My blog
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14 -10- 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 9)
Sunday, Oct 18, 2009 5:19PM / Standard Entry
Our Greatest Fan!
I first knew of actor Louis Fan (AKA Fan Siu-wong) when he starred in the cult classic ‘Riki-Oh’ (AKA ‘Story of Riki’). This Golden Harvest-produced manga-inspired splatterfest was greeted with horror when first released in Hong Kong, but has since attracted a rabid worldwide following.
Fan had arrived fully realized as a muscular, high-kicking action hero. Sadly, the negative response to what was intended to be a star-making vehicle for him meant that it took him a while to find his way as a leading man. Initially, he was relegated to supporting roles. Director Stanley Tong, who had cast Louis in his debut, the little-seen ‘Stone Age Warriors’, used him to good effect alongside Michelle Yeoh in ‘Project S’, his sequel to Jackie Chan’s ‘Police Story 3 : Supercop’. He was well cast in a number of TV series, especially ‘Fist Of Power’ and ‘Fong Sai-yuk’.
I have been a long-time supporter of his, and, the industry being as small as it is, would occasionally run into Louis and his father, the prolific Shaw Bros character actor Fan Mui-san. (He inherited the ‘drunken master’ role in Yuen Woo-ping’s ‘The Magnificent Butcher’). Despite his talents, though, Fan seemed to be stuck making B pictures and TV series.
(On a side note, I remember, years ago, Donnie Yen telling me he’d be interested in managing a couple of artistes, and suggested Fan Siu-wong. I think, at the time, Donnie was unwilling to promote another martial arts action star, though, years later, they would work together very well.)
A couple of years back, my good friend, producer Godfrey Ho, showed me a film called ‘Kung Fu Fighter’ that had been choreographed by Louis, who also played a supporting role in the film. I could immediately see that Fan had the chops to be a great action director. A couple of years later, he did similarly sterling work on the Sammo Hung vehicle ‘Kung Fu Chefs’ (directed by our own Ken Yip).
It was based on seeing these films, which (let’s face it!) very few people had, that I decided to approach Louis to direct the action scenes for ‘The Blood Bond’. We had an initial conversation, and he indicated that he was very interested in pursuing parallel careers as an actor and choreographer
Then Louis was cast in the great ‘Ip Man’, and his stock as an action star was suddenly back on the rise. I thought he did a terrific job on that film, and, as his friend, I was very proud for his success. However, it did mean, I imagined, that he would now be too busy to choreograph my movie.
We ran into each other at the Hong Kong Film Awards, where ‘Ip Man’ had been nominated in many different categories. (It would win for Best Film and Best Choreography.) I suggested to him that he might have too many commitments not to work with us, and he replied that, as he had promised me he would action direct ‘Blood Bond’, he would honour that commitment.
If only all actors were so graceful when they finally hit the big time!
We set up another meeting, and I explained to Louis and his partner, Ken Yip, what my vision was for the martial arts action scenes for the film. I explained that our female protagonist was the protector of a spiritual leader, and would seek to apply only the amount of force needed to deal with any threat.
I wanted her style to Tai Chi-based, and told them that the actress then cast as Deva was training with a Chen Tai Chi master (Ocean Hou). I explained that I really wanted to see ‘grounded’ action, no extravagant wire stunts. (This was something director Michael Biehn was also adamant about.)
Louis set out to devise a suitable style. I did throw a slight curveball at him, just prior to pre-production, when I turned up with a completely different actress (Phoenix Chou) cast as Deva! Louis took it in his stride. He and his team took over the building housing the dubbing facility, at the far end of the studio, and set out to make Phoenix combat ready for ‘The Blood Bond’.
Louis has had to travel back and forward between our studio, and another one where he is starring in another film. I really appreciate the tireless efforts that he and Ken have made on our behalf, and I’m positive they’ll pay off in the finished film.
Next : Simon says…
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6 - 10 - 09: 'The Blood Bond' Saga (Part One)
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 10:55PM / Standard Entry
To begin at the beginning...
I've just begun pre-production on the new film, The Blood Bond. This is actually a project that I conceived at least 10 years ago, and have been working on over the last year and a half.
Given my unique position as a Western person living in Hong Kong who has worked on films for both Chinese and American film companies, I have long wanted to make a film that combined elements of East and West.
