2011 THEATRICAL RELEASE
Kung fu joe
REVIEWS:
“Did I really just see what I think I saw or was I just high? This is the best film since
Shaft and I’m not kidding!”
Idaho Statesman
“This film blew my mind and my woman!”
Portland Mercury
“…a mix of martial arts, Blaxploitation and Soylent Green make this film silly fun.”
Seattle Times
SYNOPSIS:
The legend of Kung Fu Joe explodes onto the screen as a mysterious Mad Scientist tries to take over the world with the help of an army of hunchbacks! When the local neighborhood finds out that Shaft is not available they’re forced to turn to – the Brotha’ from Anotha’ Motha’ – Kung Fu Joe. Watch as Joe teams up with a mysterious Femme Fatale to battle not only Hunchbacks, but Ninjas and Pirates while still finding time to lay down his disco man roots in this mix of martial arts, 70’s Retro and a mountain top of sex-ploy-tay-shun!!!
Directed by Glen Berry
Starring: Zak Van Winkle, Jeremy Parrish, David Neevel, Victoria Maurette and Kung Fu Joe
Running Time: 87 minutes
Press Contact:
Christina Maxwell
(323) 650-0832
* A division of 2K4, Inc
The Story behind the film:
Stacks of film reel tins balance on a bookcase in the corner of an 82-year-old entryway. Rows of books share the shelves with an antique tripod and a dusty film clapperboard. Down the hallway, the small Herald Building office opens into a spacious conference room, where Glen Berry, 34, sits.
He peers out a large window, his cobalt-green eyes following the four-story drop down to North State and Chestnut Street. Berry leans back relaxed, comfortable in his navy button-up shirt and loose-fitting dark denim. He credits his calmness to disliking the taste of coffee, atypical for someone in his line of work.
Berry is an independent filmmaker, film instructor and creator of Film Underground, a popular independent filmmaking Web site. He is also founder of the Northwest Film School, the first and only video production program in Washington.
The Northwest Film School offers a one-year certificate program in video production with concentrations in fiction and non-fiction filmmaking. Students take up to six in-depth filmmaking classes and a workshop in either scriptwriting or location sound. Course material ranges from cinematography and directing to video production management and editing. Before the school filmmakers had several venues and festivals to showcase their films, but no formal education programs. “To support an art, you need a festival, a school, production companies and advertisement,” Berry says. “First you seek out education, the rest follows.”
In September 2004, Berry opened the film school giving independent filmmakers a place to pursue and explore their creativity, while gaining professional experience and training in the industry, he says. “The purpose of the school is to allow the voices of this community to be heard and express the values of this culture,” Berry says. As the film school entered its third year in fall 2007, Western proposed a partnership to Berry. Western was bombarded with e-mails from film-hungry students starving for a program, Berry says. At the time, Western only offered a few bare-bone film electives and classes on broadcasting. Berry jumped at the opportunity. Since partnering, Berry has saved costs and gained major support for the film school, he says. He gladly downgraded from a 600-square-foot loft to an efficient 100-square-foot classroom in Western’s Communication Facility. Students create their films outside of class, so Berry only needs enough space for basic lectures and class activities.
“There’s a talent drain in the state,” Berry says. “Either [filmmakers] stay and have no outlet for their talent, or they go somewhere else and never come back.” Berry’s faith in independent filmmaking has not always been so strong. Throughout high school and college, Berry’s surplus of artistic curiosity and creativity turned to frustration because he had no outlet to express himself. While in college himself, Berry was torn between practicality and passion; between pursuing a degree in English or becoming a filmmaker. Camera in hand he took a leap, leaving Washington behind for the Big Sky State. Berry calls it his “watershed moment”— a decision to give up the humdrum 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. life to follow his true passion. His gamble paid off and Berry graduated two years later with a Bachelor of Arts degree in media and theatre arts and film and video production. For Berry, however, the relief of graduation did not last. He found himself divided yet again between what he should do and what he dreamed of doing—going Hollywood or going independent.
He rolls his eyes on the topic of Hollywood. Pronounced sarcastically, the word Los Angeles sits in his mouth like a sour grape. “Graduating, there was this immediate exodus to L.A.,” Berry says. “All my friends just loaded up the moving van and headed out.” At the time, Berry understood that the big film meccas such as Los Angeles and New York offered opportunity. Launching a career in these established cities provides filmmakers with connections, advertisement and exposure. Opportunities that are hard to achieve as an independent filmmaker, Berry says. Gritting his teeth, Berry set aside his desires and moved out to Los Angeles.
“The cultural values are different in L.A. You gain a certain level of respect if you make money. It doesn’t matter how good [the film] is,” Berry says. “[In the Northwest] people don’t give you respect for money. It’s about the quality.”
While in California, Berry says he found himself moving further away from his goals as an artist and filmmaker. Uninspiring commercial projects and socializing commanded all of his focus. Lack of creative direction at work and unmotivated peers at home distracted Berry from developing personal projects. He became afraid his spark for artistic filmmaking might die out. “Working on commercial projects will skew your perspective and corrupt your vision for movie making,” Berry says. As a true independent filmmaker, he had no choice but to leave the City of Angels behind. Seeking a fresh start, Berry returned to Bellingham in 2003.
