Film Fights With Friends

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...

Hank Bedford is the co-writer and director of Eugene the Marine , a genre-bending horror giallo film starring Scott Glenn, Jim Gaffigan, Shioli Kutsuna and Annette O’Toole. The film premiered at the 2025 Oldenburg International Film Festival to standing ovations and high praise for Scott Glenn’s performance, a performance Glenn has called the best of his career. This is Bedford’s second...

Clay found his way into unit photography when Zack Snyder gave him a chance to shoot Watchmen. That lucky break has led to nearly 20 years of work, including Sucker Punch (2011), Man of Steel (2013), 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), Suicide Squad (2016), Justice League (2017), A Star is Born (2018), I am the Night (2019), and Rebel Moon Parts One and Two (2023/24). His enthusiasm has never waned. Wh...

With a background in AMA motocross racing and competitive gymnastics, Kevin Rogers has been pursuing a career in the stunt industry since 2005. Soon after, in 2006, he started working at Drivers East. With countless hours of practice and an intensely competitive spirit, he has earned the reputation as a car and motorcycle specialist. His professionalism and experience have helped him achieve an ev...

Returning guests Becca GT (S1 Ep1) and Hugh Fitzgerald (S1 Ep4) return to join Paul and Steve and rip into what some of our favorite and worst remakes are! What constitutes a remake? Can a television show truly be a remake of a film? Can a film accurately remake a TV show? Is a reboot a remake? Is a spin-off off a remake? What films should never be remade? Join us and find out what these industry...

Lauro David Chartrand-Del Valle has a remarkable film and television career spanning over 35 years. Having journeyed from an internationally recognized Stuntman, Coordinator, and Fight Coordinator on epic films like The Last Samurai and War for the Planet of the Apes, to directing, writing, and producing, Lauro is deeply involved in all facets of filmmaking. His work has been recognized with multi...

With nearly 20 years of experience as a performer, Tara Macken has worked as a stunt performer, fight coordinator, stunt coordinator and action director. Tara is a 5 time SAG Award nominee for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture (The Batman, Avengers: Endgame, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Avengers: Infinity War and Furious 7), a 2 time nominee for Outstanding A...

UFC standout turned Director, Keith Jardine, and Tait Fletcher (The Mandalorian) sit in on Film Fights with Friends to talk time loops, horror, and Jardine’s directorial debut, Kill Me Again. Written and directed by Jardine, Kill Me Again tells the story of Charlie (Brendan Fehr - Roswell, Final Destination), a notorious serial killer known as the Midnight Mangler, who finds himself trapped, reliv...

Michelle Waterson-Gomez is an American former mixed martial artist, actress and stuntwoman who has competed across various organizations including Strikeforce and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion. Between 2013 and 2014, she was ranked the No. 1 women's atomweight fighter in the world. Waterson-Gomez holds a black belt in American freestyle...