THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 24 Oct 2014, 10:14

Hard to believe writer Derek Kolstad just went from ONE IN THE CHAMBER & THE PACKAGE to JOHN WICK:
What was your first professional screenwriting gig?

I rewrote some scenes on a little actioner called One in the Chamber with Dolph Lundgren and Cuba Gooding Jr.

John Wick has a ton of hype and seems poised to make a big splash with audiences. Before this you wrote two Dolph Lundgren VOD movies. Did writing Wick feel any different or is the only difference in release circumstances?

One in the Chamber was a rewrite assignment while The Package was a “write within these budgetary parameters” type of gig. Wick felt different because it was purely a spec which allowed you write any scene you want without worrying about how much it may cost. And yeah, a number of those more pricey sequences were eventually pared down or cut out.

http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2014/10/i ... -wick.html
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 20 Jan 2015, 12:57

Sad news, Darren Shalavi just passed away... :(
(No info on the cause)

R.I.P.

Larnell Stovall:
RIP Darren Shahlavi shocked and saddened.. ‪#‎gonetoosoon‬


David J. Moore:
I just heard some unbelievable news: martial artist and action star Darren Shahlavi has apparently passed away. I have no idea how or when, but the news is spreading fast in the action community. Darren was one of the bright hopes for action and martial arts films in this bleak era for that genre. He rose up slowly but very noticeably from the mid 90's with BLOOD MOON, opposite Gary Daniels, and then he transitioned into stunts for big films like 300 and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. He got a huge break in the Hong Kong movie IP MAN 2, fighting Donnie Yen, and then his career really took off. He was finally getting bigger and better roles, finally snagging the lead villain role in the upcoming Jean-Claude Van Damme picture POUND OF FLESH. He'd also just filmed his role for the upcoming KICKBOXER reboot this past December. I knew the guy. I had lunch with him over a year ago in Hollywood where I spent over an hour interviewing him. He was one of the most receptive and generous action stars / actors I've ever interviewed. The last time I saw him, he'd been very excited to attend a screening of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER at the Egyptian where Dolph Lundgren was in attendance. Darren had texted me all afternoon to see if I was going to attend the show and if we could sit together. When he showed up, he was excited and he sat next to my wife and I for the movie, and it was really cool that he did that. I talked to him maybe once more after that, and I never dreamed in a million years that he'd be gone from the world so soon. He had everything he needed to be a star. He was the real deal. Darren was the man. This is just ... so sad.


EDIT:
Jesse V. Johnson:

Very sad indeed to hear of the passing of my good friend and collaborator, Darren Shahlavi - A profoundly talented and incredibly good guy - disciplined, driven and supremely talented.
We came from the same part of England, bumped into each other in Vancouver and laughed about the path our lives had taken.
We made two movies together over the years, leveled buildings, fought titans, froze in sub-zero weather and told jokes -
Darren was on the cusp of greatness! It is a bitter loss, and he leaves a terrible chasm.


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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 21 Jan 2015, 00:12

Darren Shahlavi, Martial Artist in ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘Arrow,’ Dies at 42
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/darre ... 201409852/
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby viendammage on 21 Jan 2015, 06:33

Jox wrote:Darren Shahlavi, Martial Artist in ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘Arrow,’ Dies at 42
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/darre ... 201409852/


I met Darren at Dolph night randomly in the lobby, he was hanging out with Joey Ansah from Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist. Super nice guy, just very cool and smiling the whole time. Sad to hear that he died of an overdose of prescription pills. Great look, presence and physical skills. His career seemed to be on the up and up after 2010's Ip Man 2 with more prominent roles in the action world versus nameless thugs and stunt gigs. Train in Peace.
I kick ass, or kiss ass... and I'm busting heads! http://viendammage.blogspot.com/
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 21 Jan 2015, 11:40

Darren Shahlavi: IN MEMORIUM - by Mike Leeder
http://www.vandammefan.net/
Darren Shahlavi was many things, an actor, a martial artist, a stuntman, a friend, a brother, and a son.

i had the pleasure of knowing Darren for more than 25 years, we'd met in England two guys with a dream of breaking into the film industry, and we'd shared more than a few adventures, our birthdays but he was always that much younger than me! good times and bad times, but kept on keeping on....and last year there were more than a few occasions on the set of POUND OF FLESH that the two of us laughed about the fact that all these years later, we were both working on a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, him as lead villain, me as Producer and a supporting role and that the best was yet to come.
In a competitive and sometimes selfish business, Darren had a highly deserved reputation as one of the best in the business, highly skilled, very professional, dedicated, enthusiastic and one of the nicest people in the business on and off set.
Darren Shahlavi was one of the very best.And in the world of action movie making, you sometimes take more than a few knocks, and the continued physical punishment and pressure you put on yourself takes its toll. Even on Pound of Flesh, a few times Darren spoke of issues with a hip injury that had never fully healed but he continued to deliver the action required of him.
Unfortunately he was recently prescribed a painkiller for his hip that he wasn't used to, and a toxic reaction to it, has sadly taken him from us. His passing leaves an huge gap many of our hearts and in the industry, as his full potential had only just began to be explored. He leaves us a legacy with his film work, to enjoy, to learn from and to be inspired by, and lets remember the man and the way he lived...
His family have been overwhelmed by the genuine emotional response to what happened, and are grateful for the heartfelt words and love that people are showing .
There will be a funeral in the UK, followed by a memorial service in the States, and there is a fund being set up to take care of some of the expenses, and i'll post a link to that as it becomes available.
Lets continue to respect the man, his work and his family
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 21 Jan 2015, 16:05

