219: What is the Future of Action?

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 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: [email protected] 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% off a daily subscription and 15% off a weekly) https://stuntcontact.com/ Stunt Access https://stuntaccess.com/ PRODUCERS Executive Producers: Stephen Koepfer Paul Varacchi Produced by: Press Record Studios -Matthew Kaplowitz -Richard Butler -Andrea Levine http://www.pressrecordstudios.com Video Editor Matthew Kaplowitz Original music by: Ahrue Luster Brought to you by Breakfall Studios ®Film Fights With Friends LLC