John Kreng

John Kreng has had a successful multi faceted career in the entertainment industry working as a Stunt Coordinator, Fight Choreographer, Stand Up Comedian, Author, Actor, Video Game Designer/Producer, and Stuntman. Born in Washington, D.C., the son of the Cambodian Ambassador to the United States, John is of Chinese and Thai descent, and is fluent in Vietnamese, Chinese, and English. After his father died before John was one year old, his mother decided to stay in the U.S. so he could have a better education and the freedom to be successful at whatever he desired.As a Stunt Coordinator, Fight Choreographer, and Stuntman, John has worked with both Asian and Western luminaries that include Jet Li, Yuen Cheung Yen, Tsui Hark, Steven Spielberg, Roger Corman, and the late David Carradine. He has been featured and/or appeared in Black Belt, Martial Arts Training, Impact (UK), and Inside Karate magazines. John is also the author of the only in depth textbook on screen fighting, "Fight Choreography: The Art of Non Verbal Dialogue."As a fight choreographer, John feels he brings many elements to the table that makes the fights exciting and is at home choreographing rough and tumble Western style brawls as well as precise and intricate Hong Kong style fights. He has been studying various martial arts since he was a child and holds black belts in Tang Soo Do and Te Katana Jujitsu. He is an accomplished tournament fighter and has worked as a bouncer at several nightclubs, bringing practical knowledge and understanding of the human psychology of how a fight why we fight. Some of his real life experiences are published in the book, "Bullyproof Your Child: An Expert's Advice on Teaching Children to Defend Themselves," by Keith Vitali.John was an art major in college, having attended Parsons School of Design in New York City, and studied screen writing at UCLA Extension. He brings the unique knowledge to the stunt world with his understanding of the 3 act structure to an action scene (in relation to the story), while also understanding the visual aesthetics and composition that a fight needs to look appealing to audiences, while also keeping them grounded with the films vision of their established "reality." In addition, being a veteran stand up comedian (14 plus years experience), John has honed his comedic instincts and understands the mechanics of comedy, where he can easily apply it to his fight choreography when needed.Living a dual life as an Asian American has also helped John when working with Asian talent because he understands both the Western and Asian approaches to action on film because they have different mythologies when it comes to acting non verbally a.k.a. action. He has also trained actors, entertainers, and athletes including Phil Morris, Matt Westmore, Udo Keir, Japanese Pro Wrestler Ultimo Dragon, Vanilla Ice, and Super Bowl Champion Roman Phifer, to name a few.As a Stand Up Comedian, John started out in Washington, D.C. at The Comedy Cafe alongside other promising comedians at the time Martin Lawrence and Tommy Davidson. After moving to Los Angeles, he was a regular performer at The Comedy Store for over a decade where he honed his act and learned from the world's best comedians like Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, and Sam Kinison, to name a few. His act is unique and personal, basing much of his material off his personal life and growing up in an Asian American family in America. He has 3 national TV appearances to his credit, was the first non African American comedian to appear in BET's Comic View, performed all across the country as a national headliner, and was L.A. Weekly's Comedy Pick of the Week.Working in the interactive media as a Videogame Producer and Designer, John has been able to combine his talents as a screenwriter, fight choreographer, martial artist, comedian, and graphic artist all into one job. Some of the titles he worked on were "Art of Fighting 3" (Associate Producer and Mo Cap artist) and "Full Spectrum Warrior" (Stunt Coordinator). He has also worked for THQ, Mattel, SNK of Japan, Sony Pictures, and Disney and is a featured interview in the book "Ultimate Game Design" by Tom Meigs.John's extensive knowledge and passion for martial arts films since he was a child, has led him to write for several martial arts magazines, providing some ground breaking interviews with Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Woo Ping. He was also a film critic with a monthly column, and was the Coordinating Editor, Project Supervisor, and Writer of the 25th Anniversary tribute to Enter the Dragon & Bruce Lee, published by TC Media. For Home Entertainment, he was a director, segment producer, interviewer, and special consultant to many special features on DVD for The Weinstein Company and Contender Entertainment Group (UK). He also gave an on camera interview for A&E's Biography: Steven Seagal. Hide

To be perfectly honest, anyone can put together a series of spectacular and flashy moves that will " Show more To be perfectly honest, anyone can put together a series of spectacular and flashy moves that will "wow" the audience and they call it "fight choreography." I see it all the time. Unfortunately, they are "slaves to the technique"- wrapped up in the minutia of the moves while losing sight of the story, when they should be letting the moves express the motivation and emotion of the character for that particular scene. What distinguishes the men from the boys, are the ones who can tell a non-verbal story with their fight choreography. Hide

An effective cat-fight (a physical conflict between 2 or more women) on film or TV has to be emotion Show more An effective cat-fight (a physical conflict between 2 or more women) on film or TV has to be emotionally motivated (much more than a fight with guys) usually threatening their well being (emotionally or physically) or something they feel is important or sacred to them like their family or children. Physically, a cat fight is truly a no holds barred fight, that completely discards any and all the unsaid rules or etiquette created by men (established in school playgrounds since they were kids) by using hair grabs, bitch slaps, poking, scratching, biting, ripping clothes, kicks, etc., with wreck-less abandon until they make contact and usually ends with someone losing and humiliated during the process. You know when you are watching a great-choreographed cat fight on TV or film when a guy is watching it and thinks, "If I tried to break up that fight, I would probably end up getting hurt during the process! So forget it!" Hey, they don't call it a cat-fight for nothing! Hide

Many people think that for me to jump from being a martial artist to performing stand up comedy was Show more Many people think that for me to jump from being a martial artist to performing stand up comedy was a drastic career change in my life. I don't see that way at all, because there are more similarities than differences between the two disciplines. You have to set up your opponent/audience, mislead them, and always stay at least one-step ahead of them. And even though your game plan might be the same or similar each time you walk into the ring or stage, it's always a different experience every time, because when you get in there to mix it up with them, you never know how they might react to you punch lines/ techniques. With both fighting and performing comedy, you definitely have to stay on your toes. Hide

Fight choreographers are in the business to entertain audiences with their non-verbal action scenes. Show more Fight choreographers are in the business to entertain audiences with their non-verbal action scenes. It always makes me laugh when you hear of some professional martial artists in the magazines who whine and complain- criticizing about the fight scenes see they see in films & TV are "not real." What they fail to realize is that they are taking their limited understanding of fight choreography out of context. Watching an actual fight or combative sports match in real life can actually get boring at times, with lots of dead gaps, and often gets repetitious. A good fight choreographer condenses that experience and makes it dramatic to serve the story. You never hear of a fight choreographer watching a real fight, complaining and critiquing about the match, saying and that it would have ended more effectively and dramatically if the opponent taking the knockout punch would have "sold the fall" more effectively by flipping to the mat and passing out, instead of collapsing lifelessly against the ropes like a sack of rice. Hide

John Kreng's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (5)

Battle B-Boy

Long hang tian xia

Glitch!

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Blood Of Redemption