Profiled By Albert Valentin

Many people might not know the name Antony Szeto. However, the buzz is very positive around the Australian-born director’s upcoming film Wushu, which stars Sammo Hung and a cast of real-life wushu champions. Szeto’s experience with the Chinese martial art is well known as he doubles as both director and fight choreographer of the upcoming film.

Antony John Szeto was born on December 9, 1964 in Sydney, Australia. Szeto began training in wushu, which would lead him to live for three years in Beijing, China. He studied at the Beijing Institute of Physical Education (today called the Beijing Sport University). In 1988, Szeto joined the Australian Wushu Team as they entered the international competition in Hanzhou, China.

Antony attended school at Bond University in Australia, where he earned double degrees in finance and media. He received awards for Excellence in Student Film Direction and Best Overall Achievement in Video Production, which led him to gaining an opportunity to earn a Masters Degree in Mass Communication. Szeto declined and would go on to earn his Masters degree in Business Administration.

Antony started out as a stuntman in television movies in his native Australia. In 1992, Szeto made an appearance as a martial arts warrior in the David Bradley-starrer AMERICAN SAMURAI. He would go on to continue work as an actor in bit roles or stuntman primarily. In 2002, Szeto went to Hong Kong, where he started directing episodes of the television series A DISH ABOUT TOWN.

In 2005, Szeto made his feature film debut with a CGI-animated martial arts tale titled DRAGONBLADE. The film featured the voices of popular Hong Kong stars Karen Mok, Daniel Wu, Stephen Fung, and Sandra Ng. The film was written by Trevor Morris, who was the brother of Karen Mok. Szeto also worked as the action director of the CGI film. A year later, Szeto traveled to Thailand to work as a fight choreographer on what would become a trilogy of the life of one of Thailand’s greatest kings, King Naresuan.

In 2007, Szeto began work on Wushu. Aside from directing the film, Szeto also choreographed the film’s intricate action scenes. A wushu exponent himself, Szeto incorporated his training into the fight scenes. Wushu stars Sammo Hung as a wushu coach who trains five kids in the art. As the kids grow up, they become competitors in and out of the stage. The film features a cast of real-life wushu champions from Liu Fengchao to Wang Wenjie. Jackie Chan and John Sham serve as executive producers with the screenplay by Dennis Chan (KICKBOXER).

Wushu may be the film that’s going to bring Antony Szeto along the lines of today’s top action directors. With a background in wushu and film, Szeto may in fact, become one of the most respected filmmakers should Wushu become a hit film. Judging from the trailer and the fan response, it may just happen that way.

Wushu is released in Hong Kong on October 23rd 2008 and Antony Szeto is interviewed exclusively in Jade Screen Vol. 5 Issue 4 released on October 13th.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
2008 - Wushu (director/action director)
2008 - Jessica Caught on Tape (producer)
2007 - The Legend of Narusean: Declaration in Independence (action director)
2006 - The Legend of Narusean: Hostage of Hongsawadi (co-action director)
2005 - DragonBlade (director/action director/voice actor)
1992 - American Samurai (actor)