On 16th September 2002, Far East Films conducted the following interview with Chris Jones; professional Martial Artist and member of the Stuntmania team. Chris has been involved in several quality UK productions as well as now launching his own Martial Arts academy in Harrogate.
FEF: Tell us a little about yourself and your Martial Arts background?
Chris Jones: Well I started my life in the Martial Arts back in 1987/88, after many a night sat watching ‘The Karate Kid’ (sad I know, I was only 7 though!). I first trained in WTF Tae Kwon Do for about 5 years and then had a break during my Teenage years before taking WTF Tae Kwon Do back up briefly in 1996. I moved onto ITF Tae Kwon Do in 1997 with one of Master Kim Stones’ Doncaster Academies. To cut a long story short I ended up working for the School as a full time instructor for both Master Stones and Master Stuart Wilks in their Doncaster Academies until the end of 2001, teaching to over 800 students six days a week. I have tried to study many different styles including Capoeria, wushu, and kickboxing. I feel it is important to have an all-round knowledge of Martial Arts to keep choreography fresh.
FEF: What films inspired you to get into the Martial Arts/movie business and who or what were you main influences?
CJ: As I mentioned before, ‘The Karate Kid’ first sparked my interest as a kid and my Dad who studied Karate in his younger years. As for films my all time fave is Jackie Chan, who first caught my eye whilst at school when ‘Rumble in the Bronx‘ got its UK release. Right then I knew who I wanted to be like, and one day maybe work with!
FEF: You’re also a member of the Stuntmania team, who are they and how did you hook up with them?
CJ: Early in 2001 after working with Steve Lawson (now the co-founder of ‘Phoenix-i’ alongside Simon Wyndham) on a short film for the BBC Choice production ‘STOP KUNG-FU’. I was looking for contacts in the UK. A friend of mine, Ashley Beck pointed me towards Brendan Carr, who after viewing my showreel offered me a place in the team. Stuntmania are a group of martial artists who all had strong backgrounds in martial arts before consideration for the team. The team itself is hand picked from around the UK, with only a small amount of applicants making it to the team. Most members have strong competition backgrounds, some world and European champions. We have people who have worked on films such as ‘The Accidental Spy‘, ‘Black Mask 2‘, the new bond film ‘Die Another Day’, ‘Extreme Challenge‘, and many more. Basically, in my opinion Stuntmania are the no.1 choice for anyone needing martial artists for any type of production.
FEF: What television or movie projects have you been involved in, with or without the team?
CJ: Last year I was fortunate enough to be involved in a number of low budget UK films, too many to mention really! Besides this I worked on the ‘Royal Variety Performance’ which was fantastic experience to see such a large stage show in production. To perform for such a large audience, including the Queen, and Television all at once was such a buzz!
FEF: What did it feel like to perform in front of the Queen?
CJ: Well to be honest it all happened so fast, and I was concentrating on my routine so hard. Add to this the lights and effects, it all happened so fast it wasn’t until afterwards that I got chance to think about the fact that I had performed for the Queen’s entertainment! It was great and I hope that this year we could possibly get a longer slot…
FEF: And what have you been up to this year?
CJ: This year I worked on a UK film called ‘Insiders’ by Phoenix-i. The film will be showing at the Meniscus Film Festival in Grimsby on November the 1st. I had a lot of fun on this film, I got a chance to get involved in the choreography, stunt doubling, and I even ended up getting my own part as a Hitman called ‘Briges’. For more information on the film visit Meniscus Films and wait for the ‘pop up’ window to load. In it there is all the info on ‘Insiders’ you could want, after that you will hopefully be able to see it on DVD later in the year.
FEF: So having now worked in several aspects of filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera, what do you enjoy the most?
CJ: To be honest I don’t mind which I am doing. I get the same enjoyment from both. I’m a perfectionist, so I like things to be right, no matter how complicated the sequence is. There have been occasions where I have had to jump in front of the camera to trade places with someone else.
FEF: What do you think of the state of the British film industry at the moment as it hasn’t exactly churned out all that many successful action films?
CJ: This is true to a point, but I honestly feel that a successful film doesn’t always equal a good quality production. There are a lot of youngsters, from both sides of the camera, working their way up through the ranks, so things are looking good. We are hearing of more and more action films being filmed in the UK and Europe, so if this proves to be an upward trend then I think things could get better over the next few years. I think that teams like Stuntmania will help as over the past 2 years I have come across so many ‘loners’, people who keep things to themselves and don’t involve anyone else. These people are the ones who are slowing things down for others like myself who are trying to move up. Stuntmania is a group who functions as a team, the team benefit as a whole from shared information and working together. This I feel is the way forward.
FEF: So what’s next for you?
CJ: I’m currently in the process of opening my own full time Martial Arts academy in Harrogate which should be open at the end of November (2002). Beyond that I have one or two projects that are ‘strong possibilities’ but I’m afraid that’s all I can say…. oh and I’m always open to good offers!
Far East Films would like to thank Chris Jones for taking the time to speak with us.
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