Jason Ninh Cao: Bulldog 

Jason started work in film and television in 1995 where he discovered his love for acting. Since that moment Jason's dramatic career has taken off and to date his credits include: the movie "Once Upon A Time In Vietnam" (Working with Dustin Nguyen), "Balas&Bolinhos - O Ultimo Capitulo", (as Action director & playing the lead villain), movie "Blitz" Stunt (working with Jason Statham), "Snatch" (working with Guy Ritchie), the "Shaolin Wheel Of Life" stage show (Working with the Shaolin monks), London based spoof Kung Fu movie "Draining Lizard's", and the long running UK television series "The Bill".

 

Zara Phythian: Miss Thunderleg

After becoming one of the worlds most decorated female martial artists Zara left the international tournament circuit to persue a new challenge in Film and TV after being spotted competing in the USA in 2006 and immediately featured as co star in a US Indie Sci Fi Feature. In 2007 she returned to the UK and featured in many productions for Music Video’s, TV shows and Films including Transit 17, He Who Dares, ‘ Underground, 12’ and in 2009 was cast for her first major lead role in the UK Horror feature ‘ The HIKE’.

 

Silvio Simac

Silvio has achieved the pinnacle as an athlete by becoming Taekwon-do World Gold Medalist, British Champion 14 times and European Champion 4 times. Achieving excellence and mastering a skill is only a dream for many but Silvio has made it a reality. It is this 'Star' quality that makes him unique and subsequently has gained him success by landing roles in commercials, TV shows and the movies.

14 years ago, Silvio exploded on to our TV screens as one of the Stars of Masters of Combat , a revolutionary BBC2 game show based around the martial arts. His credits extend to Eastern as well as Western cinema. Black Mask 2, Lexx, Unleashed, Dead or Alive, Undisputed 2, Knock Out & Transporter 3 are just a few of the more distinguished ones. 

 

Mark Strange

Mark is an action actor with extensive experience in Martial Arts and film. Having competed as a Martial Arts Champion all over the world and earning titles as the Euro-British Full Contact Champion and MAI National Chinese Forms Champion, Mark pursued a lifelong interest in film and made the transition to acting.

Having appeared in Twins Effect (working under action director Donnie Yen) and The Medallion (alongside Jackie Chan), Mark also landed a role in Batman Begins and played the lead in Displaced, a British action film featuring Sir Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, X-Men). Continuing this success, Mark went on to star in 12 (Twelve), one of the most successful British action films of all time. He followed this by co-starring in Bodyguard: A New Beginning, a gritty action-drama shot in the UK and Hong Kong and featuring a star cast of movie legends, including Richard Ng (Sammo Hung’s Winners and Sinners) and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat).

Recently, Mark featured in the action-drama Best Laid Plans alongside Stephen Graham (Snatch, This Is England) Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (GI Joe: Rise Of The Cobra) and David O’Hara (The Departed), and was brought on board to choreograph the action of the horror sequel, World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries and also the horror The Thompsons directed by the Butcher Brothers (The Hamiltons).

Aside from acting, Dave is also a keen martial artist and regular speaker and exhibitor at martial arts conventions throughout the UK. Since his move to acting, his work has taken him all around the world and he has begun to branch out into producing. Dave Wong's career is on an ever upward trajectory and he is never more at home than he is in front of the camera.

Alex Reid

Alexander Aristides "Alex" Reid (born 21 July 1975) is an English mixed martial artist, kickboxer and actor who used the nickname the "Reidernator". Alex has fought for Cage Rage, BAMMA and UCMMA. Throughout his MMA career he has fought some of the best known fighters, especially from the earlier days of the UFC, such as former welterweight champion Dave Menne and UFC 14 middleweight finalist Tony Fryklund, he has also faced Murilo 'Ninja' Rua, Tom Watson, Xavier Foupa-Pokam, Mark Weir and Jorge Rivera. In his spare time. He also often MC's national BAMMA third-party events around the UK for MMA fighters in the BAMMA League.

Alex gained his fame in Britain when he won Celebrity Big Brother 7  in January 2010.

The team

 

Jason Ninh Cao: Creator and Producer

Jason created his production company, "JNC Productions Ltd", in 2010. His goal in starting this company and in making "Iron Monk" was to set new standards in the fight film industry and make movies like they did 40 years ago - like Bruce Lee did - movies with great fighters, great stories, and no wires or special effects.

 

Mark Pallis: Writer

Mark is a versatile, award winning writer. His first feature film is shooting in summer 2015, backed by one of Vietnam’s biggest studio. He has a passion for stories with a meaning and whilst Iron Monk is the first kung fu film he has written, Producer Jason Ninh Cao was impressed by Mark’s take on the genre. Jason says: “Mark said to me that for him, kung fu movies are like musicals. I asked him to explain and he said that for him, just like in a musical where every song tells a story and moves either the plot or the characterisation forward, in a Kung Fu film, every fight needs to do that same. We’re not just fighting for fighting’s sake - it is part of story.”