A memorial fund was set up to arrange a funeral in the UK, followed by a memorial service in the US:
https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/ ... orial-fund


Below with director Jesse Johnson and the stunt team of THE PACKAGE:
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 27 Jan 2015, 00:55

David J. Moore posthume interview with Darren (that was to be published in his upcoming book, The Good, the Tough, and the Deadly: Action Stars and Their Movies):
http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/art ... ticle=1203
dm: Talk about working with Jesse Johnson on Alien Agent and The Package.
DS: Jesse's the best. I love that he comes from a stunt background. He's a film historian. He really knows movies. As a director, he's very acutely aware of the characters, the performances, the nuances, how to tell a story, how to put it together, how to shoot the action ... how to get the most bang for your buck. He's so prepared. He's going to be a really big director.

dm: Was your experience on The Package better?
DS: The Package was awesome. We had more time, and what Jesse does is he'll shoot the whole fight wide and then he'll go in for a medium shot and then a tight shot. That one was a lot better.

dm: There were some great guys in that one. Jerry Trimble was in there, Dolph Lundgren, you and Steve.
DS: Working on a movie like that is cool because I really like Steve. Number one, he's got no ego. He's always asking questions. He's like, "I'm just learning this stuff." We went in his trailer, and he asked me about acting. He knows who he is in his world, and he knows that movies are something that he's got to learn. He's really interesting. He asks really smart questions. He picks things up very quickly. He wants to do the best performance. He doesn't just turn up, knowing that he's the name, just do his thing and go back to his hotel. He works really hard at it. He took Jesse's direction, and Jesse really knows how to work with these guys. Same with the fight scenes. Steve was really open to stuff. He was a real joy to work with.
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby dude hallenbeck on 27 Jan 2015, 03:26

This one hurts. Darren was very charismatic and I always loved seeing him pop up unexpectedly. Our community of smaller actions films suffered a huge loss.
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 16 Mar 2015, 12:05

German VOD wallpaper
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 29 Apr 2015, 13:43

Mike Leeder (Impact journalist and producer of POUND OF FLESH) is getting the word out and squash some unfortunate rumors about how his friend Darren Shahlavi died:
On January 14th 2015, a very good friend British actor and martial arts hero Darren Shahlavi passed away, he left behind a legacy of work and great memories with so many people.

Unfortunately the tabloid press lead by scum like TMZ and sadly followed by various magazines, newspapers, websites and far too many “oh we know it all’ internet trolls implied it was by a drug overdose, and were happy to make unfounded statements that severely hurt his family, his friends and his memory.

Darren’s family recently received a Coroner’s report from the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, and would like to share the results with his friends, colleagues and fans.

Darren died on January 14, 2015 of natural causes: a sudden and fatal heart attack. He was found to have Atherosclerosis (also known as arteriosclerotic vascular disease or ASVD) His left anterior descending artery was 95% blocked, which must have been worsening for several years.

Darren had no drugs or medications in his body, and only 0.02% BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration); to put this into context 0.08% is the BAC Driving Limit for both he US & UK. There are no other medical factors linked to his death.

It seems unlikely that someone as fit as Darren – who was so dedicated to exercise and fitness and had such a healthy low fat/dairy diet – should have heart disease, but we have been told that a genetic predisposition resulted in the development of heart disease and is not uncommon in otherwise healthy young men, including athletes and other professional sportsmen and women*.

Evidence for Darren’s level of physical fitness at the time of his death can be seen in his recent work. Darren had just finished filming Pound of Flesh and Kickboxer: Vengeance, both with Jean-Claude Van Damme – not to mention Tomorrowland with George Clooney. He was, as far as physical fitness goes, at the top of his game.

Darren’s family are devastated that his underlying heart condition was never diagnosed to allow him the opportunity of treatment. Typically, Atherosclerosis begins in childhood, and Darren showed no apparent symptoms prior to death. Who would have thought that Darren who was regarded as very fit would die so suddenly as a result of this ‘silent killer’!

We have all been in shock for the past 11 weeks with so many unanswered questions, but would now like to focus on the lessons that can be learned from Darren’s untimely death. We do feel that Darren would be the first to join us in sending warnings and advice to the friends and colleagues that he loved that regular health screening can save lives.

This is our message and we do hope that somehow positive publicity in Darren’s name can be made available to other young men and women, that may help them to take seriously the possibility that their body holds terrible secrets that can be revealed if they are tested routinely throughout life.

We hope that no other family has to go through the grief and pain that we are experiencing and that their loved ones get screening and subsequent treatment if necessary, that could prevent the tragic outcome that all who loved Darren are trying to come to terms with.

The Shahlavi family is raising funds to build a permanent memorial to Darren in Hollywood. More information at https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/ ... orial-fund
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Tom on 29 Apr 2015, 13:50

Hopefully that statement will stop all the internet trolls. Unfortunately for all the internet brings us, it also seems to breed completely vile and inhuman behaviour in people.
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Jox on 29 Apr 2015, 14:19

Tom wrote:Hopefully that statement will stop all the internet trolls. Unfortunately for all the internet brings us, it also seems to breed completely vile and inhuman behaviour in people.

And it seems the falsest rumors seem to prevail and are hard to contradict once they're out there and taken for granted... There's more disinformation than there is actual information. Not mentioning scum like TMZ.
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Re: THE PACKAGE (Jesse V. Johnson, 2012)

Postby Tom on 29 Apr 2015, 14:34

TMZ are just awful. It's sites like that who perpetuate this trolling mentality and the seem to legitimatise it. They're scum.
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