The 4th Annual Urban Action Showcase and Expo is presenting a Behind The Action Stunt Panel featuring cast members from “Luke Cage” on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the AMC Empire 25 Theaters, 234 West 42 St, Times Square NYC from 2:00pm-2:50pm Theater #11.
The UAS takes you Behind The Action with the Action Actors and Stunt performers of Marvel’s “Luke Cage” now on Netflix!
Robert Samuels, the 1st and only African American in the Hong Kong Stuntmen’s Association, will moderate the panel featuring distinguished action actors and stuntmen including Jenel Stevens, who doubles for Misty Knight; R Marcos Taylor was “Famous Amos”; Kahlil Maasi, who played Neville; and stuntmen Emmanuel Brown and Manny Ayala.
Samuels will talk with the panel about the excitement of working on New York’s first Black Super Hero show ever.
The Urban Action Showcase & Expo, founded by Demetrius Angelo, is the premier all-action experiential entertainment platform celebrating diversity and honoring the past, present and future multicultural achievements within the blockbuster Action genre including Adventure, Fantasy, Grindhouse, Action Horror, Sci-Fi, and Supernatural content. Cinemax® sponsors the Urban Action Showcase and Expo (UASE) in New York City.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
The 4th Annual Urban Action Showcase and Expo will take place on November 11-12, 2016 at HBO, 1100 Avenue of The Americas and AMC Empire 25 Theaters, 234 West 42 St, Times Square NYC.
On Friday, November 11th, I’ll see you at the Cinemax® VIP Welcome Red Carpet Reception and UAS IAFF Awards at HBO in New York from 6p.m. – 10p.m. The evening is the kickoff for two action packed days and nights of the 2016 Urban Action Showcase & Expo. Get your Festival Passes Here: http://www.urbanactionshowcase.com/event-passes.html
*General Admission gets you All Films and the Expo
*V.I.P Gets you everything!
The Urban Action Showcase & Expo, founded by Demetrius Angelo, is the premier all-action experiential entertainment platform celebrating diversity and honoring the past, present and future multicultural achievements within the blockbuster Action genre including Adventure, Fantasy, Grindhouse, Action Horror, Sci-Fi, and Supernatural content. Cinemax® sponsors the Urban Action Showcase and Expo (UASE) in New York City.
Lia Chang and Donna Noguchi in John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986).BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA stars Peter Kwong and Lia Chang. Photo by Marissa Chang-Flores
The UASE will also pay homage to over 30 years of martial arts cult classics with anniversary screenings of John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China and Isaac Florentine’s WMAC Masters TV series.
On Saturday, November 12th, I’ll be at the 30th anniversary screening of Big Trouble in Little China with my co-star and pal Peter Kwong (Rain) at AMC Empire 25 Times Square at 4:00P.M, with a Q&A to follow.
Other showcase films will include a tribute to the Blaxploitation and Asian Action Cinema classics.
The UASE is the only Action entertainment platform offering both fan and professional experiences through its International Action Film Festival, Expo and Awards platforms.
By focusing on the thrill and excitement of the Action genre and recognizing the need for integration, the UASE sets itself apart from other festival platforms as the only one of its kind! The purpose of the UASE is to ultimately see an increase in ethnic heroic principal characters in film and television, increase the development of content and expand distribution platforms reflecting multicultural images and interests as it pertains to the multifaceted Action genre.
Check out the Celebrity talent attending the 2016 UASE celebration:
Warrington Hudlin, Lia Chang and Demetrius Angelo. Photo by Patrick Cashin
Warrington Hudlin (Boomerang, House Party)
Fred Williamson (Three the Hard Way, From Dusk til Dawn)
Lia Chang (Big Trouble in Little China, King of New York, New Jack City, The Last Dragon)
Taimak (The Last Dragon)
THE LAST DRAGON
Michael Chin (The Last Dragon)
Henry Yuk (The Last Dragon)
Ron Van Clief (The Black Dragon)
Don “The Dragon” Wilson (Scorpion King, Blood Fist)
Robert Samuels (Beast, Gambling Ghost)
Willie “Bam” Johnson & Marco Da Answer Johnson (WMAC Masters)
Christine Bannon Rodrigues (WMAC Masters)
Hakim Alston (WMAC Masters, Mortal Kombat)
Michael Woods (Tiger Cage, Cheetah on Fire)
R. Marcos Taylor (Straight Outta Compton, Luke Cage, Paying Mr. McGetty)
James Lew (Inception, Last Samurai, Luke Cage, Dare Devil)
Jose Hernandez Jr (Oz)
Masters of The Martial Arts (Grand Masters Michael DePasquale Jr., Oso Tayri Casel, Rico Guy, Hanshi Nikwan Murphy)
Jeremy Sample (Luke Cage, Gotham, Selma)
Emmanuel Brown (Luke Cage, Blind Spot)
Khalil Maasi (Luke Cage)
Jenel Stevens (Luke Cage)
Alyma Dorsey (Ghostbusters)
Check out the website for the full lineup of Urban Action Showcase Festival Films:
Saturday, November 12th, 10a.m. – 10p.m. at AMC Empire 25 Times Square
Screening of Features, Shorts and Showcase Films!