Mark was the creative force behind the award winning BBC drama Garrow’s Law and has spent extensive time with Yanzi Shi learning about the shaolin culture and weaving it into the script to make a compelling tale.

 

Vincent Wang: Action director

Vincent began acting in 1992 and by 1998 his fighting skills saw him progress to become a leading stunt man in the film industry.

Movie credits include: Edge Of Tomorrow, Thor: The Dark World, Red 2, 47 Ronin as Fight arranger, World War Z, Captain America, Sherlock Holmes, Batman Begins, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Golden Compass, Children Of Men and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.

 

Mat Sunderland: Director

In the Promo world Mat has created highly visual and simple pieces for Pest and the Duel and more recently the Split screen Bodymachine, City Lights, which was featured in several festivals in the UK. He has recently been commissioned by the National Gallery to create some fantastic insights into their latest exhibition, Building the Renaissance John the Baptist and Making Colour as well as working on a short piece with Peter Greenaway for the Rembrandt exhibition.

Working increasingly in documentary work in 2011 he was dragged back into the feature world from three sides. First JNC productions an the IRON MONK project which place Mat at the helm of a UK, Hardcore, Kung Fu Film as well as Yokon films first venture into Horror with its film Scrublands and the horsemen by Jonathan Groom.

It is this understanding of all aspects of film making and storytelling which gives Mat the skills to produce films of a depth and visual quality often lacking in other directors.

Now working with high end brands such as Ted Baker, Tesco, Barclays, Jane Norman, Prudential, Peugeot and many more mat continues to film high end corporate and commercial work as he creates feature projects which will inspire.

 

Richard Swingle: Director Of Photography

Richard has been lighting and photographing various film projects for the last 16 years. He has just wrapped on feature film 'The Man Inside' starring Peter Mullan, Michelle Ryan and Ashly Thomas and 'Interview With A Hitman' starring Luke Goss.

His experience in the industry has extended to such projects as; Patagonia, Chatroom, Wuthering Heights, Ironclad, Submarine and 47 Ronin. His training came through working with a variety of Directors of photography such as, Robbie Ryan, Benoit Delhomme, David Eggby and Directors such as Marc Evans, Hideo Nakata and Andrea Arnold.

Rich has over 50 short films under his belt to complement the four features he has shot as well at a series of music promos and commercials, TV pilots and web series.

 

Music composers: Jon Cotton & Ben Niblett

Jon spent 15 years working as a record producer, mix engineer and song composer (writing for EMI Music from 1996-2001) before branching into composing screen music, initially for Universal Production Music before partnering with Ben to develop commissioned soundtracks for television and film. He still regularly writes for Universal, KPM and Warners Production Music." ! Jon’s record production credits include 2006’s Ivor Novello Award winner ‘Elusive’ by Scott Matthews (Island Records), Scott’s albums ‘Passing Stranger’ and ‘What the Night Delivers’. producing Prince favourite Jo Hamilton, mix work on Mercury Nominees Sweet Billy Pilgrim’s ‘Twice Born Men’ and ‘Crown and Treaty’, and producing the soundtrack to the hit Christmas movie Nativity! starring Martin Freeman (Decca Records) featuring Hayley Westenra." ! Jon is also an accomplished string arranger - as well as doing orchestration for Poseidon he has arranged strings for Carina Round (Universal/Interscope Records), Kealer (Jive/BMG)[with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra], and Alanis Morissette producer Glen Ballard [in Los Angeles].

Ben’s ambition was always to write music for TV. His first commission was to score 'Hi Tech Vets' for the Discovery Channel in 2000 and he has since written for over fifty series including Panorama: Cash for Questions (BBC), Helicopter Heroes (BBC) and Inside Out (BBC). He has also worked in branding, idents and commercials for large corporate clients including Halifax Building Society, Caterpillar, NCR, Dulux, Rubicon Drinks and Cadburys." Prior to composing, Ben spent several years working as a freelance sound recordist. He travelled across the globe for many UK broadcasters and independents, working on the Tour de France for SBS Australia, Channel 4ʼs Cutting Edge and the 1994 Paralympics for the BBC. He spent several years working on Formula 1 for RTL Germany and Fuji Television Japan." Alongside his music Ben is involved in education, lecturing and leading workshops with young people across the UK. Ben works from Poseidon’s studios in Birmingham and London." He has an honours degree in music (composition and performance) and studied at the National Film and Television School.

Every film has its risks, but we like to think that Iron Monk has less than normal. We are ambitious and we have assembled a great team and you can see what we achieved for £3,000 with the Iron Monk trailer.

There are always potential of obstacles and setbacks in every production, the key is in the planning. We have been building up to the point where we can bring the project to Indiegogo for several years, so it really is ready to go.

We have a fantastic movie script, cast and crew. It is currently the funding that is holding us back. We hope that through Indiegogo, we can raise the money, but more importantly, create a community of fans where we can come together for what we hope will be one of the most authentic and visually spectacular Kung Fu movies you have ever seen since Bruce Lee was around.