Above: Promo posters for the series, for the Thai Market!
Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers several years back I covered extensively the film directed by Ekachi entitled Skin Trade, in fact Ekachi filmed a special promo with actress Celina Jade live at a press event!
Fast forward to 2019, after a huge run of successful live shows and various other projects Ekachi is back as EP and director of the first ever Thai series for Netflix! He has shared hot new details below as the show airs first on Thai TV!
Multiple
Lives: There's more than one woman in her: a graffiti artist, a coyote
dancer, a girlish brat and a motherly transsexual. Each attempts to take
control of her shattered life after she's witnessed a murder. Will the
love of an ace repairman be enough to restore her back to her "alone
self"?
"Bangkok Love Stories: Objects of Affection" by Bravo Studios stars Saiparn-Apinya, Typhoon-Kanokchat,
Seo Ji-yeon and Sarah-Na Lin. This 13-episode romantic thriller will
premiere on Channel GMM25 in Thailand on 14th of February.
Internationally, the entire series will premiere on Netflix worldwide on
10th of May 2019.
Written by Benjamas Dalhirunrat. Directed by Preedaporn Buatoom. Created, executive produced and story by Ekachai Uekrongtham เอกชัย เอื้อครองธรรม 吕翼谋. Official Facebook, click for more info on series and trailer! Watch for exclusive interview in 2019!
Updated Feb 1st 2019: EXCLUSIVE! Kellie Madison had this to say exclusively to Dan's Movie Report The Wall is a horror film." "We are
still planning for 'The Gate' feature after this film." "Trust me it (The Gate)
will be better for it.
Synopsis: The Wall tells the supernatural story of a young woman who is
forced to unlock memories of a traumatic event after removing a
mysterious painting from the wall of her rented apartment.
That is right Kellie Madison who directed "The Gate" short film and "The Tank" has her script sold to Dolphin Entertainment and Producer Tom Ortenburg will Co-Produce through his company Briarcliff Entertainment. Mr. Ortenburg was instrumental in Open Road Pictures, the company that released the Oscar Winning "Monster's Ball"!
As a writer and lover of indie films, this is a significant step to female storytelling. Kellie has a stick to my guns attitude and is very steadfast in her ideas.
Above: Lauren Mary Kim in promo pic for Kali Diaries 3.
Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report readers, I hope your week is going great,
once again another exclusive interview! I first heard about Lauren
Mary Kim in 2002 when she was a dancer! She has worked so hard to
become one of the top stunt action specialists in the business today.
With all of the projects she has done for other people it is nice to
see her develop Kali Diaries series for herself and to further her
own skill and creativity. The latest version, Kali Diaries 7 is on a
new platform called Deadly Dymes which allows the users to monetize
their own video and has exclusive content. For the first time ever I
sit down with Lauren and she chats about Kali Diaries and her new
ideas in action-- Get violent, get rough it, is time to go a few
rounds with Lauren, textual ass kicking commences now!
DT:
Chat about what led you to create the Kali Diaries series, I remember
you mentioning that the initial training was for a stunt job?
LMK: I created Kali diaries for a
couple of reasons actually. One reason was that I was starting
my training at the Inosanto academy under the famous Guro Dan
Inosanto which encompasses many martial arts but I study silat, Muay
Thai, Filipino martial arts and jkd there. I wanted to
see my progression as a Martial artist under these disciplines. So
it was for myself originally. Second reason -Being a stunt
woman in film and TV is difficult. I felt like at times I
had no creative voice as a stunt double. I finally wanted to
have control over a project for once and do choreo that I loved or
moves I've always envisioned doing in a fight. Also as a stunt double
many edits of fights are geared more towards the actors coverage.
Which makes sense because they are the star. But sometimes
that meant the action in the scene would suffer in order to cater to
actor's coverage. I'm not saying all actors are bad because some are
actually quite talented with action scenes like Elodie Yung and Lana
Condor.
DT: How have the various
films helped your own career out while assisting the other talented
individuals, I look at the short films like an action reel in
themselves.
LMK: I definitely think these
fights have helped with my career. It has showed people my
abilities who had no idea what skill set I had
DT: Chat about the
initial meetings you had prior to shooting the first Kali Diaries
film?
LMK: I had a vision one night and
couldn't sleep because my mind was buzzing with the idea. I just
asked a couple of my friends to help me out and here we are today.
DT: Kali Diaries 3, was
my personal favorite of course up until this latest one, chat about
pitching the idea to Amy Johnston and some of the prep time in Kali
Diaries 3?
LMK: I
had an idea of doing a superhero stunt double fight one night.
Tagline... "What if Elektra fought ________?"
Marvel's Defenders was debuting soon and I wanted to shoot something
to also promote that.
I was
working with Amy at the time on a job and was explaining to her my
idea. Originally I was thinking of male stunt doubles to fight
but then it donned on me that Amy was one of the stunt doubles for
Black Widow. Of course the main double is Heidi Moneymaker but
she is always unavailable and out of town.
