Film Fights With Friends

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 multiple Leo Awards, a UBCP/ACTRA Award,...

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 Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemb...

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, reliving the same violent night over and...

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 karate and has also trained in wush...

In this episode of Film Fights with Friends Steve and Paul share some of the crazier stories from their stunt careers including getting trolled after an appearance on a notorious Saturday Night Live sketch, improv gone wrong on The Punisher, calling out the leaker of Ray Donovan fight footage, a cautionary tale about working on friends’ passion projects and more!

MENTIONS:

SNL Safelite Sketch: https://vimeo.com/247846876

TAMMF...

Joining Film Fights with Friends is Dr. Paul Heinzelmann, a physician, former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School and Producer/Director of Safe Sets: Dying to Work in the Film Industry - a feature length exploration of systemic issues impacting the health and wellbeing of film workers. This critically important documentary weaves together candid interviews with technicians, union representatives, public health exp...

Mark Stanton-Kelly is a London based fight coordinator, stunt performer and lead stunt double with all round onset experience and skills. Mark is experienced and known for his ability to shoot and edit previz for feature films and television. He has a varied background in martial arts, is experienced in actor training and teaching fight choreography. Among the numerous productions Mark has coordinated fights for are Black Mirror, T...

Avaah Blackwell is a multilingual actor and versatile stunt performer. Classically trained in Europe, Blackwell began her career as a performer after graduating from Prague Film School's "Acting for Film" program at the top of her class. She has appeared in such productions as The Handmaid’s Tale, What We Do in the Shadows, 12 Monkeys and The Umbrella Academy. Avaah is most noted for her continued presence in the Star Trek universe...

Tom Denier Jr. is a five-time IATSE Make Up and Hair Stylist Guild Award and four-time Emmy Award nominee. He has taken home two guild awards for his work on Saturday Night Live. Tom has worked on such noted productions as FX’s Pose, which garnered him a 2021 Emmy nod, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), The Holdovers (2023), Werewolves Within (2021) and You Were Never Really Here (2017). Perhaps some of his most graphic and brutal fi...

Tim Gallin began his quest to perform in feature films and TV after attending CW Post College on Long Island, NY. His first professional job came by way of the Gong Show in August of 1978. He was a contestant on an Elvis Presley special because Chuck Barris was a fan of The King. After seeing his old high school football coach, Vic Magnotta performing in Taxi Driver, Tim picked up the phone and gave him a call. Magnotta was a stunt...

Riley Stearns is an American Filmmaker based in Los Angeles. His film balance on the edge of real and surreal, often focusing upon darker characteristics of the teacher – student relationship. Riley has written and directed Faults (2014), Dual (2022) and his most noted feature The Art of Self Defense (2019) starring Jesse Eisenberg. Riley is a long-time martial artist himself who holds a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Our inte...

In this bonus episode, we look at set safety and whether the historically ‘cowboy’ culture of film sets truly permits a culture of safety. All through our first season, guests from various television and film departments repeatedly raised concerns about set safety. We dove into issues ranging from stunts, rigging, child performers, general safety, and firearms. One common thread that appeared again and again was the fact that one m...

In the season one finale of Film Fights with Friends, Steve and Paul sit down to review the best moments from their first 25 shows. The plan suddenly changes when episode 2 guest Joshua Todd James (screenwriter - Take Cover, Pound of Flesh) returns to crash the party and turn the spotlight on our hosts. Joshua assumes the host chair and probes our co-hosts with a revealing interview you won’t want to miss!

FILM FIGHTS WITH FRIEND...

Military historian and weapons and armor expert Scott Boyett joins Film Fights with Friends for a comparative analysis of three films, depicting different time periods, from historic, tactical, technical, and theatrical perspectives. On the dissecting table are LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992), WAY OF THE GUN (2000), and MOSUL (2019).

Scott is a consultant for the film, television, and gaming industries. He grew up in a family of antique...

As a stunt double for Taryn Manning in the slasher horror film BLOODLINE KILLER (2024), Kristen Murphy joined an incredible stunt team to brought some complicated fights to the screen. Kristen is a professional dancer turned stunt performer. She began working in TV and film at a young age, since being signed for commercial dance at 18 years old. A native New Yorker, born and raised in Long Island, Kristen was fortunate enough to be...

Actor turned Comedian turned Stuntman turned Circus Rigger turned Stunt Rigger. Born in Ortonville, Michigan, in 1971. A former school wrestling champion, Brett has since trained in swordplay, film fighting, knife throwing, bullwhip, and as an escape artist. Throughout his career, Brett has earned a plastic bone that holds his left eye in place and has fractured his femur, the largest bone in the body, completely in half. In colleg...

Rocco Nisivoccia Jr. is a Director, Producer, and Production Manager who, after film school, landed his first Production Assistant gig on Spider-Man 2 (2004) with one of the most creative pitches we have ever heard. Working his way up in the industry working through Locations (Emergence, The Sopranos, Daredevil, Jessica Jones) and Production Management (Wu-Tang: An American Saga), he directed and produced his first featur...

Larry Rosenthal is a SAG/AFTRA award winner and four-time nominated stunt coordinator/performer. He won for Best Stunt Ensemble on the television show 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland. He has been stunt performing for over 25 years and coordinating for 15. Among his coordinating credits are Austin & Ally (Disney), Pretty Freaking Scary (Disney), and Warped (Nickelodeon). Stunt coordinating young performers can be a challenging un...

Critics universally panned Wayne Kramer’s box office flop Running Scared (2006). Top critics on Rotton Tomatoes rate the film at bleak 27% while fans give the film a superior 79% rating. On IMDB, it is Kramer’s highest-rated film, with a respectable 7.3 stars. With standout performances by Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious), Vera Farmiga (Up In the Air, The Departed), then unknown Cameron Bright (the Twilight Saga), and Chazz P...