Spiking The Beach#1

Bai san and sun burn...

We got off to a great start on Beach Spike!, bright sun and a cloudless day. The first location was at Tai Tam, just beneath water refinery built back in 1907. (Yes! Older than me!) 

The day opened with a traditional 'bai san' ceremony to wish us all good luck for the shoot.

It was crazy hot, with the cast and crew sheltering beneath trees and canvas during the breaks in shooting. It was my first time working with the great character player Lam Suet, though I have been a fan of his work, and especially his films with Johnnie To, forever. This guy could steal a scene from Brando...

The film pitches our two heroic kung fu fighting beach volleyball players, Chrissie Chau and Teresa Fu, against two rich bitch Muay Thai trained rivals. The latter pair are played by HK supernodel Jessica C and LA-based action queen Phoenix Valen. As they stride down the path from their characters' home, they absolutely look the part of amazonian nemeses!

Phoe had to learn Cantonese dialogue for the film (she speaks Mandarin), and, between takes, took out her frustrations on my assistant Aaron 'Moomin' Stadlin-Robbie. (All people with double-barrelled names deserve death anyway...)

The night saw the first, brief fight scene of the film, with Chrissie and Teresa taking on a couple of the rich bitches security guards. This is Teresa's first action role, Chrissie's second, but they are both gung ho.

It was a great first day. I was super impressed with the focus and preparation of our director Tony Tang.  He and 'Kung Fu Hustle' producer Peggy Lee make a formidable team, and its always good to be working with the best!