I suppose it could be argued that I did so on previous ventures I was involved in, such as 'The Medallion' and 'Shanghai', but, with this film, I finally get a train set of my own to play with!
I am proud and happy to be collaborating with my good friends at Alive Not Dead to bring you exclusive stories, images and footage from the set of this exciting new venture. AnD will be with us every step of the way, and I'm happy to have a few fellow AnDers involved with the project itself!
So where did the story begin? Year ago, my friend Richard Norton made a film called 'Under the Gun' which was shot on location in Melbourne, Australia. It co-starred American kickboxer Kathy Long, and also my dear step father, Tino Ceberano.
After he'd completed that project, Richard suggested we collaborate on a second film. I had the idea to make a film about a drunk, dispirited former Australian Special Forces officer who is living by himself in the outback. Out of the blue, the kung fu fighting female bodyguard of a revered religious leader comes to find him. It turns out that the ex-soldier has the same blood type as the girl's dying guru, and she needs him to come with her to provide a transfusion.
The film followed them across the Australian desert through various adventures. Sadly, we could envr get the financing together, and so Richard went on to other things, and I put the concept on the shelf.
Flash forward a decade or so and my old friend Josie Ho, an actress I've had the pleasure of working with several times, announced that she would start producing films with her husband Conroy Chan. We met and discussed possible projects on which we could collaborate.
I suggested that she make a film that would pair her with an American lead, and show off her martial arts prowess. She and Conroy seemed to like the idea, and so I took the Blood Bond story off the shelf and begun working on a new version of the script. I received a lot of help from my then protege Nick Eriksson, who worked on the updated draft.
In the end, Josie and Conroy decided the film was not for them. Though of course I was disappointed not to work with two such dear friends, I have to thank them for providing the impetus for me to develop the film that I'm making now.
In terms of cast, I really only had one person in mind to play the (now) American Special Forces guy in the new version. This was Michael Biehn, a performer who has been in at least five of the greatest action films ever made (The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, The Rock and Tombstone).
I had previously worked with Michael on a Hong Kong actioner called 'Dragon Squad', aka 'Dragon Heat'. Though that film was a very challenging experience, I developed a great rapport with Michael, as did my then partner in crime, Maggie Q. They had so much fun on the set, we started discussing a film that we might do together. This was before began discussions with Josie, but I was already considering a reworked 'Blood Bond' with Michael and an Asian female lead.
Nothing came of it at the time, Michael returned to Hollywood and Maggie, of course, went on to greater things! After Josie pulled out, I was determined to keep Michael as the leading man in Blood Bond, and find a new star to cast opposite him.
After we found a suitable candidate for the female role, Michael began reworking the script, and I soon realised that he was as passionate about this project as I was. I was delighted when he agreed to make this film his directorial debut, and it seemed we were putting a good team together.
Unfortunately, the second actress to the lead role of Deva also bowed out after a long period of development. I began to wonder if this was to be our fate: to keep searching in vain for the right leading lady, with a mix of innocence, wry humour and butt-kicking martial arts skills!
As it turned out, we found the right actress at the right time, and began pre-pre-production with renewed vigour.
(Next blog: The Phoenix rises.)
P.S. We are still looking for character types (big, burly, long-haired Asian rebel fighter and biker guys of all nationalities!) Please contact Christine Ip at ip.christine@gmail.com
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11 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part six)
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 8:38PM / Standard Entry
Gunning for trouble.
Today, action director Ken Yip and I headed to Guangzhou to find guns for the movie. Guangzhou was probably once a beautiful southern Chinese city. Today, its the Birmingham of the east, a monstrous grety metropolis with an impenetrable ring road and the traffic from hell to fill it.
After an hour of looking at bleak tenement buildings and factories, we arrive at the wonderful film-making community that surrounds Guangzhou Film Studios. I'd anticipated visiting a version of Q's office to look at weapons, with some slick sales guy showing us various models on a computer monitor.
Instead, I was led to what looked like a gunrunner's underground lair, stocked with every kind of (fake) guns and ammunition known to man.
The armourer and pyrotechnician who greeted us were both, frankly, older than I expected. In the case of the latter, I guess its a good sign that he's managed to juggle explosive materials for so many years and lived to tell the tale.
