Film Fights With Friends

New York City’s newly appointed Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) joins Film Fights with Friends to share what he has learned on his New York Filmmaker Listening Tour. Commissioner Espinal gives us a state of the industry in NY as he sees it, answers listener questions, and shares how the city plans to build on existing programs and create new initiatives to supp...

Tejas Hullur and Colt Kirwan are filmmakers who have written, directed, and produced a new three-episode pilot series for Adobe called Rough Cut! Colt and Tejas offer up an unfiltered and revealing journey of exploration into the craft of filmmaking. Steve and Paul first met Tejas when he trained at Breakfall Studios for Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning digital campaig...

T. Ryan Mooney, an accomplished stunt double and performer, has made a name for himself through his exceptional skills and versatility. With a passion for thrilling action, dedication to his craft, and meticulous planning and execution of stunts, Mooney has become an integral part of numerous film and television projects, delivering outstanding performances that captivate audiences. He has receive...

Peter Lawrence is a writer known for Thundercats, Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch, Silverhawks, The Burning, and more! He is also a co-host of the Beyond Thundera Podcast. In this interview, we explore Peter’s winding career path, the differences of writing for animation and live action, and how his childhood may have set the stage for his creative life. In the latter half of our discussion, w...

Steve and Paul announce the launch of the Film Fights with Friends action short film festival. After years of breaking down the action for our audience over the internet, hosting live film screenings and networking sessions, it is time to raise the bar and honor practical action filmmaking in a way only Film Fights with Friends can! MENTIONS: Festival Information: https://www.patreon.com/FilmFight...

Kayla Windsor is a producer, cinematographer, camera operator and FAA Part 107-licensed drone operator with experience across film, media, and production management. Alongside her creative and technical production work, Kayla also works as a project manager and serves as the Executive Educational Partner at Arizona Filmmakers. She is additionally a board member of the Arizona Production Associatio...

Steve and Paul follow up on listener mail, shout out cool social media engagers and review some do’s and don’ts of cold contacting stunt coordinators. MENTIONS: Seven Snipers review: https://youtu.be/l_CX-O6x5-w Learn more about the TSP: https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/index.html Support the TSP: https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/inv_in_innovation/sponsor.html?v=eUNc33MfXgI Support our food drive: https://teamfee...

Larry Kenney began his career when he was 15 in 1963 as a disc jockey at a radio station in Peoria, Illinois. He went on to work in New York, Cleveland, and Chicago. He later became a cast member on the radio show 'Imus in the Morning' in 1973. There, he made fun of political figures and famous people such as Elvis Presley, Ross Perot, and Richard Nixon. He made his way into TV when he became the...

So, your fight skills got you in the door. But how do you unlearn what you have learned to be bad enough to be good? Steve and Paul dissect the challenges of transitioning from real fighter to fake fighter, share advice from seasoned pros, and offer tips for increasing your on-screen skill. MENTIONS: IG Discussion: https://www.instagram.com/p/DYafW81M_uz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlO...

Rob Alicea is the Director of Serena (2026) , a critically acclaimed science fiction screenlife thriller in which a down-on-his-luck rock star (Steven Strait - The Expanse) becomes a beta tester for a revolutionary new chat bot (Andi Matichak - Halloween, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends) . Serena premiered at CineQuest 2026 to rave reviews. Rob was nominated for Best First Feature at the 2026 Miam...

Falling Into Film by Paul Weston. If you are interested in the stunt industry and action filmmaking (and as a fan of this show, we know you are), you will want to pick up this book. Paul is a legend in the film industry, and his book is, in our opinion, one of the best on the business and history of action filmmaking. He has hundreds of stunt performer, coordinator and second unit director credits...

Jude Poyer is the 2nd Unit Director and Action Designer for Marvel Television’s special presentation The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) , his first time shooting in New York City. From his early days as a performer in Hong Kong, and throughout his career, he has shared the screen with some of action film’s greatest, including Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Van Damme, Scott Adkins, Yuen Biao and more. Since...

S3 Ep2 – The Pope of New York Stephen Pope is an Emmy winning stunt coordinator (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 2024) and 9-time SAG Award nominee. His most recent Emmy nomination, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Drama Programming, was for HBO’s The Penguin. Our discussion starts with the challenges of coordinating The Penguin and proceeds to dive deep into the importance of mentorship, leadership, set...

