unfortunately some of those (as usual) tend to take longer, whether or not they have to do with post-production or other plans for allocation. Maybe 2015 will bring better, much deserved prospects. Action films need to get better, and the folks included in this week's Hit List are just a handful of people worthy to help in this cause.

What better way to celebrate post-holiday cheer than to watch two Santas duke it out to see which one is more badass?! It's Good Santa vs. Evil Santa performed by Italian stuntfighting team D-Unit's own Mirco Cazzol and Loris Ripamonti in Mission: Impossible - Christmas Protocol!

Here is another new gem from Canadian stunt team, Eclipse Stunts with a newly released trailer for Jingle Bell Rocked. The project never got finished, as always with a lot of independent shorts that fall ill to lack of time and busy scheduling of its performers, but it still presents a nice little glimpse of what could have been. Maybe one day we will get to see a full fight scene from it, although I'm not sure. At any rate, the trailer is up for viewing.

Seven years after mixing it up on YouTube, stuntmen and brothers Alfred Hsing and Alvin Hsing are following up on their holiday tradition with another installment of Holiday Hsing Fight. It's got a nice little set up and both of these guys have have sharpened greatly over the years within their repsective careers. It shows and hopefully you've already taken notice. If not, then it's not too late to do so now.

Independent filmmaker and martial arts enthusiast, Eric Nguyen re-launched his official website for his film platform over at Lunar Stunts Action Cinema. As such, he's accompanied his latest update with fresh new content in the form of some cool behin-the-scenes footage showcasing Nguyen with performers Irvin Nguyen and Mickey Arce on the set of his own recent short, El Guerrero. It's not often shorts like these get their own making-of featurettes, so its great to have these little windows that allow us to look at these up-and-coming professionals from a genuine perspective; In my own humble opinion, one thing I've noticed is that Irvin smiles a lot. He can literally kick your ass with a smile on his face and not even know it... I guess some of us have yet to reach that level of "cool".

Take a look below and feel free to visit the website and check out Nguyen's entry along with a couple of set pictures for good measure.

Up next is another little bit of back and forth from Wolf Stunts' own David Conk behind the lens, collaborating with screenfighters Anthony Anderson, Blake Roach and Neil Bogucki. It's shorter than a minute but still cool to check out as a pre-requisite for what will hopefully come next this year. Check it out, in addition to two more reels featuring Conk, and fellow collaborator, action actor Ben Aycrigg.

French stuntman and filmmaker Godefroy Ryckewaert first came on my radar about a year ago. He's got a great eye for the lens and he's back to highlight that fact once again with the new comedic action short, Tatapis Tami, which I can only summarize as gang warfare at its most prepubescent! I thought this was funny, charming and well executed, and I'm hyped to see what Ryckewaert comes up with next after this.

Filmmaker Fernando Jay Huerto's year has proven quite fruitful, with a feature film in development with an official cast announcement pending, and a flurry of online action collaborations with a number of young and inspired performers at home and abroad. You can check out a glimpse of those in his newest 2014 martial arts action reel, featuring clips of previous and upcoming shorts to come!

There isn't much I can say about this particular video. It intially released online back in July as a concept for a new series titled Interface, which aims to introduce a story that crosses between the visionary strengths and urban, gritty tone of films and TV shows like The Raid, Inception, Blade Runner and The Wire. Blood And Bone helmer Ben Ramsey and actor, martial artist and writer Arnold Chon are behind this ambitious project, and not more has been built on it except what has been left with a Facebook page to further champion the concept with news articles devoted to innovative science and technology relative to the subject matter. If this all suits you, feel free to take a look and subscribe to the page, and hopefully it will mean this concept will be done some cinematic justice. For now though, the video is below. Oh, and for good measure, there's some more Interface footage in stunt performer Christopher Balualua's summer reel from earlier this year just beneath!

For this segment, we have some previz footage featuring UK stuntmen Jean-Paul Ly and Law Jhon for the new martial arts action short, Deep Pan Fury from filmmaker Charlie Dennis. Both are attached to the project with Ly (Lucy, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist) directing the action in a spiritual thriller about a Japanese fighter in search of redemption with no choice but to reclench his fists once more when local Yakuza underlings threaten his grandfather's pizzeria.

I'm a pizza lover so I'm proudly partial. I can't wait to see the ass-kicking that awaits, and I hope it gets funded as it deserves to be. Check out the video and head over to Kickstarter to watch even more solid concept footage within the campaign video!

French action director Cedric Tellier delivered an impressive action short earlier this year in the form of Elit Unit prior to puttng up a small teaser for another upcoming fast-paced short titled La Casse back in October. This month, he's offered another small teaser, now with an additional kick in the eardrums courtesy of Metallica, and you can now check that out as well.

It's been quite a while since I last wrote about Danny Vega's upcoming directorial debut, A Dance With The Devil. Mainly, the production has hit a few snags between now and last year, so the project is now undergoing some reconstruction and it may be a while before we learn what that means. Nevertheless, Vega has taken to the interwebs to share one of the project's pivotal fight sequences. Hopefully we see more of this, because it really looks worthy of something larger in scale. Check it out!