They laid out a selection of AKs, other rifles and various handguns. We needed a special weapon for our bad girl, model Emma Pei, as there's no way this slender waif could tote an AK. They suggested the little number you see below. I guess if a gun could be sexy, this one would be (or, at least, will be when Emma wields it.)
Of course, being industry professionals, Ken and I wouldn't dream of taking a photo while fooling around with the guns.
Next we began scouring the used car lots of Guangzhou for a suitably powerful pick up truck for a chase sequence. Our leading lady, Phoenix Chou, has never driven with gears, so she's been working the stick like crazy to prepare. A suitable vehicle proves hard to find, but finally we find one that might fit the bill.
The salesman asks if I want to take a test drive. I haven't been behind the wheel in at least year, but decide to take it for a spin. Children, small animals and old ladies scatter from my path, but I make it back to the lot in one piece.
It may not be the prettiest vehicle on the road, but it should fit the bill...
After this, Ken and I grab dinner at a great local restaurant. The food at Ace Studios is actually very good, but you need a break once in a while.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Michael is teaching Phoenix the finer points of gun control.
Michael's carried so many guns in so many movies, many people mistakenly believe that he was actually in the armed forces. (He did provide the voice-over for the Navy SEALS recruitment video!)
Deva has to be almost as deadly at gun fu as she is at gung fu, and Phoenix, as ever, rose to the challenge.
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8 -10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part three)
Monday, Oct 12, 2009 1:29AM / Standard Entry
Shooting Aces.
I first met Henry Luk a year or so ago. Though Henry comes from a Hong Kong film-making family, he had previously pursued other business interests (and with great success!). He had decided to, finally!, follow in his father's foot-steps, and establish a film studio in China.
When I first met Henry, I had never heard of him, or Ace Studios, or Nanhai. He didn't seem to lack for vision and ambition, but I wondered if he could really pull it off. As I sit here now in my office on the lot (number 008!), I can say that he definitely did.
From his own early self-produced features and through a series of low-budget genre films shot for American movie-makers, Henry turned his Nanhai facility into a real contender.
It was only after screening the first Ace Studios feature that I first took the two hour train ride to Guangzhou, and then onwards to Nanhai. The region borders on Foshan, with which I have an affinity given the Hung Gar/Wong Fei-hung connection.
I found the studio itself to be surprisingly spacious and well-equipped. Besides the three decent sized soundstages, there's also a blue screen cyclorama at the front, and a grassy area to one side, on which Michael was out choreographing a jungle action scene this AM.
The site is impressive because of the sheer variety of locales within just ten minutes of the place.
In 'Blood Bond', we have a car chase in a stone quarry, a Rambo-style showdown in what looks like a rainforest, a punch up in a rural bar... Just scouting for half an hour, you see enough potential locations for three further films.
One of the strength's of the studio itself is its construction department, which works tirelessly under the eagle eye of Master Li. Basically, if you can draw it, they can build it. On this shoot, we're going to have a huge hospital set on one stage, with its exterior constructed on the backlot, and a biker bar kind of joint, again, inside and out.
Having presided over so many incarnations of the script, with various versions of these locales described, its a kick to see them finally come to life around us.
We're also placing a heavy demand on the costume department for 'Blood Bond', as we require military attire for the antagonistic freedom fighter Lompoc (Simon Yam) and his band of brothers. Writing them on the page is one thing; making them look real on the stage is another.
Throughout this process, I've been alternately impressed and depressed by director Michael Biehn's minute attention to detail. He hand-picked virtually all the rebel outfits. "I want them stressed," he told our wardrobe mistress, Pink, indicating some fabric. He turned to me. "Do you know what 'stressed' means?" On this movie? I think so...
We scouted an apartment where one of the blood donors being killed by our rebels is supposedly living. "Its not scuzzy enough." We ended up in a decaying block out the back of studio.
A country road for a car chase. "Not exciting enough." We found a disused quarry that seemed to stretch on forever.
Michael insisted on racing Henry's Buick around it, bashing my head in the ceiling in the process.
Whatever the demands we've placed on the studio and its environs, Ace and Nanhai have been able to deliver.
As I sit here, its 1am, and the team and I are still hammering away at the script. I'm in my office and they're in the conference room. The film seems to be growing like crystals on a rock, expanding in unexpected directions.
