Skin Trade (Tony Jaa, Dolph Lundgren) (2014)

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Sonofabitch, if only this movie was made fresh right after Ong Bak, I'm still holding less expectation since Jaa has lost a step or two but............. With that being said, that glimpse from the video does look promising but still, what could have fucking been 10 yrs ago if Jaa would've stepped on the ball early in Hollywood, we could have been looking at one of the biggest action stars since Chan/Li broke into mainstream Hollywood.

[Jox]

Well he was a bit tied up until the end of last year.

[Jox]

Hi, this is Dolph Lundgren. Welcome to our new FB site. I just wrapped principal photography on the action-thriller SKIN TRADE, after shooting for 10 weeks in Bangkok and Vancouver, B.C.

This picture is about human trafficking and is very special to me. I started working on the script 7 years ago, after reading a news story about a van full of girls that were to be smuggled from Mexico to the United States. The van was left by the traffickers along the border and all the thirty girls inside died from heat stroke and suffocation.

I have two young daughters myself and I felt that this is a story that has to be told. I used that incident as inspiration for a scene in SKIN TRADE, a film produced by Mike Selby, Craig Baumgarten and myself.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1496294330591616&set=a.1476242189263497.1073741831.1475177296036653&type=1

[Jox]

Dolph talking SKIN TRADE with CNN's Richard Quest:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/business/2014/04/07/qmb-human-trafficking-dolph-lundgren-intv.cnn.html

[Jox]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OqRAeAD5go

[gorhama]

I'm excited for this movie!! I know alot of talk in this thread is that Tony Jaa has lost a step or two. This may be true but there could also be other factors involved and maybe he needs the right movie to feel passitonate about. I hope this opens the door to more martial arts/action movies for Jaa as he still has "it" and can provide us good entertainment.

Forever optimistic........gorhama!!

[Jox]

Well, this determine if he can act in English-speaking movies or not, especially since this role seems to be kinda of a departure for him.

[Jox]

Dolph will do a Q & A on his FB:

Dolph Lundgren

Hey Soldiers,

ask me anything about my upcoming movie SKIN TRADE, I'll answer the best questions right here!

[Jox]

Dolph Lundgren

'SKIN TRADE' FAN QUESTION #1 (from Amanda Jackson Britt):

• "Are any of the movie's proceeds going to benefit victims?"

• Yes, we're in the process of evaluating the best way of doing this. I'm going to Cambodia in May to visit some of the areas most affected by human trafficking.

http://www.facebook.com/skintrademovie

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/

www.facebook.com/DolphLundgrenOfficial

[Jox]

"Today, nearly 2 million individuals worldwide are working as commercial slaves, most of them women and children. The facts are not pretty to look at. It is my hope to deliver a film that's a thrill to watch, character-driven and ultimately illuminating."

- Ekachai Uekrongtham

http://www.facebook.com/SkinTradeMovie

[Jox]

Dolph Lundgren

'SKIN TRADE' FAN QUESTION #2 (from Donna Flynn Johnston):

• "How did it make you feel making such a disturbing film that is based on real life? Especially as your a father yourself?"

• It was emotionally challenging, but at the same time satisfying to make a picture about something that is important to me. For many of the disturbing scenes I did use my daughters as an 'as if' to get me in the right emotional state.

[Jox]

[Jox]

http://www.screendaily.com/news/hpi-brings-skin-trade-to-cannes/5071376.article

HPI brings Skin Trade to Cannes

EXCLUSIVE: Hyde Park International (HPI) president Eric Christenson will commence sales in Cannes on the Dolph Lundgren and Tony Jaa revenge thriller.

Beautiful Boxer director Ekachai Uekrongtham recently completed principal photography in Thailand based on a screenplay by Gabriel Dowrick, Steven Elder and Lundgren.

Skin Trade stars Lundgren as a New York detective who teams up with a Thai counterpart played by Jaa after a Serbian crime lord murders his family. In the process the pair attempt to tear down the villain’s human trafficking operation.

The cast includes Ron Perlman, Michael Jai White and Peter Weller. The film recently shot in Thailand under the auspices of SC Pictures International and SC Films Thailand and Lundgren produces with Craig Baumgarten and SC Pictures International CEO Mike Selby.

“We were blown away when we saw the footage of Skin Trade,” said Christenson, who will show nine minutes of footage to buyers on the Croisette.

“Dolph is at the top of his game, and Tony Jaa has an amazing presence that shows why he has become the preeminent Asian action star of our generation. We look forward to bringing Tony to the world in one of his first English-language roles.”

[Jox]

Dolph Lundgren:

'SKIN TRADE' FAN QUESTION #3 (from Boris Mazel):

• "What was your biggest influence while writing the movie (book, movie, music)?"

