Director Antony Szeto is directing three movies in Hong Kong this year. He started off as stunts coordinator. Funny guy and shared the inside story of life as a director. Awesome.On Saturday August 7 2010, I had the pleasure of attending Maria Tran’s Action Film Forum as part of her ‘Quest for Jackie Chan’ Compaign. The event was a huge success. Special thanks to all the people who supported Maria to make it happen like Jack, Marie and Lauren.
I was given the task of picking up special guests:
• Antony Szeto – Hong Kong director/producer/writer and stunt coordinator
• Wang Fei - lead actress for Wushu (2008) and currently here in Australia for “Shanghai Lady Killer”
• Chris Pang – who stars Lee in “Tomorrow, When the War Began
• Joy Hopewood – former presenter of Play School
After three hours on the road from Canberra to Sydney starting at 6am in the morning, doing my errands - I was exhausted. That all changed after picking up Antoni Szeto - a truly energetic and delightful person to talk to. We had many interesting conversations, laughs on our way to Fairfield – three hours worth in fact. It goes to show that all these famous people are just ‘human’ at the end of day. Antoni told me Jackie Chan was no different. Gee, one wonders if I can ever drive him back to Canberra.
The sofa in the middle of the stage was an interesting take. Maria who was dressed up and in high heels reminded me of Oprah. Her mother seems very proud. The audience were shown various works and talents – the one that impressed me the most was from Ali Kadhim & his team 9 Lives. Good work guys, keep it up!
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the night was watching the old generation of filmmakers pass on inspiration and advice to the young. I found myself being recruited as Wang Fei’s translator for the evening as she could not speak much English. She attracted quite the crowd and it kept me busy, but it was very enjoyable. Wang Fei told me that she was impressed by the enthusiasm and promised to attend one of Ali’s parkour sessions. The Nine Live team was very happy to hear that indeed. They eventually got to Antoni who was swamped with questions after his talk. As I watched, I wondered if I was witnessing the first step these young talented kids were taking to make it big on the world stage.
When I was leaving, I bumped into one of the guys from Nine Lives who couldn’t stop bowing and thanking me. I now understand how much all of this meant to them. At the end of the day, the person they should be thanking is Maria Tran who made all this possible.
As a behavioural optometrist who works with kids with learning difficulties – I believe in opportunities. This is clearly something that Australia lacks in the action film industry. I saw a lot of door opens that day and I could not help but smile as I walked away.
Good Luck Maria Tran. I think your dream is closer to reality than you really think.
Wang Fei & Ali's Parkour Team Nine Lives
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