With a new freedom, Berry set off to create a film school colored with creativity and grounded in local roots. His first step was to meticulously hire staff. All instructors are working professionals, who can offer students internships and job opportunities in Bellingham. The school is about preserving the very core of storytelling in American culture by creating strong, independent filmmakers, Berry says. This led Berry to realize his next dream – actually making a film.
Kung Fu Joe, a movie written and directed by Glen Berry is sidesplitting because it isn’t well made.
“That’s the reason we decided to make Kung Fu Joe, it’s a campy comedy,” Berry said. “We used the weaknesses of the film as a strength, which is kind of the spirit of the film—take the mistakes in stride.”
The character-driven, 70’s movie is ultimately a compilation of bizarre skits designed to get Berry’s
absurd characters interacting in amusing ways on screen.
Kung Fu Joe is an afro-clad, martial artist and detective who teams up with his former nemesis the Police
Detective and a mysterious hottie named Femme Fatale to find out who has been creating a doughnut
mind control drug called Soylent Green. The team figures out that the Mad Scientist and the French
Man are behind Soylent Green, and Kung Fu Joe must learn Pirate-Style Kung Fu from Captain Morgan
to take down the villains and their minions. “There’s a lot going on in the movie—a lot of things to see and
absorb on screen,” Berry said. “It’s the kind of film you would want to watch more than once.”
Berry was able to execute a multifaceted approach to the film in spite of serious fiscal and time constraints. The movie was shot in nine days and produced with a micro-budget of less than $100,000. Compare these figures with the forthcoming 2010 remake of the 1984 Karate Kid classic. Director Harold Zwart and his team were allotted about 4 months to shoot the film and a $35 million budget. In spite of grim numbers, Berry, who is the founder of the Northwest Film School and the director of the Video Production Program at Western Washington University, was able to bring some Hollywood edge to the film.
The ship used in the pirate scene, which is named the “The Lady Washington” in reality, was the same vessel used in the 2003 film “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” featuring
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. The ship is owned and operated by the Washington
State Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority and its homeport is in Aberdeen. Berry originally planned to have the pirate scene transpire in a building. After discovering that the Lady Washington would leave its homeport to dock in Bellingham, he made arrangements to shoot the pirate scene on the ship before it headed back out for the next Pirates sequel.
In the beginning, before Kung Fu Joe even included a pirate scene, Berry created the film as a short,
a 17-minute piece while attending film school at Montana State University. He said he was initially
abashed by the movie, but later realized that it was distinct. “Kung Fu Joe was one of the first
movies I ever did, and it was kind of bad,” he said. “I have made a lot of films since then, and it is the only
one that people wanted to see more than once.” After his epiphany, he started developing the script into a feature length film over the course of five or six years. By 2008, the script was fairly complete, but Berry had to fine-tune the story and create the movie with his team in 2009 before the first screenings at the Pickford Cinema. The Pickford Cinema was virtually the only place to see Kung Fu Joe while it was in theatres, which is why Berry hasn’t laid the movie to rest yet. I would love to make six more Kung Fu Joes, but I have to figure out how to make money first.”
Berry is letting fans vote on the sequel when they purchase the DVD. Some of the ideas on the table
so far are: Kung Fu Ho, Kung Fu Joe and the Abdominal Snowman, Kung Fu Joe goes to France and Kung Fu Joe: The Early years. But he most hopes that people sit back, have fun and realize that it’s hard to dislike a film with detectives, doughnuts and kung fu. These are the ingredients for a great movie says Berry (with tongue in cheek). Glen admits the film’s characters are archetypes including a mishmash of the mad scientist, a kung fu master, hunchbacks, a femme fatale and pirates all rolled into a 70’s style Blaxploitation concept – which makes the film unique. Look, some of the scenes are just plain ridiculous but we wanted to make a character driven physical comedy while showing that you can make a professional feature film outside of Hollywood using local cast and crew. And of course to make money so we can make more….
To learn more about Kung Fu Joe – rent or buy the film!
KEY CAST:
Robin Corsberg as The Hunchback
Galen Emmanuele as French Baguette
Wilson Large as W
Victoria Maurette as Femme Fatale
Michael Mitchell as Mo Money
David Neevel as The Mad Scientist
Jeremy Parrish as The Detective
Gregory Pulver as Captain Morgan
Alan Shore as The Master
Zak VanWinkle as Kung Fu Joe
KEY CREW:
Writer/Director Glen Berry
Producers Glen Berry and Michael Kutcher
Exec. Producers Glenn Biernacki and Wilson Large
Original Music Darius Holbert
Editor David Albright and Glen Berry
Production Designer Alex Cassun
Costume Designer Terri Krantz
Assistant Director Michael Kutcher
Sound Bob Ridgley
Special Effects Jordan Montreuil
Visual Effects Paul DeSilva
Director of Photography Erik Dinnel