Dardrex Productions's latest piece of work showcases what happens when a teacher becomes weary of his student's suspicious absenses. Missing Student is the name of the project with Darren Holmquist and Frank Hernandez working the lens with performances by Martin Chan and Eddie Ramos.

Swedish stuntfighter, up-and-comer Betim Alimi's latest showreel is online, and it's worth a look. Alimi has been aspiring for this particular field for close to ten years now, having been a martial arts purveyor since he was five. Endulging on a staple diet of the Hong Kong classics of yesteryear was what led him to start cutting his teeth in 2005. 2009 saw the worst of it when he broke his leg, and his screenfighting recovery has largely been a slow and steady one as more projects have followed, and I've had the good fortune of sharing a few of them on this site this year.

The stunts, the takes and the injury are among all you will see summarized in the following reel, highlighting Alimi's driven spirit to keep going.

Epic Bully Fight is a bit of a throwback. It's a little over a year old and features performances by YouTube personalities Dominick Sandoval and Jerel Mascarinas, and to be honest, I don't remember if I shared this on my blog or not, and I don't really care, because it's worth sharing as its one of the most fluid and slick videos I've seen in my time as a blogger. It's got action, goofball comedy and some spectacle to boot, and even though these two aren't known for making these kinds of videos, I certainly wouldn't complain if they made more.

If you watch enough online tutorials on martial arts, you probably know who Wing Chun expert Master Wong is. He talks a lot of shit, but backs it up pretty awesomely, and it's all very informative and entertaining as well. Moreover, I've been curious as to whether or not he would accomodate doing an action film someday, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that opinion. Well, to those it may concern, our curiosity here gets somewhat rewarded in his latest video pitting Wing Chun against boxing.

It's the stuff of all sorts of martial arts fanboy chatter when compairing styles, so take a look and feel free to decide who wins in the end. This should be interesting!

With this year's induction of vampire slasher comic book pitch, Heartbreaker, and sword-wielding samurai short, Bladed Minds, former adult entertainer-turned-screenfighting temptress, actress Celine Tran has already set herself up for potentially greater prospects in the action genre, provided that her efforts remain continued. The responses from online netizens have been nothing short of positive, and action fans can only hope we see much more sooner. And if you're one of those fans as of late, then you'll be delighted to take a look at Tran's newest action short, Burst, with director Vincent Gatinaud back behind the lens and Mathieu Lardot directing the truly cutthroat action!

And lastly, freerunner Ryan Doyle has something he wants you to know. And you know what? I believe him!

Subscribe to these channels right now, and if you have a QUALITY action movie project you would like shared on Film Combat Syndicate, email your inquiries at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com. CLICK HERE to view previous entries!

THE HIT LIST - December 22, 2014

Christmas is approaching and hopefully you all have your gifts and stocking stuffers ready. With any luck, this could mean more of what is listed below from the creators and performers in today's installment of The Hit List!

Kicking things off with something a bit more holiday-spirited is Italian stuntteam Flying Without Fear and their new short, Stunta Clause: Una Visita Inaspettata (Stunt Claus: An Unexpected Visit). Stuntman Daniele Balconi takes the lead once more as the not-so-big guy in red as he's forced into another annual epic battle. Good thing he's in shape, because this creature looks pissed!

This week, I have at least two reels that I feel are worth adding to the Hit List, featuring stuntmen and action actors Vonzell Carter and Eric Jacobus. Carter is best known for his collaborative efforts for the last several years with the folks over at Thousand Pounds Action Company, performing and even directing much of their action-packed projects. He's currently partaking in some projects he can't talk about publicly, but its safe to say he's on his way up.

Of course, the same can also be said for Jacobus, founder of The Stunt People and a tentpole of the martial arts film community whose new reel is host to a number of accomplishments,  including Mortal Kombat Legacy 2 and horror anthology, The ABC's Of Death 2, as well as upcoming shorts like Rope-A-Dope 2 and his latest performance in the new short, Sensitive 70's Turtleneck Tough Guys from director Jose Montesinos.

Commence endulging!

Here, we have another test fight short project from the folks over at Cinematic Fight Studio titled Seven Seven. The short was constructed as one of the deals included by the studio for its clients, including Olie Brown who has already been training with studio founders Lang Yip and Adam Lee, in addition to performing in a few projects as well. Brown is joined by Matt Healey this week, and you can check them both out below.

Having followed aspiring action auteur Eric Nguyen and his work over at Lunar Stunts Action Cinema, I can honestly say that what I love most about his projects is the amount of contemplation and focus he puts in developing the characters he writes. He's only gotten sharper in the years since and he's back to prove that once more before the new year with this week's shortfilm, El Guerrero (The Warrior), the story of a bounty hunter whose own ego will serve as litmus test when he goes toe-to-toe with an enigmatic tattooed killer in the desert.

Lunar Stunts regulars Mickey Arce and Irvin Nguyen star, and hopefully you've already taken notice of this fine group as it continues to make strides to showcase their talents in filmmkaing. They're seriously good at what they do, and I hope their respective careers and visions take them to higher plateaus in 2015.

