Interview: Chris Cowan and Haile Lee from Thousand Pound Action Company
Thousand Pound Action Company is a team of incredibly talented Actors, Stuntmen and woman, Martial Artists and Video Producers, They have created amazing videos like Naruto Shippuden: Dreamers Fight, Street Fighter x Tekken: The Devil Within, The Ultra Comobs series and much much more that have really raised the bar for this kind of media.
Their new project Clandestine: Follow the Path is currently raising funds on Kickstarter, so I took the opportunity to sit down with Chris and Haile of Thousand Pound Action Company for a little chat, and here is what happened.
Chris and Haile tell us a little about yourselves and what the thousand pound action company does?
Chris Cowan, co-director on “Clandestine” and co-founder of Thousand Pounds Action Company
I grew up in the Midwest (Chicago, IL and Cincinnati, OH), picked up a camera when I was 11 and haven’t really put it down since. I actually started out wanting to be an actor but that slowly faded away the more I shot with the camera. Then I realized that directing was my goal. Creating films based in reality never really appealed to me though. I wanted to create things that people had never seen before and the sci-fi, fantasy, superhero genres were the best option for that. Not to mention, those were already my favorite genres to watch. I’ve stuck with that since. Creating films based around nerd culture is a definite passion of not only mine, but Thousand Pounds in general. Seeing how we’re all nerds anyways… haha.
Haile Lee, writer and co-director on “Clandestine”
Growing up, people always thought I was kind of weird or nerdy, or that I didn’t fit in at times. But I say now that’s a good thing. My viewpoint on life is really unique and I’m proud of it. I’m a gamer, huge comic book and manga fan, and a filmmaker – not necessarily in that order but pretty close… 😀
I grew up in a television production background so storytelling became a strong passion for me. Ever since I could remember I was writing or making up fantasy worlds or just trying to get friends and family members to enjoy one of my stories, or the short films I put together. Anime and manga were always a great escape for me as a kid because of the stories they weren’t afraid to tell. The life lessons and emotional trials the characters went through always inspired me. I never stopped being amazed at the totally different and mind blowing titles I came across at an early age, and I’m sure growing up with that always on my mind changed me as a filmmaker. In a good way, I think…haha.
At the age of 19, I was inspired to move to Japan for a year or so. I quickly learned Japanese while assimilating into the culture. This opened up new ways of thinking for me, which was an amazing experience. Just think if someone showed you that the one and only way you thought about life was suddenly not the ONLY way anymore. It humbles you, and gets you even more excited about the world around you. I feel good storytelling does the same thing, and that’s an overcomplicated and slightly boring explanation on why I am who I am and why I do what I do.
You’re using Kickstarter to fund your new project Clandestine:Follow the Path, tell us about that.
Haile Lee
Clandestine is our original dramatic story-driven action epic. If I were to compare it to anything, I would have to say it’s “The Godfather” meets “X-men” with a touch of feudalistic Japanese drama. It’s a lot, I know. It’s just basically going to be something you have never seen before – period. (haha)
The story follows a young woman named Adelene who finds out she is the lost matriarch for one of four feuding supernatural clans and is dragged into a dramatic war for control. As the series progresses, you watch Adelene grow from a lost child to a seasoned warrior and caring leader that has to make several decisions effecting the lives of many people around here.
It’s set in modern day but still has a very fantastical feel and tons of interesting characters.
Overall, we are pretty excited to bring this to people.
Tekken and SF are clear influences on your work, what are some other places you draw inspiration from?
Chris Cowan
I draw from a lot of sources. Anime, comic books, video games, etc. The one film that really inspired me though was Final Fantasy Advent Children. Seeing how the shots were composed and how fast the action editing was, yet still allowing the audience to follow what was going on with the action, changed my world a lot. I immediately told my friends, “That’s how I want to shoot and edit!” To which they replied “Yeah, good luck with that.” Haha. In CG films they can place the camera wherever they want to achieve the shots they need, and I’ve always found it fun and challenging to try and bring that same feel to live action filmmaking. Videogame cut scenes inspire me greatly as well, especially the more Japanese influenced ones – Street Fighter, Ultimate Ninja Storm Series, Tekken Series, GundamVs Series, etc. I go crazy for good cut scenes and opening cinematics.
Haile Lee
The culmination of things that I draw from and get inspired by could be a very long list. Books, TV and various films are all in there – Three Kingdoms, The Wire, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly are my top choices from those categories, but probably the majority of it comes from manga and video games.
One of my all-time favorite manga has to be “Berserk.” A lot of gore at times but it’s one of the most fantastic and well thought out stories I’ve ever read. Vagabond, Jo Jo’s Bizzare Adventure, First Gundam and Fist of the North Star are on high on the list as well. Some of your younger readers might not be familiar with some of these titles, so to relate, I am also a huge fan of One Piece and Naruto. Outside the fiction medium of storytelling, I am, in general, a huge history buff. I always feel you can find answers to any of your problems by reading about people from the past.
You worked with Mark Musashi on The Devil Within, who would your dream people be to put in front of a camera and tell them what to do.
Chris Cowan
I’d love to one day work with Donnie Yen but there’s no way I could tell him what to do. I’d just point the camera at him and let epic-ness happen.
Haile Lee
Acting wise, most likely Idris Elba.I think he has such a command of his roles and a respectable presence when it comes to the camera. It’s awesome when a black actor can overcome the stigma of being just a “black actor,” and because of his talent, [he] could be considered for roles that were written for a white male in mind.
Oh and Clint Eastwood. Nuff said.
Action wise, Donnie Yen and Mark Dacascos. The latter, I’m not sure if he is doing hardcore action roles anymore, but I always looked up to him as a kid. “Only the Strong” was an epic movie, little dated now – well maybe pretty dated now. But I remember watching that movie several times back in the day, and loving every second of it.
After Clandestine is there any upcoming or ongoing projects you can talk about?
Haile Lee
We would love to tackle a full Street Fighter X Tekken series like we originally intended the first time around, but I am kind of tired of waiting for someone else to give us the green light to work on a project. There are many original projects that Chris and I would like to tackle in the meantime while proving we can do several other beloved franchises justice in an adaptation piece. Either way, if we get a chance to tell great stories with intense and exciting action, I’m happy.
Now if you were locked in the arcade for all eternity and only had one game to play, what would it be?
Chris Cowan
Well, hoping that the arcade cabinet had online functionality, I’d say Gundam Extreme Vs or Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. Those games have a crazy lifespan to them. You’re constantly learning every time you play. I think I’d need that if it came down to eternity… haha.
Haile Lee
I’m sure Chris has said Virtua Fighter 5: FS and Gundam Extreme Vs. in his answer because we have been playing the hell out of those games lately. While I like those games, there is one where I would feel most content on playing for eternity. It’s call Gundam: Senjyou No Kizuna – a Gundam game that came out in Japan while I was there. You actually get into a full size Gundam cockpit capsule to fight in a wide scale mobile suit battle. It was amazingly fun, deep, and took a while to earn new units so the replayability would be real high… epic-ness haha.All and all I’d be able to make good use and squeeze some fun out of any game, I feel.
Well that was Chris and Haile, hope you enjoyed that as much as I did, you can find there Kickstarter page here, donate generously and tell your friends and enemies to do that same, and like there Facebook page and check out Youtube to stay update on everything Thousand Pound related.
