World in Action panel at the London Action Festival

I had a great time at the inaugural London Action Festival, the new world class film and television festival dedicated to all things action. I was invited to join "The World in Action" panel alongside actor/filmmaker Joey Ansah (The Old Guard, The Bourne Ultimatum) and stunt coordinator Jude Poyer (Havoc, Gangs of London) to discuss the impact of Asian cinema on global action filmmaking as we know it today.

We had a fun conversation on key influences and early exposure to the films which changed how many of us see and approach action cinema. We showed clips from influential Asian action films on screen, such as Duel to the Death, Dragons Forever and a Hong Kong vs. American editing comparison, and discussion, around James Glickenhaus’ The Protector, starring Jackie Chan. We also saw clips from Ansah’s famous fight scene against Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum, and key action scenes which Poyer coordinated for Gangs of London season one, with nods to John Woo, among others.

The panel event followed a special screening of Jackie Chan's The Legend of Drunken Master (aka Drunken Master 2), directed by Lau Kar-Leung, received a rare presentation from an immaculate 4K restoration in its original, uncut Hong Kong version (in Cantonese with English subtitles) courtesy of Warner Bros.

Other great events over the weekend included special screenings of Die Hard and Predator (both with director John McTiernan live Q&As), a 25th anniversary screening of Con Air (featuring a Q&A with director Simon West), a sneak peak of the eagerly awaited Gangs of London season two with director Corin Hardy, masterclasses, workshops and much more. I look forward to more events in the future!

For more information visit www.londonactionfestival.com