Queens Ledger * Glendale Regiser * LIC/Jackson Heights Journal * Forest Hills Times * Ledger/Observer * Queens Examiner

February 21 2002 Page 13

Local Queens Residents Debut Movie, "Beautiful"
Queens-Based Actors Did Own Stunts For Award-Winning 
Action Film

By Hector Flores

Two western Queens residents, Kevin Brian Wright, 33 and Albert J. Allie, 31, debut their short film titled "Beautiful" at the Pioneer Theater, located at East 3rd St. and Avenue A in Manhattan, and won the coveted first place of the Theater's "Short Film Slam".

Lasting only 15 minutes, the film is an action packed tale, which includes martial arts fighting sequences, a car chase, shooting scenes and a few slap-stick moments, which culminate into the final death duel between our hero, Brian Carter (Played by Kevin Brian Wright) and Arch-Villain Kenji (Played by Cesar Cipriano).

The movie tells the story of stunt doubles Carter and friend Anthony Rozelli (Played by Albert J. Allie), who witness the murder of a man who is a courier of priceless diamonds, who is attacked by a group of gang members. The duo rush to the victim and attempt to revive him, but are then confronted by the murderous gang and battle for their lives.

Miraculously, the duo escape with the diamonds, However, their victory is short lived when Carter learns that his wife model Julia Carter (Played by Simone Klein) is kidnapped and held captive by the gang's leader Kenji. Our hero's Brian Carter and Rozelli then set on a mission to rescue Julia and single handedly defeat the crime syndicate.

According to Szu Ting Moy, who helped Wright coordinate the fighting scenes, said that the movie was meant to bring the over stylized modern arts movies back to reality and give it a more New York City feel.
We didn't want to make it like other films, he said, "We wanted to give the movie a more New York style and feel. If you look at the Jackie Chan movies and "The Matrix" you can see how a big budget can do wonders for an action movie, we want to show with little that we had how much of a good job we could do. 

This realistic style is evident with the wardrobe the gang members wore: t-shirts, jeans and sneakers. The film's urban feel further accentuated by the locations chosen for it's filming, some of the most memorable fighting sequences are filmed in the backdrops of Glendale, Ridgewood, and Jamaica-all areas found in the borough of Queens.

The movie was written, directed and produced by Wright and Allie, long time friends and residents of Glendale and Ridgewood, who after an experience with a local film production company decided to form their own production and stunt company, The Black Dragon Group and The Kevin Brian Wright Stuntman's Association.

Albert and I have always been writing, and had one of our stories produced and filmed by a local film maker, "he said" Unfortunately, we were more business oriented and wanted to find distributors for our film and the producer didn't. As a result we started our own production company.

Wright also serves as the company's Martial Arts and Stunt Choreographer, and attributes his amazing fighting directing to his 20 year study of Ninjusu.
The 15 minute short movie "Beautiful" is actually a condensed version of h full length feature film , which lasts almost two hours. The filming and editing of the movie was done in collaboration with Real Time Productions, who according to Wright, have done an amazing job in editing and sound effects, and plans to collaborate with them for future projects. 

Our film crew are just dedicated professionals Wright said. Prior to the films debut, for PioneerShort Film Slam, they worked on the editing for 48 hours straight. Right now, we're going to give them a short break and we expect the completion of the full length movie "Beautiful" to be completed sometime in March.

As for another feature film, Wright and Allie plan to keep some of their cast members and have them become Co-Producers. Making a return is Assistant Stunt Coordinator Szu Ting Moy, and Alexa Servodidio (Who Played Villain The Lady) and Sam Golden (a stuntman and actor, who played a Park Thug and Street Punk).
For more information, regarding future screenings of "Beautiful" and it's video release date, check out the Black Dragon Group Website at www.kevinbrianwright.movies-inc.com