Callie Schuttera and Gabriela Ledesma are the married couple behind the award-winning production company Poison Pictures. Callie is an actress, writer, and producer, known for her breakthrough role in Zach Cregger’s, WEAPONS. Gabriela is a director, writer, and producer who has directed 3 feature films, as well as multiple short films and music videos. In this interview, we dive into their new co-...

Eric Sun is Steven Yeun’s stunt double on Netflix’s The Rip. Eric, Steve, and Paul have a long history together in the stunt business, starting 10 years back when all were rookies in the industry and training together in NYC. In this season’s finale episode, we sit down with Eric and chew the fat about his work on The Rip and the decade-long journey that has brought him from a potential life as an...

As Paul and Steve conclude their second season, they review their episode rankings, comparing episodes favorites between their audio listeners and YouTube viewers. What killer episodes are these different audiences missing out on? MENTIONS: Feeding America Drive: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants/NYCombatSambo FILM FIGHTS WITH FRIENDS Do you listen to our show as an audio podcast? G...

As Paul and Steve come to the conclusion of their first feature screenplay’s 3rd draft, share their nearly four year writing experience, how it evolved from short film to feature, their goals, and how they overcame the challenges of putting ego aside and story to paper. MENTIONS: Feeding America Drive: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants/NYCombatSambo Those Who Face Death: https://www...

Garrett Schulte is known for his role as Wilmot Dow in the western drama about a young Teddy Roosevelt, ELKHORN (2024-2025). Garrett also appears in THE SKY’S FOREST (2025), which he also wrote, directed and edited. THE SKY’S FOREST is now available on-demand on Amazon and Apple. Schulte has a background in engineering and is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego. He has been invol...

Robert Radler is the director of the cult classic Best of the Best (1989) starring Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee and James Earl Jones. Numerous guests have cited this film as a pivotal moment in their martial art and film careers, not the least of which are our two co-hosts! This film, Radler’s debut feature, was also a launching pad for the likes of debut stunt coordinator Simon Rhee and performer J...

As a stunt coordinator on student films from nearly every film school in NYC and guest lecturer at the School of Visual Arts Masters in Directing program, our co-host Stephen Koepfer has noticed that up-and-coming filmmakers seem to be more attracted to practical action than ever before. This seems contrary to what one might assume to be the case in today’s film industry. There is a weird paradox...

Laiko Foroughi has been stunt-doubling Christina Chong (La'an Noonien-Singh) on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for the run of the show. She joins us on Film Fights with Friends to break down the epic dance-fight scene with Spock in S3 Ep8 (a throwback to the Spock vs Khan fight in Star Trek Into Darkness). Laiko is a career martial artist, stunt performer, and actor who has also appeared in What We...

Walker Hare is an actor and filmmaker who has appeared in Taylor Sheridan’s 1923 (2023), Artist Unknown (2024), The Sinner (2020) and most recently HBO Max’s Task and Netflix’s Black Rabbit. In episode 7 of Black Rabbit, Walker performs in a brutal fight scene, which is the starting point of our interview. We break down that scene from script to screen, how his Black Rabbit role related to his Art...

Evelyn Vaccaro is an actor and stunt performer known for her work in John Wick 3 (2019), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), The Naked Gun (2025), and countless television programs including Endgame (2022), Outer Banks (2021) and her 2025 Emmy Award nominated fire burn on FBI: Most Wanted.  Dancing, horseback riding, snowboarding are just a few of her skills. However, she is known for her...

 “How do I get into stunts?” The eternal question anyone working in the stunt business will be faced with repeatedly. The question often leaves us in a predicament. After all, we don’t want to crush anyone’s dreams. Everyone should be able to try making a living how they want. Having said that, there is no one path, quick fix or cheat code for getting into this business. What is very clear, h...

Creating a television show is no easy task. The vast majority of television pilots, even the great ones, do not result in a series being produced. It is a labor of love and dedication to the craft of storytelling.  Jamie Kilstein is an actor, comedian, podcaster, jiu-jitsu black belt, creator, and star of Blue Belts, his first scripted television project. In this interview, we dig into Blue B...