• I'm a big fan of Clint Eastwood's films. 'Unforgiven' has a dark emotional core of revenge and redemption, but still has an entertaining quality. 'Skin Trade' also has some parallels to a film like 'Gladiator' where the protagonist loses everything, but has to find a way to live on. The Johnny Cash's song 'Redemption Day', written by Sheryl Crow, was another inspiration:

[Secret Executioner]

Boy, those updates are damn nice reads. I hope the movie will sell well, so that many can see it - the cinematic influences, the inspiration and the cast make this one a "must-see ASAP" for me.

I find the slavery awareness background especially interesting, it is an issue everyone in Western countries seems to want to ignore today (by having hypocrite celebrations of the end of slavery in the West and discussing slavery as a thing of the past), yet in many parts of the world (such as Africa, with the case of the 200+ girls from Nigeria that were kidnapped to be sold as slaves) it still goes on with nobody doing anything.

[Jox]

Celina Jade:

Guess who im with? @Dolph_Lundgren & @tonyjaaofficial in bangkok! Its a party! #Skintrade is looking great so excited!

[Jox]

Tony Jaa Official

Hi from the editing room of Skin Trade. Things are looking good I think you are going to like this film. TJ

(with DP Ben Nott and editor Victor Du Bois)

Celina Jade

Ben Nott DP of Skin Trade setting up the candid shot for Tony Jaa Official Celina Jade Dolph Lundgren at Siam Kempinski. Photo by the Great Selby!

[Jox]

Ekachai Uekrongtham deals Skin Trade

By Silvia Wong

Fri, 30 May 2014, 12:00 PM (HKT)

After stepping away from the director's chair for almost five years, Thai director Ekachai UEKRONGTHAM เอกชัย เอื้อครองธรรม | 呂翼謀 is back with his latest feature Skin Trade. The English-language action thriller pairs Hollywood action man Dolph LUNDGREN with Thai martial artist Tony JAA จา พนม ยีรัมย์.

Known for his iconic role in Rocky IV, Lundgren is the project's initiator: starring role aside, he is also producer and co-writer. After seeing the Uekrongtham-directed Beautiful Boxer บิวตี้ฟูล บ๊อกเซอร์ (2003), he got in touch through a mutual contact in Los Angeles.

In mid-2013, Uekrongtham flew to Los Angeles to meet Lundgren for the first time and was surprised to find that the action star was eloquent in person and gifted as a scriptwriter.

While Uekrongtham has previously turned down scripts offered to him for international markets, he found Skin Trade riveting. "It has the potential to work as a character-driven piece while saying something about how we deal with scars, literal and otherwise," he said.

For the other lead role, Lundgren and producers Craig Baumgarten and Michael Selby already had in mind Jaa who is now represented by Bangkok-based Selby. The finance was already in place with a production budget of around US$10 million through SC Films Thailand (unrelated to the UK company SC Films International).

As much as 95% of the production was shot in Thailand with the remainder in Vancouver. Filming locations in Bangkok and several Thai provinces include Suvarnabhumi Airport, Minburi District (one of Bangkok's oldest districts), Siam Kempinski Hotel, a rice mill, a leather bleaching factory, a century-old mansion and Muang Thong Thani town.

"We shot mostly on locations, but also built a number of big set pieces at Baanrig Studios, especially for scenes that we need to blow things up," said Uekrongtham.

The majority of the key crew members were Thai such as leading production designer Ek IEMCHUEN เอก เอี่ยมชื่น (The Tin Mine มหา'ลัย เหมืองแร่ (2005), Ong Bak 2 องค์บาก ２ (2008), Queens of Langkasuka ปืนใหญ่จอมสลัด (2008)) as well as its art director, costume designer, production manager, location manager and casting director.

In his first English-language role, Jaa stars as a Thai detective who helps a New York counterpart, played by Lundgren, eradicate a global human trafficking operation. Jaa is best known internationally for his fighting roles in the Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong series.

"Jaa is extremely focused as an actor and is very disciplined. He's always inquisitive and is a great collaborator. He doesn't take his role lightly and sees it as an opportunity to extend his range which I think he's done very well. In between takes, he always makes me laugh with his hilarious antics," said Uekrongtham.

Set amidst the harsh realities of human trafficking, Skin Trade bears the framework of a mainstream thriller. "While it is very much plot-driven, the challenge for me is to give it an added character-driven layer with a strong emotional core," he said.

"I see an opportunity to allow characters to express their inner feelings non-verbally while moving the plot forward during action sequences. That's made it more interesting for me as opposed to just seeing people breaking bones, cracking skulls and shooting bodies," he added.

