The Forbidden Kingdom: Meet the Crew
Part One
Spend even just a few minutes on the set of The Forbidden Kingdom, and you can't help but run into some seriously talented people. Film legends, martial arts legends, people who have won Academy Awards, Golden Horse Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, and most every other award in the business. Wherever you look, you will find dazzling talent from all over the world. Remarkably, all of these people who speak so many different languages and come from such varied cultures work together smoothly and efficiently, as though they'd been together forever. The secret? They all share the common love of movie making, the language of which appears to be universal.
As Jackie has mentioned many times, a film is only as good as the people who join together to make it. There is no understating the importance of each and every person whose name appears on the rolling credits at the end of a movie.
Here is part one of our introduction to some of the talented crew of The Forbidden Kingdom. These are not formal interviews; we wanted to put a face to the names that you read about here at our website (and beyond) and to let you know a little bit about the crew. You will be amazed at what you read; most of these people are at the top of their fields and have worked on some of the most famous movies in history! We hope you enjoy meeting our wonderful crew.
Rob Minkoff
Director
As well as directing such classics as The Lion King and Stuart Little, Rob Minkoff is also a writer, producer, and animator. He has been involved in many projects including The Little Mermaid, The Haunted Mansion, and The Great Mouse Detective. And if you found yourself bent over double laughing while watching the animated short Tummy Trouble (starring Roger Rabbit), you have Rob to thank. He directed it.
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Casey Silver
Producer
Casey Silver has produced several memorable films such as Ladder 49 (starring John Travolta) and Hidalgo (with Viggo Mortensen). Leatherheads, which stars George Clooney, and which Casey also produced, will be released later this year.
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Peter Pau
Cinematographer
Peter Pau is one of the best cinematographers in the world and in 2001 he won the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Cinematography in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He has dozens of international cinematography awards to his credit and has worked on nearly 40 films.
What does the cinematographer do? He is the person whose expertise in the use of lighting, composition, lens selection, and a dozen other details gives a movie its unique "look." Think back to your favorite movies and remember the mood that the lighting or camera angles created. That's part of what cinematography is all about.
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Yuen Woo-Ping
Action Director/Choreographer, Executive Producer
Yuen Woo-Ping became known to mainstream Western audiences in 1999 for his work on The Matrix and in 2000 when he won a Golden Horse Award and a Hong Kong Film Award for his work on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Before that he was extremely well known in Asia. He has been the action and/or martial arts choreographer and director for more than 40 films including the Kill Bill movies, Jet Li's Fearless and Unleashed, House of Fury, The Banquet, and dozens of others. Woo-Ping attended the same Peking Opera School as Jackie and he directed Jackie's breakthrough films Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. He has dozens of credits as an actor, director, producer, stuntman, martial arts/action choreographer, and martial arts/action director.
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Adam Smalley
Music Editor
What exactly does a music editor do? We asked Adam Smalley this question and learned that a music editor works closely with the production to make decisions about the placement, timing, length, and type of music used in a film. When we spoke to Adam on the set, he had just returned from a trip he made to research some very special music for The Forbidden Kingdom. Adam has done the music editing for over sixty films including The Pursuit of Happyness, Antz, and As Good As It Gets (just to name a few). The importance of a skillful music editor for a movie can not be understated. Just try to imagine your favorite film without the background music or soundtrack and you'll know what we mean!
As well as being an award winning music editor, Adam owns a restaurant in Los Angeles.
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David Wyman
Sound Mixer
David has worked on over a dozen films including The Haunted Mansion and Stuart Little 2 with Rob Minkoff. And what is the sound mixer's job? The sound mixer is an audio engineer who is responsible for recording the sound on the set during filming. This is no easy job considering all the factors involved in capturing clean sound on a movie set!
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Andy Hric
Horse Master
Although Andy had his hands full the day we talked to him on The Forbidden Kingdom set, he was happy to tell us a little about himself. He was born in Bratislava, Slovak Republic and has traveled all over the world working as a stunt man and a horse master (or horse wrangler). His job is to coordinate all aspects of having horses on a movie set. He is an expert at what he does and has worked as horse master for a dozen television or film projects. While we were with him, he was working with a horse who seemed pretty nervous. He told us that the horse would calm down as soon as its companion was brought to a spot nearby. As if on cue, the horse he was working with settled down when it sensed the other horse in the area. Andy talked a little bit about the importance of choosing the proper animal for a particular purpose. He wouldn't have an inexperienced rider mount a nervous or unpredictable horse, for example. Horses have personalities just like people do, and he is an expert at matching the animal to the job.
We have many more people for you to meet and will introduce you to them soon and in no particular order. Please check back often!
Text and photos ©2007 The JC Group. All rights reserved.
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posted on Monday, Aug 29, 2011
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posted on Friday, Mar 25, 2011
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posted on Thursday, Oct 08, 2009
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