Up next is a commercial recently unveiled commercial produced for a massage chair company called Kawaii. The commercial was directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Ken Dinh whose Dallas-based group, P & K Company Productions, has been operating for close to a year now while working to set things in motion for some feature-length projects. Their most recent efforts can be seen in the new horror thriller, True God, for which a trailer has been going viral for about a year now, although the creamy center of their modus operandi leans more toward martial arts action, so with any luck, we will see some more progress from Dinh and his team in the next two weeks. In the meantime, Stairway To Heaven is the name of the theme for Dinh's contribution to Kawaii, starring lead actor and martial arts expert, Peter Tham with fight choreography by Vu Thach. Take a look!

The next video comes from stuntman Dylan Hintz over at DC Stunt Coalition with fellow performer John Soares. The two convened over at Soares's location in Nashville, Tennessee following Hintz's 16-hour bus ride, and while its one of the first test fights Hintz has ever done, its one he's considerably proud of. And rightfully so, with some great hand-to-hand and weapons choreography, and some noteworthy camerawork to boot.

There's a huge backstory Hintz will have available on his own blog which should appear in the description of the video following this write up. At any rate, this video was pretty entertaining!

Martial Club is probably one of the most prolific sports groups out there in the martial arts community. Martial artist member Andy Le who recently sat down with the folks over at Just Kidding Films to chat a bit about his roots and his future with the team, in addition to other current and developing plans. Of course, film is also a part of the plan, as per the latest trailer for the new Martial Club shortfilm, The Greatest Adversary, a story that puts Le's character on a warrior's journey leading to a climatic final fight against a mysterious foe.

Check out both videos below!

Newly on our radar is director and cinematographer Sergio Herencias who's dabbled a bit in the action genre in earlier years, including with the 2010 short, The Prague Assignment. Nowadays you'll catch him with folks like Swiss actor and aspiring action director and screenfighting athlete Betim Alimi as they've just put out a fresh new test fight project from Guave Studios titled Knuckle Heads, with Fetim Fetahi also starring. It's a genuinely awesome, simple story set in a futuristic underground game for the rich where the players are literally in control. And I do mean literally. It's worth every minute and I highly recommend it.

This next little gem is something I caught a bit late since it was uploaded a month ago. This one is titled The Take Back from director Isaul Trinidad, and I don't know much about him or his resume. However, I hope to learn more about him if there is more where I can find this, because it's pretty solid work! Principal performances include that of William Christopher Ford, Jacob Saphir and David Bezeau.

Busy trying to find your happy place on the job? Well, the folks over at U.K.-based Storm Freerun have you covered in their latest collaboration video to push the new HP Stream, accompanied by their usual assortment of epic feats of stuntwork they've become known for since 2010. Just follow the Twitter hashtag #WorkFromHappyPlace and see your way to newer heights!

And here, we have Jela Oka Okpara, a longtime advocate of kung fu cinema with a vision that harkens back to the glory days of Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers. You can see hints of this among other colorful tropes in his latest of two recent shortfilms now available online; The first is Asceneded Masters with Nick Den and Oscar Perez, highlighting the story of Yeshua long before entering his prime as the Biblical savior of mankind himself, Jesus Christ. The project is set to be the first of twelve parts and it is not yet known when the second will arrive since Okpara is busy with other things, so time will tell. The second is a condensed eight minute version of Okpara's 2013 dystopian kung fu desert thriller, The Last Girl, which is reportedly in development for a hopeful feature expansion. Den is joined by Lincoln Centeio, William J. Hill and actress Marissa Pistone in a story of two men battle between good and evil for the Earth's last female.

Both shorts are easily two of the best pieces of online work you'll ever spot, earning Okpara some much-deserved accolades as a rising figure in martial arts action cinema. The man deserves some studio backing for a feature and I see no reason why that should take any longer.

At long last, we now have two projects well on the way from Japanese action director favorite Shimomura Yuji leading the way on two fronts. The first is a new training featurette with action star Sakaguchi Tak whose final film Re:Born, will commense filming in the Spring of 2015. Close quarters combat expert Inagawa i is coordinating the stylishly brutal and deadly bladed fisticuffs as we await details about the story and characters that will set up this last action-packed hoorah for Sakaguchi fans everywhere.

The other is a trailer that's been around for a while in lieu of a new shortfilm, Hero, once more with Sakaguchi joined by Mimoto Masanori - the latter recently known for his role as the Yakuza opponent in helmer Tsujimoro Takanori's Bushido Man. Hero is being slated for a screening at the Yubari film festival in February following an official announcement on January 15, 2015. If you're an action fan and you happen to be attending, feel free to take notice. (UPDATE: The Facebook embed code has been replaced with a YouTube player code in its place.)

Check out both videos below!

...And finally, a moment of holiday cheer and clarity from Master Ken.

Subscribe to these channels right now, and if you have a QUALITY action movie project you would like shared on Film Combat Syndicate, email your inquiries at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com. Click the dates to browse previous collections: 12/15/14, 12/8/14, 12/1/14, 11/24/14, 11/16/14