Showcase Features:
Martial Arts Cult Classic Mania featuring: 30th Anniversary of Big Trouble in Little China and The Last Dragon
Back 2 Black Action: 3 The Hard Way featuring special guest Fred “The Hammer” Williamson
Festival Films: Featuring Official Selections of the UAS International Action Film FestivalUrban Action Expo:
Saturday, November 12th, 10a.m. – 6p.m. at AMC Empire 25 Times Square Featuring Entertainment Industry Vendors, Comic Book Creators, CelebritySignings, Panels, Workshops, Master Classes and more!Featured Panels:
Urban Fists of Legends Panel featuring the legends of Action cinema
Angels of Action: Women in Action Panel
Martial Arts Cult Classic Mania Panel (30th Anniversary of Big Trouble in Little China)
Behind The Action: Luke Cage Stunt and Fight Choreographer Panel
From Strip to Screen: Bringing Comic Content to the Screen
Urban Action Showcase Diversity in Action Celebration: Saturday, November 12th Red Carpet 7:00p.m. – 7:30p.m., Celebration Showcase 7:30p.m. – 9:30p.m.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
Last November, Emmanuel “Manny” Brown nabbed two awards at The Urban Action Showcase International Action Film Festival for his fight choreography on the short film Junkyard a.k.a. Stuntmen – a 2015 UAS IAFF Award for Best Action Sequence and 2015 UAS IAFF Award for Best Action in the 2 Min Warning Action Scene Contest.
The UASE also celebrated the 30th anniversary of my first film, The Last Dragon last year,and willcontinues it’s Diversity in Action initiative of honing the past, present and future multicultural achievements in the genre of Heroes, by celebrating my second film, the 30th Anniversary of the Martial Arts Cult Classics Big Trouble in Little China, in which I played a Wing Kong Guard.
Lia Chang and Donna Noguchi in John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
The Urban Action Showcase International Action Film Festival (UAS IAFF) will screen both competition films as well as showcase main stream action cinema over two days, November 11-12, 2016, in New York. Click here for more information.
In addition to being an award-winning fight choreographer, Brown is also an actor, a champion martial artist, an acrobat/tricker, a singer, and a dancer. He played Spider-man and Electro in the original Broadway cast of Spider-man:Turn Off the Dark, and has worked on the TV shows “Elementary”(CBS), “Taxi Brooklyn” (NBC), and “Forever” (ABC).
Cole Horibe, Emmanuel “Manny” Brown, Clifton Duncan and Jon Rua in David Henry Hwang’s “Kung Fu.” Photo by Lia Chang
I first met Brown in 2014 at The Pershing Square Signature Center, where he was acting in and serving as fight director for Signature Theatre Company’s Off-Broadway world premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Kung Fu, and subsequently garnered a 2014 Village Voice Obie Award for his fight direction.
Emmanuel “Manny” Brown takes a bow at the curtain call of David Henry Hwang’s “Kung Fu” at The Pershing Square Signature Center in New York on February 24, 2014. Photo by Lia Chang
His other Off-Broadway credits include Charles Mee’s Big Love(Signature Theatre Company); Sweet Science Suite (BAM); and the Classical Theatre of Harlem productions of The Tempest as Stefano and Romeo N Julietas Tybalt.In addition toKung Fu, he has served as fight director forSweet Science Suite, Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon! (La Mama), Coin Toss, World’s Finest, Under the Gun. His regional theater credits include Sucker Punch (Studio Theatre of DC) andYoshimi Battles the Pink Robots(La Jolla Playhouse). Brown holds a B.F.A from the University of Florida.
Bobby Steggert, Emmanuel Brown and Ryan-James Hatanaka. Photo by T Charles Erickson.
Below is my interview with Manny about his favorite martial arts films, his latest accolades and what he’s been up to lately.
