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 in the action filmmaking community. Practical action has never been more popular. It is actively used to promote and market big budget productions. Behind the scenes videos go viral on social media. As a result more people are trying to become stunt performers than ever before. Young filmmakers are craving practical action. Yet simultaneously, existing performers in the industry are petrified of being replaced by digital stunt doubles, generative AI, declining numbers of productions, etc. So, we wanted to dig into the issue of practical vs. AI and the future of action film.

To do so we invited a group of emerging filmmakers on the show. Joining us on are Darren Tun and Jeffrey Colangelo of Code 10-10, the NYC stunt team that won the 2025 installment of 87 North’s prestigious Stunt Design Showdown. Also on the show are Bryan Uvaldo and Amanda Whyte. Bryan’s NYU thesis film, Playin’ Around, took best stunt performance at the Art of Movie Making Film Festival as well as honors from other festivals. These accolades are due in very large part to Amanda’s incredible performance in the film. Together we peer into the mind of these emerging filmmakers and answer the question: What is the future of action?

MENTIONS:

Feeding America Drive: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants/NYCombatSambo

Code 10-10’s 87 North Stunt design Showdown winning previs: https://youtu.be/_jtwMLJ4RY8?si=GCPSUPBcBFIiKS6Q

Variety Magazine’s Stunt Showdown coverage: https://variety.com/2025/artisans/news/pete-davidson-david-leitch-stunt-design-showdown-1236563986/

Playin’ Around. TAMMIES winning NYU thesis film: https://youtu.be/_W2Kq_nPOPg?si=iBbSAkc6pLiHcHhE

Playin’ Around website: https://www.bryanuvaldo.com/directorial/playin-around

FILM FIGHTS WITH FRIENDS

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Steve’s Instagram:

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 Do in the Shadows, Gen V, The Handmaid's Tale, Murderbot, The Boys, Scream VI and many other productions. She is a 5th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo and part of the 2017 & 2018 Canadian National Taekwondo Teams. No stranger to dance herself, Laiko has over a decade of competitive dance experience. She trained at CDM (Conservatory of Dance & Music) for 10 years, was a dance Major at Earl Haig Secondary School, and has trained Ballet (RAD Intermediate), Jazz, Contemporary, Acrobatics, Lyrical, Hip Hop, and Musical Theatre.

MENTIONS:

Laiko IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11346671/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Dance/Fight with Spock: https://youtu.be/otCoTJxQ0NY?si=Km0zlGzE9mtlLbxR

Pakleds (scavenger) fight scene with Pike: https://youtu.be/h1hoEoT-Vmg?si=-7yBLU5hn_af6c7b (sorry for the fan voiceover edit)

Strange New Worlds S3 stunts BTS video: https://youtu.be/irkyXKTmY8M?si=ZVB6Qg585VqgD2gQ

Spock vs Kahn Fight from Star Trek: Into Darkness: https://youtu.be/b690L5LhKSQ?si=h5N_T4b-dzFRN_Ha

FILM FIGHTS WITH FRIENDS

Do you listen to our show as an audio podcast? Give video a try. Subscribe to our Youtube for the video version with awesome behind the scenes pics and video! https://www.youtube.com/@FilmFightsFriendsPod?sub_confirmation=1

Dig the show? Consider supporting our Patreon. There are some cool perks! http://patreon.com/FilmFightsFriendsPodcast

Join our e-mail list! Hit us up here: fightingwithfriendspod@gmail.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/FilmFightsFriendsPod

Facebook: http://facebook.com/FilmFightsFriendsPod

Steve’s Instagram: http://Instagram.com/sambosteve

Steve’s IMDB: http://imdb.me/stephenkoepfer

Paul’s on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/KravMagaChef

Paul’s IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8062990/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Breakfall Studios’ Instagram: http://Instagram.com/breakfallstunts

SPONSORS

Stunt Contact

https://stuntcontact.com/

Stunt Access

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 Artist Unknown role, his overall experience on the show, and his acting career. Our co-host Paul is also a career chef with an extensive history working in the NYC restaurant scene. We go into some of the parallels between Black Rabbit’s story arc and actual tragic events in the NYC restaurant world. Walker is also the producer and co-star of 2ND-C, an upcoming science fiction action film born out of the pandemic.

MENTIONS:

Film Fights With Friends/Breakfall Studios Holiday Work Out, Mixer and Movie Night: https://www.patreon.com/posts/winter-open-and-138453493

Walker Hare IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3017401/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Black Rabbit Trailer: https://youtu.be/ueNsPJgWNAg?si=bfDfx3HE66BHhOCa

Task Trailer: https://youtu.be/irkyXKTmY8M?si=ZVB6Qg585VqgD2gQ

Artist Unknown on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24329424/reference/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Touring the Black Rabbit set with Architectural Digest: https://youtu.be/JplgCQ1gTLs?si=PQ3hvID8WCDeQExm

FILM FIGHTS WITH FRIENDS

Do you listen to our show as an audio podcast? Give video a try. Subscribe to our Youtube for the video version with awesome behind the scenes pics and video! https://www.youtube.com/@FilmFightsFriendsPod?sub_confirmation=1

Dig the show? Consider supporting our Patreon. There are some cool perks! http://patreon.com/FilmFightsFriendsPodcast

Join our e-mail list! Hit us up here: fightingwithfriendspod@gmail.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/FilmFightsFriendsPod

Facebook: http://facebook.com/FilmFightsFriendsPod

Steve’s Instagram: http://Instagram.com/sambosteve

Steve’s IMDB: http://imdb.me/stephenkoepfer

Paul’s on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/KravMagaChef

Paul’s IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8062990/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Breakfall Studios’ Instagram: http://Instagram.com/breakfallstunts

SPONSORS

Stunt Contact (use discount code FFWFPOD for 25%...