Action is a key genre in the industry that Asian filmmakers have especially been a driving force at reimagining and revolutionizing. On May 7, the Asian American Committee celebrated the achievements of Directors and Directorial Team members in this perpetually popular form of cinematic art during the two-part event, Filming the Impossible: A Celebration of Asian Action Filmmakers.

Following a welcome by AAC Co-Chairs Maureen Bharoocha Alan Chu and Alternate Co-Chair Debbie Formoso, the event kicked off with a reel of clips of AAPI DGA members’ action directing sequences. After the reel, Director/Producer/Actor Ron Yuan and Stunt/Fight Coordinator Roger Yuan took the stage to discuss best practices for directing action and picking the right action team.

Discussing how previz is a process Ron said, “It’s not just one previz so it’s important Directors watch it and give notes to your action team to address as soon as possible. Your action team is trying to get closer to the magic you want, so even if you as a Director might not understand action terminology, that’s okay. You just need to differentiate for your action team whether you have an emotional value note, or a technical note. If you just go ‘I don’t know how to describe it, it just doesn’t feel right,’ how are we going to go by that? The action team will try to do everything for you. And don’t be swayed by credits, be swayed by the amount of effort and planning they put into your story in their interview.”

“The person that’s doing your action would hopefully have passion for your project and come in with ideas that are potentially different than what is written on the page,” added Roger. “Maybe that person is going to come at you with ideas that are out of the box and challenge you. My first time doing previz for Denis [Villeneuve], I knew nothing about Dune: Part One as the script had not been released to us yet. All I was told by the 2nd Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator [Tom Struthers] was, ‘This is two guys training, but it becomes a vicious fight.’ When I asked how violent I could be, he said to go for it, so I did. And the notes I got back from Denis were, ‘There was a lot of work put into this, but this is not what I wanted.’ But by receiving those notes and knowing what you need from that person through the stages of previz is how you get on the same page.”

Following the talk, Ron Yuan’s team joined him on stage for a series of demonstrations by stunt performers Li Jing, Justin Chang, Nick Benseman, Gabe Rios and Roger Yuan. Camera operators LT Chang, Noah Garret, Anthony Zambrano, Joze Mendoza and Sela Pierce captured the action with Ron Yuan Directing, Alan Chu as 1st AD, Tyler Fetterman as Camera/Stunt PA and Jacob Ellis as a Spotter.

The second portion of the day was an in-depth panel discussion with Directors Deborah Chow (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Nisha Ganatra (Freakier Friday), Karen Gaviola (The Boys) and Geeta Vasant Patel (House of the Dragon) discussing their individual approaches and contributions to the genre during a conversation moderated by former AAC Co-Chair/ Director Kevin Berlandi (Found).

“I am a Korean adoptee and as a part of the experience I would often be asked, ‘Do you know martial arts?’” said Berlandi in his introduction. “That was my entry point into action. As I unfolded, there were all these action movies with kung fu and karate and I was confronted with all of these images seeing an Asian person in a position of power.”

Speaking about her experiences on The Boys, Gaviola revealed, “I directed an episode in season 4 where I read this action sequence from the script and was panicking. I arrived on location and my first question was, ‘Where is the Stunt Coordinator?’ John Koyoma, who won an Emmy for this episode, took me off the ledge and walked me through the sequence. The visual effects are a very heavy component in this show, as well as the action scenes and it’s very fiscally responsible to go through it together.”

Chow recalled working closely stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio for the Obi-Wan Kenobi fight scene between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. “The way we approached the fights was from the place of the character in the story. When we last saw them fight in The Revenge of the Sith they were fighting a certain way that was bound to the Jedi code, and now they’re older and they’re going to fight differently. For this, Jojo and I did both stunts viz and regular previs and built out the story arc from the fight scene and we went back and forth with it for four months before we shot it.”

Patel revealed her creative process on executing action with her team. “In Lanterns, it was just wall-to-wall action. How I executed it is that I had to look at the choreography and previs and then ask the choreographer to show me what they have done in person. Then I bring my DP and we look at it like it’s a stage play and see where the moments are with the choreography and the stunt coordinator. We take longer shots with what they have created and it’s very specialized in that way.”

Ganatra stressed the importance of working efficiently and safely with stunt work. “I was told to not do too many takes when you are doing a stunt or people will start getting hurt. So, if you got it, get it, then move on. I love the technique of breaking it apart in smaller pieces – only getting a maximum of two takes. You do realize really quickly that it’s dangerous and can be painful.”

See videos from this event in the gallery below.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

About the Asian American Committee:

The Asian American Committee (AAC) was created as a networking group to provide a forum for interests and issues that concern Asian-American Guild members. Through outreach efforts in the entertainment industry that emphasize career development and skills enhancement, the committee provides a variety of networking opportunities as well as screenings, seminars and discussions with industry professionals.

• For more information about the Asian American Committee, click here to visit their webpage.