Michael says its the most fun he's had on a movie, and I have to agree with him. Whenever we get as 'stressed' as the wardrobe, we have a great team around us, and especially the lovely Phoenix, to raise our spirits...
Next : The Biehn machine
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7 -10 -09 : The 'Blood Bond' Saga (part two)
Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 1:16AM / Standard Entry
The Phoenix rises.
As i mentioned in the previous blog, I had the idea for 'Blood Bond' many years before I could actually put the film together.
I should say at this point that this project would be impossible without the support of my brave and true partners: Henry Luk of ACE Studios, Eli, Seth and Mark at Fundamental Films, and our Hong Kong based partner Charlie Wong. Their combined contribution to the project has extended to every area of the production, and everyone involved with the project will always be deeply indebted to them.
From the first, the 'Blood Bond' story had depended on our finding a suitable heroine. We needed an actress who could combine the physical prowess, vulnerability, spirituality and (of course!) the beauty of our lead female character: Deva.
The name 'Deva' derives from an Indian term meaning 'Goddess'. Though the film is being shot in China, it is not set in China. It was always our intention with the film to tell a story set in a fictional Asian country, and so we combined names and places from across the region. I mention this in case anyone thought we were mixing these elements by accident!
(By the by, to experience a very different kind of Deva, please check out 'Devashard' comic book pubished by my good friends at Zero Friction.)
Given the criteria above, there are relatively few actresses suitable for the role. In the life time of the project, I had at various times tried to cast such female furies as Kathy Long, Maggie Q and Josie Ho.
In the months prior to production, we were hopeful that we had finally found the right face at the right place at the right time. However, it soon became evident just how much of a challenge the role would be, and in the end, sadly, we had to part ways with our initial choice and continue the Deva quest.
We used every resource available, including AnD, to find the right performer. In deference to our Chinese partner company, we tried to find an actress from the PRC who was affordable, available and capable of delivering this volume of English dialogue. Though we had the pleasure of meeting dozens of potential candidates, there was just nobody who completely fit the bill.
As it happened,about a year earlier, I had met an LA-based, Eurasian actress named Phoenix Chou. She had relocated (temporarily) to Hong Kong. At that time, she was cast in a planned fantasy film based on aspects of the Indian epic 'Mahabharata', and had been flown to HK (supposedly) for training and rehearsals.
We were introduced in the inauspicious locale of Racks poolhall. Phoenix, who seemed to have a lot of down time!, expressed an interest in kung fu, and began training with me under the magnificent Mak Sifu down on the Central docks.
Unfortunately, the 'Mahabharata' project was delayed indefinitely. I did not have a suitable project for her and the local Hong Kong industry proved initially unreceptive, so Phoenix decided to return to the US to continue her modelling and acting career there.
During the casting process for 'Blood Bond', I remembered Phoenix and asked our director Michael Biehn to meet her in LA. He came away from that encounter absolutely convinced that there was no other actress for the role. He felt an immediate chemistry with her as an actress, and this was especially important as she would play such a major role in his directorial debut.
Thoughs she only came on board Blood Bond at the eleventh hour, Phoenix brought a fresh commitment and energy to the project that gave us all a much needed boost. Upon arrival, she was thrown into the fray, training in Chen style Tai Chi with my own teacher and friend AnD stalwart Ocean Hou (she also trained in Hung Kuen with Mak Sifu and, just for fun! did some capoeira on the side.)
She is currently undergoing movie martial arts bootcamp at ACE Studios, working with our action coordinators, Louis Fan and Ken Yip to master the elegant yet deadly Tai Chi-based fighting routines that the role demands. To help with this, she is still training on a daily basis with Ocean, who is also working on 'Blood Bond'.
I believe that Phoenix Chou will be the breakout artist from this film. As part of our extensive coverage on AnD, we'll be running both text and video interviews with her in the near future so you can all meet this bright, funny and enormously engaging new performer.
Next : Ace of studios!
Stats
- British-born Bey Logan began his professional career as a magazine writer and editor, editing the martial arts magazine Combat for five years before launching the action film publication Impact...
- Occupation: Film/TV Producer , Screenwriter , Martial arts
- Gender: Male
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