CREATIVE VISION

Armed with my 8mm camera and an electronic sound fx machine, I began my creative journey. I started with stop motion, using matchbox cars, micronauts, and 24" tall Shogun Warriors toys from Japan, but I quickly transitioned to shooting live action. My first film was jumping backwards off my roof and then using reverse motion photography to make it look like I could leap upward with superhuman dexterity. 

As the 80's came to an end, I was considering how to best make use of my physical skills. Teaching Ninjutsu was amazing but I felt I needed a creative outlet. Without knowing exactly how to do it, I decided to delve into the world of film. I sought out a mentor and met veteran stunt coordinators Lars Lundgren and Greg Anderson. Impressed by my extensive martial arts skills I was often asked to choreograph fights. I proved to be very intuitive with the camera and began apprenticing full time, spending countless hours on sets.  

 I landed my first co-starring role in Country Justice, playing the main henchman to the films villain. Again, I also served as the fight choreographer and  pyrotechnician, rigging the squibs (bullet hits) and small grenade explosions. This was also the first time I set up a full body burn.

I embarked on my first solo pyrotechnics job on the film American Messiah in Oregon. This transition into practical effects became another creative outlet, leading to becoming a certified firearms handler and a prosthetic makeup artist.   

The mid 90's had me travelling to Seattle to work on Mad Love Starring Chris O’Donnell and Drew Barrymore. The stunt team created havoc in grunge bars, drove recklessly around the city, and unleashed their own brand of crazy.

At the end of 1996 I was put in charge of the SAG/AFTRA Conservatory in Colorado. I was also put in charge of the SAG safety committee and researched all the stunt-related accidents that have been reported. I conducted an independent study of accidents that occurred on non-union productions across the country. I was surprised at the sheer number of dangerous situations that could have easily been avoided if a reputable stunt coordinator would have been hired.

 Serving as Stunt Coordinator and Special FX Supervisor on the film Tiger Street was an extreme challenge. Like many indie films this action picture had a limited budget, so I took it upon myself to invest a significant amount of my own money in order to create all the practical fx for the film. 

On the verge of a move to California, tragedy strikes and my youngest son is born with brain abnormalities and other medical issues that make a move impossible. I was forced to take a hard look at the future of my entertainment career.

On May 20th 2001 the inaugural World Stunt Awards were held at the Santa Monica Barker Hanger. This was the first awards show to honor stunt men and women for their work on feature films. I reunited with James Lew at the event and as always, the two began plotting future projects.

 The desert outside of Las Vegas was the next destination where I was a stuntman and fight coordinator on Tequila Express starring Christopher Atkins and Tane McClure.   Chris, Tane, and I became fast friends and we still work together often.

In 2003 I began the first year of a thirteen year run as a sales agent at the American Film Market in Santa Monica. Distribution deals are made for a wide range of films to countries throughout the world. This part of my life was instrumental in learning how to make films the industry will buy.

My next adventure was The Surfer King, which required water-based acrobatics to perform aerial flips while on a surfboard. A bit of ingenuity led to mixing snowboard with surfboard and using a floating trampoline. Innovation at it's best.

Reunited with my great friends Diana Lee Inosanto and Ron Balicki, I co-produced and assistant stunt coordinated the award winning film The Sensei at the exact same time I was directing Shadow Walkers.  I was working day and night with very little sleep.

The next film I'm set to direct is called Midnight Sun, but its backwoods vampire characters lead me to rename the project REDNECK along with the tagline “Evil has a Second Cousin.” We spend an incredible amount of time and energy prepping the project, but events unfolded that made us pull the plug on the production.

I enlisted the help of some veteran actors from LA and my Gathering of Heroes film now had appearances of Christopher Atkins (Blue Lagoon) and Martin Kove (Karate Kid) as pivotal characters. 

Best Ribs in Town combines beauty with brutality as a group of small town waitresses lure unsuspecting customers into a deadly trap. I served as producer, stunt coordinator and special effects supervisor working alongside veteran cinematographer Ric Waite. 

Next I served as editor on the Olivier Gruner sci-fi/action film Re-Generator. Olivier is a champion martial artist with over 40 roles in many great action films. I was always inspired by fighters who transitioned to film.

In The Storyteller I teamed up with Christopher Atkins to produce a heart wrenching story of war. Stunt performers were blown up, shot, stabbed, set on fire, and generally abused. 

I directed the mind-bending psychological thriller Mind’s Eye. This film was an incredible journey and I was able to direct amazing young talent in Izzie Steele, Natalie Distler, Andrew Trainor, as well as veteran movie and television stars Dean Cain and Malcolm McDowell. The distributors would eventually rename the film The Black Hole... But I liked the original title.

 I had a great time stunt coordinating Liana Liberato, Isabelle Fuhrman, and Patrick Schwarzenegger in the film Dear Eleanor, which also starred Josh Lucas, Jessica Alba, and Luke Wilson.  

In the summer of 2014, I took on his most ambitious project yet. In less than 30 days I wrote STAR RAIDERS: The Adventures of Saber Raine. This script was based on characters he developed in my "Rogue Space" short stories I had written in his teens. This film is a retro throwback to the scifi serials of the 30’s and 40’s and the campy action films of the 80’s.

I was super excited to have a huge banner for STAR RAIDERS at the main entrance of the American Film Market at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica. It's always hard to get buyers to notice smaller budget films.

 Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine releases on multiple digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Playstation Network, X-Box Live, and many others. 

In January 2018 my Gathering of Heroes released on Amazon Prime and became available as a digital download or dvd/bluray. Being my passion project, I had sat on this film for a long time because it was never quite ready. The VFX wasn't quite up to snuff, but after Star Raiders released, I knew I had to put it out before I could move on with my next film.

Rifftrax, the ultimate movie parody team, picks Star Raiders as part of it's 2019 Lineup to be filmed before a live audience in Nashville, Tennessee. Actress Sara Salazar and I will go to Nashville for the live filming.

April 2019 I am asked to do a commentary track on the MVD re-release of the film MY SAMURAI which I filmed in 1991. It was fun to look back to the earliest part of my career.

Sara Salazar poses with fans who created homemade versions of costumes and characters from Star Raiders. It was surreal to meet people who were such fans!

June 2019 I reached out to Sam Jones. Melody Anderson, and Claudia Christian to attend the Denver Pop Culture Con. They were all amazing and we spent a great deal of time enjoying their long time fans!

October 2019 - MY SAMURAI re-releases on bluray with a 45 minute special commentary by Julian Lee and I talking about behind the scenes and sharing fond memories about cast and crew.