After 50 shooting days, the film is currently at the final stages of editing with a release scheduled for 2015. Hyde Park International handles international sales outside the US.

During his hiatus from films, Uekrongtham spent most of his time on performing arts, the other artistic endeavour he bounces between. He has put together a new live theatre show Muay Thai Live – The Legend Lives which opened in January this year and is still running at the new theatre at Asiatique The Riverfront in Bangkok. Excerpts of the show were performed during the Thai Night party at this month's Cannes Film Festival.

Uekrongtham always makes conscious decisions to embark on something different. His previous films range from the award-winning Beautiful Boxer to Pleasure Factory 快樂工廠 (2007) which premiered at Cannes' Un Certain Regard to horror The Coffin โลงต่อตาย (2008) and romantic comedy The Wedding Game 大囍事 (2009).

Equally diverse are the new projects he has taken to film markets. He plans to revive Chang & Eng on the stage one last time before adapting the critically acclaimed musical about Siamese twins for the big screen. Magical fantasy drama Dessert Queen is being developed into a tent-pole mini-TV series while Bare, about Thailand's first nude photographer, is lined up as his next film.

He also serves as executive advisor to chairman Paiboon DAMRONGCHAITHAM ไพบูลย์ ดำรงชัยธรรม of GMM Grammy PLC Ltd, Thailand's largest entertainment conglomerate.

http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/ekachai-uekrongtham-deals-skin-trade

[Jox]

Impact: Now you've just completed shooting (at least principal photography) on Skin Trade which sees you working alongside Dolph Lundgren. What can you tell us about the project and how you first got involved with the film?

Tony Jaa: Dolph and I are friends. I liked the story and the fact that it would be made in Thailand for the International market. Dolph is fun to work with... we had wanted to do a film together and Skin Trade was the right project. The casting was great and allowed for some amazing action scenes while still keeping a solid dramatic story.

It’s your official English language debut. How are you finding handling extensive English dialogue.? Is it hard to make the change from being able to film in Thai, the language in which you're most comfortable?

Actually my first English language film is Fast and Furious 7. I started learning intensive English in May last year. I have no problem with conversational English, although of course sometimes I still make mistakes. Acting in English requires me to think about the emotional tone of my lines and make sure that I convey my character's feelings correctly. This has caused me to think more about my acting... and that is a good thing. My objective has been to do international films rather than continue with purely domestic films, so English is a necessity.

The film also stars upcoming actress Celina Jade (best known to audiences as Shado from the hit television series Arrow). How have you found working with her?

Celina is fantastic. She is a very, very good actress. We had a number of scenes together and she really helped me to improve my dramatic performance. She took a lot of time to rehearse with me and practice until I had things right.

The film also features a strong supporting cast including Ron Perlman, Peter Weller, and Cary Tagawa. Was it very important for you to surround yourself with an established cast... do you find working with such strong actors helps you in terms of performance?

I did not produce Skin Trade so in that sense my input on casting was limited. I was very pleased with the casting choices. I felt that it helped separate this film from a pure action film and put it into the category of a serious theatrical action/thriller. This was important to me as I know that I need to be mindful of the quality of the films I am in if I really want to succeed on the international stage. Naturally when you play opposite actors of this caliber it literally forces you to bring your performance up to their level.

The film’s director is Ekachai Uekrongtham best known for Beautiful Boxer, what do you think he has brought to the film as a director? Do you feel more confident and comfortable with a Thai director as you can converse directly?

Ekachai brought a dramatic aspect to the film that I think is unique and interesting. It helped ensure that the story line would appeal to a broad audience. In terms of language, I am quite comfortable with a director speaking English as well as Thai. I don’t have any problems communicating in English these days.

What do you feel Skin Trade has to offer an audience, in terms of action and drama? What would you feel are the highlights the audience has to look forward to?

I don’t want to spoil the story. However I will say that the movie has a very strong dramatic story with well-defined characters. The audience will be able to identify with the characters. The story itself is clear and I think the audience will follow the message well. This combined with some fantastic action makes the movie rather unique.

http://www.impactonline.co/features/1879-exclusive-tony-jaa

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

2015- Year Of The Jaa!

[Secret Executioner]

2015- Year Of The Jaa!

Sure sounds like it may be a breakout year for him. Skin Trade sounds very promising and I hope Tony Jaa will benefit from it.

[Jox]

I believe this shot is just promo behind the scenes.

[Doctor Schnabel von Rom]

looking forward to this movie. hope it will be good and solid b action

[Jox]

Here's a little behind the scenes featurette

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=787394534625264&set=vb.255792041118852&type=2

85L4kwwqXTE

[Jox]

Director Ekachai Uekrongtham FB Q&A:

1. You have done a number of films that have received critical recognition, they were more in the drama genre. What interested you about Skin Trade ?