Emmanuel “Manny” Brown. Photo courtesy of Emmanuel “Manny” Brown/Facebook
Lia: How old were you when you developed your love of acting and martial arts? Manny: I developed a love for martial arts after my first class as a 10-year-old. I had an appreciation for acting all my life and did some acting classes in middle school and high school, but I decided to get serious about it when I was 19.
Lia: The 2016 Urban Action Showcase will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Big Trouble in Little China in November this year. Does this mean anything to you? Manny: Absolutely. Big Trouble in Little China was one of the first movies featuring the martial arts that I had ever seen because I have an older sister who was obsessed with it. It is a part of my youth.
Lia: What other films have inspired you? Manny:Rumble in the Bronx, The Last Dragon, Lady Dragon, Legend of Drunken Master,Enter the Dragon, Fist of Legend, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Fearless Hyena, Jackie Chan’s First Strike.
Lia: What did it mean for you to receive these awards? Manny: These awards mean that I am one step closer to doing fight choreography on film and TV and that all of my studying of film fighting is paying off.
Emmanuel “Manny” Brown. Photo by Ryu Ronnie Wright
Click below to watch Junkyard.
Lia: How did you get hired for Spider-Man? What was your experience of working on the production and being on Broadway?
Manny: I got cast in Spider-man by attending an open dance call. I had a great experience working on the show despite all of the controversy/problems. Being on Broadway is an experience like no other. Such great, receptive and enthusiastic audiences.
Cast members of the Broadway production of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” Dale May for Time Out New York
Lia: What kind of adjustments do you make working on your fight direction on film, on television and on stage? Manny: I usually find myself having to make more adjustments when working on stage, as I can’t rely on editing and complete control of audience sightlines. I always try to adjust to my performers abilities to make them look as good as possible. On stage I have to work harder to make each technique “sell” to the audience.
Ari Loeb and Cole Horibe in David Henry Hwang’s “Kung Fu”. Photo by Joan Marcus
Lia: Do you have a preferred medium? Manny: I don’t have a preferred medium as each poses its own set of challenges.
The cast and creative team of David Henry Hwang’s celebrate at their opening night party at Signature Theatre Company’s Pershing Square Signature Center in New York on February 24, 2014. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia: Tell me more about the Urban Action Showcase. Manny: The Showcase has been terrific both times I attended. It has introduced me to other action artists and icons I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. Demetrius (Demetrius Angelo is the Founder and Executive Producer of the Urban Action Showcase and Expo) has done a lot to provide a platform for us, indie filmmakers and I am grateful for that.
Lia: Who have you been inspired by in the martial arts world? Manny: Jackie Chan, Don Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton, Billy Blanks, Ted Jan Roberts, Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly.
Lia: Have you had mentors? If so, who have they been and in what capacity have you worked with them? Manny: My martial arts teachers – Allen Abdul, Dean Butler, Dale Herring). My acting teachers – Harry O’Reilly, Mikell Pinkney, David Shelton). Also John Chung, who coached the karate team I competed for, and the late Fred Ho.
Sheldon Best, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Emmanuel “Manny” Brown and Clifton Duncan at the opening night party for David Henry Hwang’s “Kung Fu” at Pershing Square Signature Center in New York on February 24, 2014. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia: Who have been your acting role models? Manny: Jeffrey Wright, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Martin Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Sidney Poitier.
Emmanuel “Manny” Brown in flight as a Knicks Acroback Tumblers at Madison Square Garden. Photo: Facebook
Lia: What did you do during your time with the New York Knicks and the New York Liberty at Madison Square Garden? Manny: I was an acrobat for the Knicks Acroback Tumblers and a dancer/acrobat/cheerleader for the Liberty. It was a cool job working at the Garden.
Sheldon Best and Emmanuel Brown in Studio Theatre’s production of Roy Williams SUCKERPUNCH (2012). Photo: Scott Suchman.
Lia: What have been your three favorite projects? Manny: A play I did in Washington DC called Sucker Punch, the episode of “Blindspot” that I was in, and the play Kung Fu I worked on in NY.
Lia: What are you working on now? Manny: I am planning on working on a production this Summer with Classical Theatre of Harlem.
Lia: A fun fact that nobody know about you.
Manny: I am a cinephile and and learn how to say certain things in other languages from watching foreign films.
The 2016 Urban Action Showcase International Action Film Festival Featuring the Cinemax Action Short Film Competition Call for Entries is Now Open! Submit Now through Oct. 1 2016. Over $100,000 in Cash, Distribution and Prize Opportunities! Click here for details.
Bev's Girl Films 