So...how was your weekend? I spent mine reviewing a few titles - one which apparently led people to think I was picking a fight with a martial arts expert who lives thousands of miles away from me, which is...STILL hilarious.
Anyway, I also got to look at some great shortfilm items in the past week and I've gladly collated them for this week's installment of the Hit List, kicking off with another round of awesome stunt reels and other cool film bits from around the web. Stuntwoman Ellette Craddock gets a spotlight twice over this week, beginning with her new stunt reel, followed by reels from Brady Jo Merriman, Josh Schmitt, Michael Hartwick and Beni Alexander with action actor and filmmaker Jarrod Crooks, stunt players Tom Caserto, Girvan Bramble and Anton Guryanov, and 3Run Ambassador, stuntman and traceur Bogdan Pascal trekking the terrain in Bilbao, Spain.
Promotional bits are few this week, but ample enough to serve your needs and first up is a trailer from Gunsavior Pictures's latest action comedy short, Iron Jade which made the rounds this weekend at the Action On Film Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. Angela Lynn and David Norton star while an online date remains pending.
The other is a cool, new and inventive offering from award-winning short film director Daniel Vogelmann who, after earning his acclaim with projects like Dubois (2005) and Welk (2011) makes his return to fray with Hard Way: The Action Musical. Produced by Sebastian Bandel and Florian Gengnagel, Hard Way chronicles the story of Jake, a S.W.A.T. officer bent on vengenace for the death of his partner at the hands of notorious terrorist, The Mother, and with an arsenal that isn't the usual song and dance for an action movie venture.
The project hails from Fireapple in association with University Of Television And Film Munich and Bayrischer Rundfunk and with funding by Filmfernsehfonds Bayern. The film is now available through Vimeo On Demand with more information and goods pertaining to supporting the project at its official website.
Before we get to this week's action bits, stuntwoman and staff professor/extraordinare Michelle Christa Smith just made her most stunningly badass appearance in the past week in a new music video featuring recording artist Jackson Harris for the new song, "All Your Love". Links to purchase for downloading or streaming are in the description, but more importantly, for as long as I've been following Smith since the launch of her Facebook, it makes me proud to see her showcase herself in such high-energy and filling fashion. If nothing else, this video is three minutes and fifteen seconds of sexy and sweet!
The action is where its at this week and you're more than welcome to pay a visit to the aforementioned Ellette Craddock's official website where her latest judo-themed mix-up, Date Fight, can be spotted in the videos section. Also on deck are Film Combat Syndicate favorites Felix King and Tony Vittorioso in a gem of their own called New Approach, and a brief fight practice short from Ieisha Auyeung with David Van Le and Mig Buenacruz - all viewable exclusively on Vimeo before we commence with this week's hit-loaded YouTube playlist starting with a quick minute-long fight piece by Daniel Nelson and Ebony De La Haye, and a couple of cool concepts by Team STAMA's own Tanguy and Anthony Guinchard.
Continuing the momentum is Mikko Löppönen with a little night time fun featuring Jessica Wolff and Judit Sziva, and a late entry I found titled Dispute with Craig Canning opposite Andy Whitmarsh, and with Ashley Beck lensing before The Beat Down commences for helmer Jennifer Li with Keanu Lam, Matt Kennedy and Oshima Haruka.
Devin Supertramp returns to the Hit List this week with freerunner Calen Chan to bring Sonic The Hedgehog to real-life in 4K before we meet up with vlogger, stuntman and filmmaker Federico Berte in a new experimental comedy bit involving rapiers for The Duel (his intro explains it all by 1:55).
Rounding off the playlist is something truly, awesomely special from actor and filmmaker Jay Kwon who puts morsels of depth, artfulness and energy into his latest piece, Fixed Cost, centered on two partying women lured by a group henchmen against their will, ensuing a deadly fight for freedom from their captors. Katie O'Donovan is another prospect re-emerging once more in the weekly Hit List and if she keeps this up, I may end up becoming a fan!
Also starring are Hester Jean Lee and Oscar Leiva along with Anisha Gibbs and Nick Krawiec.
Enjoy the hits!
Last week's treats still a blast. If this is your first stop via the Hit List, take a gander and get an even greater whiff of what we collect every week and then subscribe to the channels for your show of support. And, if you or someone you know is an equally talented filmmaker or stunt performer with a solid new reel or a project they'd like to either promote or present, run it by us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com and let us be the judge!
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