Almighty Thor on SyFy Channel!
This has been a fantastic weekend! Friday evening I traveled with Sword Masters Jan Bryant and Dan Speaker to the home of legendary Stunt Coordinator James Lew! We had a great evening discussing different productions we have worked on. We talked about successes, we talked about mishaps - fortunately those are rare. James discussed a new project he has coming up in New Orleans. He is currently training the young lead in preparation for shooting. We also talked about the project James just finished last month in Denver, a martial arts/action film called Tengu for which he was the stunt coordinator and played a main character role.
I was also introduced to James' new dog, Floyd. Floyd is a miniature terrier mix. James got a small dog on purpose. Since so few films are shooting in Los Angeles and James has to travel more and more for work, he wanted his four legged companion to be able to travel with him.
Check out James Lew on Imbd.com
Then last night I traveled to a home in Tarzana, California to watch the SyFy Channel premier of Almighty Thor. The party was in honor of the show's star Cody Deal. We had a great time watching the movie. It is obviously a low budget film, but they kept to the story line of Thor wanting to change his fate, and in spite of all the crazy FX and the ultra clear 'see every pore on every face' bad HD make up, the story kept you engaged.
And Cody did a great job for his first feature film role! Cody is one of those actors who can play vulnerable without looking weak. I firmly believe we are going to see so much more of him in the future.
And, of course, the action looked really good. Dan Speaker and Jan Bryant created all the action choreography and they are always able to make the actors look good while they are fighting. They give the actors moves they are comfortable with and feel confident doing - so they can go all out on each take, even if they are performing with little or no rehearsal. An added bonus was my good friend, Jason Medbury, got to do an awesome double broadsword fight, in full armor, in the rain with Cody Deal. Jason has trained with the Academy of Theatrical Combat for many years and was able to walk in and perform the swordfight on cue! It was great!
This week I plan to take in the big budget Thor and Fast Five! Action Movies Rock!
From Fightmaven's Corner, me plus all of you, living life one little victory at a time! BATTLE ON!