Tsuyoshi Abe and I met one day to
brainstorm an outline of the fight. Then the second day we had
Amy come to rehearse and we made several revisions to the fight. I
scouted locations and bought wardrobe that was tee shirts with our
characters on them. We shot with Bryan Sloyer and the shoot
time was about 5 hours ? I can't remember it was so long ago
now.
DT:
I had a blast seeing the film, and am glad I submitted it to a few
festivals, you told me about your surprise about the response,
actually I was not ha, chat about some of what happened after and how
it led you to create more in the Kali series.
LMK: Well Kali diaries won best
fight Choreography at the Artemis film festival thanks to you of
course. We had such a tremendous feedback and the fight was
re-posted many times on Instagram, fb and YouTube. Several articles
were written on our fight including MCU, nerdiest, CBR, etc etc. It
inspired me to do more of course. I knew it wouldn't be the
end.
DT:
Very cool about Kali Diaries 5 the Capoeria edition, chat about the
formulation and creation with that one.
LMK:
Actually this fight was suppose to be apart of a bigger project.
Which I'm currently in Production now. But of course my vision
changed and decided to do this as a stand alone fight. You'll
know what I'm talking about once I release the bigger project but
it's kinda a secret for now.
DT:
OK, a secret and I am not one to challenge you to divulge it! Chat
about some of the logistics with producing the episodes in general, I
know you told me that this new one End Game had the biggest budget.
Above: Promo shot from Kali Diaries 7: End Game. Video by Vlad Rimburg
LMK: Yes , i pretty much do all
the "producing" of these projects bc it is my project.
Finding locations, whether free ( pulling favors or paid locations)
purchasing wardrobe for talent, hiring camera operator and editor,
fight Choreographer, finding talent, . Etc. Etc. A lot of work
and money that people don't think of.
DT:
Chat about how you became associated with Deadly Dymes? Seems like a
cool chance to monetize your videos and see who is watching. Chat
about the initial response to the new video.
LMK:
DD saw my original fight with Amy and was interested in having me do
a fight exclusive for them. It was a perfect way to potentially make
money for all our hard work, talent and efforts.
Above: Lauren Mary Kim and Amy Johnston in Kali Diaries 7: End Game.
DT:
Working with Vlad Rimburg on this new video, chat about his camera
work and technique, he knows how to shoot action as he is a
choreographer as well. Perhaps chat about some of the set ups and
takes you and Amy did.
LMK:
For this recent fight Vlad shot and edited KD 7: End Game. Alvin
Hsing and Brendan Huor choreographed. I handpick everyone I
work with because I'm very particular. I trust my team !
Above: Lauren Mary Kim and Amy Johnston, Kali Diaries 7: End Game Vlad Rimburg video.
DT:
Chat about the choreography on Kali Diares 3 vs Kali Diaries 7. Both
with Amy Johnston. 7 with Alvin Hsing & Brendan Huor, 3 with
Tsuyoshi Abe& Bryan Sloyer. What attracted you to working with
them and how have their techniques enhanced your skill.
LMK: Lol see above answer ! I
think it's important to use different people to get a new outlook of
things. No one is better than the other, it's just different style
and abilities. We all have strengths in something.
DT:
Working with Amy Johnston, chat about the dynamic, this is the second
Kali Diaries film you have done with her. As a writer I really enjoy
her work in action and in acting,
LMK: Amy is one of my faves to
work with and we have fought each other several times actually. She's
super easy to work with, considerate, and I trust her. Plus we always
have a good time and laugh a lot together on set. She is a class act
and a true star. I'm excited to see her career accelerate even more.
DT:
Chat about some of the ideas for Kali Diaries End Game, how long did
it take to film, edit etc...?
LMK: I've always wanted to do a
burning man esque apocalypse type fight. The shoot took 5:30
hours to shoot. I don't usually give Vlad a deadline. But he
finished in a couple weeks.
DT: Cool, Vlad is great shooting ladies in action. OK Lauren chat about
the future of Kali Diaries, do you ever seeing it expanded to a full
short series with dialogue, and a story line not just the fights?
LMK:
Yes it is ever expanding and evolving. I guess you'll have to wait
and see!!
DT:
Chat about who else in the action world you would like to have on a
future edition of Kali Diaries?
LMK: I
think it would be amazing to fight Jeff Imada !
DT:
Very cool guy, he is! Thanks again Lauren for another amazing interview! Watch for more on
Dan's
Movie Report and my partner in action action-flix.com !!
Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report
readers, once again a new demo reel has come to my attention.
I follow wrestling, yet when I first saw Greg Burridge on screen in
the Ross Boyask film Salvation, I was impressed by his skill in front
of the camera as an actor as well as in action. Greg has style, is a hard
worker and ready for a good tussle at any time! Get ready as he
recently wrapped up on the new Ross Boyask film Vengeance 2, and the
new Jesse V. Johnson / Scott Adkins film Avengement!! Color me black and blue,
looking for more in 2019 from Greg, until then check out his great
new reel. Watch for an interview later in the year closer to the
release date of those films!! As always stay locked in to the only
indie website that never shares news, Dan's Movie Report!!