I tend to be attracted to character-driven materials. Even in its earlier drafts, Skin Trade had that quality. At that time, I also saw see a thematic core I could use to hold the film together creatively and drive it forward emotionally.

2. Skin Trade was your first experience with a mostly Western cast, did you find it different from the type of actors you had worked with before ?

When I worked with newcomers in some of my other films, my directing style tended to be more coach-like in nature. With this group of very experienced actors in Skin Trade, I had the pleasure of being able to explore deeper into the emotional depths of their characters. I like finding layers and shades so it's great to have actors who share your enthusiasm in this aspect, and have the abilities, discipline and experience to make it happen on camera for you.

3. The story line in Skin Trade is a hot topic worldwide, it was quite daring of you to undertake this. How did you balance an action film with such an important message ?

I subscribe to the idea that when one is entertained, one is more susceptible to paying attention to issues they may not have given much thought to otherwise. I certainly do not aim to preach through our film but hopefully, through the characters in this film, the audiences will be able to connect with human trafficking issues in an unexpected and illuminating way.

4. Skin Trade is targeted towards a broad international audience, did this require you to change your directing style ?

Creatively, I don't think so. I think all audiences are human beings who will respond when something speaks to their hearts. So for me, the challenge is more about finding the universality of what you're trying to communicate before communicating it. But on a more practical level, I had to make one important change. I tend to be quite soft-spoken on the set when I direct. But on the set of Skin Trade, I realized it's more effective when I communicated at a higher decibel with the team especially when we're shooting very big action sequences.

5. You had a cast with 6 Iconic action stars, Dolph Lundgren (Punisher), Tony Jaa (Ong Bak), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Michael Jai White (Spawn), Peter Weller (Robocop) and Celina Jade (Shado) what was it like working with them, do you have any interesting stories for us ?

One thing that all of them have in common is a very strong commitment towards making Skin Trade a meaningful film. That makes me feel very blessed. It's a thrill for me to draw on their iconic status to good use in some scenes while allowing them to also show their other sides not often seen in their other films.

With Dolph, it was great to work with him to draw out his vulnerabilities and tenderness. I find his untapped persona quite refreshing when unveiled on screen. Tony is such a disciplined and focused actor who takes his job very seriously. He's a joy to work with. In addition to his unparallelled fighting prowess, we'll also get to see him flexing his impressive acting chops in Skin Trade.

Peter inspires me a lot. He's an accomplished director in his own right and I enjoyed chatting and learning from him during our breaks. He improvised something in a scene that instantly added gravita to his character and I just loved it!

Michael fights beautifully and has the intensity and the energy that work so well for the character he plays. Celina has a rich well of emotions that I could always draw upon. I like the emotional honesty she brings to the role. It gives the film its soul.

Ron humanizes his character so much so that we can't help but feel for him and his loss despite the dark nature of who he is in the film. With him, I could always get spot-on and layered performances. Having worked with him is a privilege.

6. What is your favorite moment that occurred during the Skin Trade shoot ?

There are many! I particularly like working on all the action sequences, and turning them into scenes that allow characters to communicate with each other - not unlike what they do in dramatic scenes, albeit with very physical actions.

I love it when actors are able to hit the emotional levels and bring out the characters' deeper layers the way I'd envisioned. And that happened a lot while shooting Skin Trade.

It's the first time I had to direct scenes with lots of explosions. Those take a great deal of good planning and I've enjoyed the process thoroughly.

7. What is next for you ?

I've been given a few scripts to read so I hope among those, I can find something I'm really excited about and can sink my teeth into soon. I'm also developing a couple of projects on my own.

8. We understand that you have quite a Muay Thai show that you are directing in Bangkok, can you tell us a bit about this.

It's a stage show called Muay Thai Live: The Legend Lives which tells the history of Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) through the stories of Muay Thai heroes from 300 years ago till the present day. It's an action-packed live show featuring Thai kickboxing, sword-fighting, tricking, MMA, Taekwondo and other forms of martial arts. It stars a very talented cast comprising real-life kickboxing champs, prize-winning swordmen, ace stuntmen and extreme sports experts. The show is now playing at The Stage, a new purpose-built theatre at Asiatique The Riverfront in Bangkok. It was great fun creating that show and seeing audiences from around the world coming to see it in Bangkok.

9. Any plans for another action film ?

I'd love to do another action film. The basis of all drama is conflict. In a good action film, conflicts are so heightened that characters have to settle their emotional scores via physical means. Those primal urges become a powerful creative springboard that can lead us to discover soulful learnings.