On February 3rd he is
hosting a wrestling cinematic fight workshop, this is a great idea as
it is bringing the gap between wrestling action and on screen
choreography. If you live in the U.K. Or for that matter in Europe, I
would be sure to make plans to attend.
Greg has this to say: This will be the
last workshop before we go into pre production on our next action
film. Newcomers are welcome alongside people that attended the first
or second workshop.
THE ROCK, JOHN CENA , BAUTISTA, STONE COLD
STEVE AUSTIN, STU BENNETT, GREG BURRIDGE ;) just a few wrestlers
who thought outside the box and bridged into the world of movies.
It
has been my belief for a long time that pro wrestlers make great
stunt performers I'm not saying we are the best, but we certainly can
offer something different.
Being a pro wrestler that has
moved into the movie industry, I realized that knowing the art of
wrestling is much more than performing your art within the squared
circle. The true artist who can think outside the box, will
understand that they can take the skill we have learned and with just
a few altercations can be adapted to on screen action, and take there
career in another direction or use it as a tool to further there
wrestling career.
This workshop will focus on taking what we
already know about pro wrestling and learning some valuable skills of
screen fighting to make a hybrid style of action that only a pro
wrestler can deliver. So if you are already a established screen
fighter or have no knowledge of wrestling then this probably isn't
for you. But if you are already a pro wrestler, trainee or have
experience in wrestling then please come along.
This workshop
will also double as a audition/ try out for my stunt team for my
second feature, (the first being LONDON RAMPAGE starring WILL OSPREAY
) that will begin production late December 2018.
We will also
be joined by film producer Joe Karimi , who has produced several WWE
studio movies.
So come along and add a new string to your bow
Workshop cost - £20 on the day. Reserve your place on this
page
Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report readers, once again another exclusive
interview! Here we go travelling all the way EAST to Indonesia and
chatting with the director of the new HBO Asia series Grisse!! Tony
Tilse is quite an engaging gentleman, as he also worked on the Miss
Fischer's Murder Mystery show and Ash Vs the Evil Dead! After
interviewing Kelly Tandiono who worked on the Grisse, I know I had to
get in behind the action, saddle up and prepare, time to tackle some
western action with Tony!
Very
cool behind the scenes video from Grisse. This video has further information about the cast as well!
TT:
I had worked with HBO Asia and Infinite Studios on two previous
projects “Serangoon Road” and “Grace” so was delighted
to be ask back to do this "Nasi Goreng" Western. Also I
have found working in the region very inspiring and the crews are
fantastic.
DT:
On IMDB it says you directed one episode and Mike W. directed unknown
episodes, was the series a collaboration, in Wu assassins several
people directed the series with Roel Reine directing two of the
episodes I think.
TT:
Mike Wiluan was the show runner and I had worked with Mike before
when he was producing. I ending up directing 6 episodes, with Jiyuan
Ler from Singapore directing Ep 6, and Mike directing the finale.
Grisse
was very much a collaboration, as everyone pushed hard to make it a
success.
DT:
As a director, describe your style is it up close to the actors or
pulling back and speaking loudly the instructions?
TT:
I’m more “up close with actors" style but enjoy being
loud during action scenes
DT:
I noticed in the show trailers the sets looked very elaborate, were
they all build for Grisse or existing buildings?
TT:
All filmed on the backlot at the fantastic Infinite Studios at
Batam, Indonesia, with a lot of the street having been built but also
a few have been repurposed from existing sets.
Above: Promo poster of Grisse (C) 2018 HBO Asia (Used for promotional purposes only.)
DT:
Do you like to get feedback from the actors, or is it more I have an
idea in my head and I need to explain my idea to them? I notice some
directors really like to direct, to dictate pace and dialogue, others
like the actors to get into the character and collaborate on
direction.
TT:
It’s a bit of both - It’s important that the actors feel free to
bring their experience and character into the piece and I’m open to
ideas that I may not have thought of, but still need to keep the
overall vision.
DT:
How has the series been received so far? I am assuming the final
episode of season one has aired, any discussions of season 2 or was
this a one off mini series?
TT:
We have had a great response to the series and a world wide release
this year. Would be delighted for a 2nd season.
DT:
Finally Tony chat about some of your hobbies and then discuss any new
projects you have in the works?
TT:
I’m currently completing a feature film “Miss Fisher and the
Crypt of Tears” as well as developing on another Asian based horror
series.
DT:
Again thanks so much, if there is a final thought you would like to
add or advice for aspiring film directors, please let my audience
know.
TT:
Watch lots of movies, understand what you're most passionate about.
You don’t have to know all the answers, find your
collaborators. Always be proud of your movie.
