Kenji Tanigaki on The Furious (2025)

Oh he is, folks, it's showtime. People say, good money to see this movie. When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas from hot popcorn and no monsters in the Protection Booth. Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring. Done it off.

You're looking for someone, so am I. My wife would miss you, daughter, she might still be a wife. Hey, folks, wouldn't do a special episode of the Projection Booth. I'm your host Mike White. On this episode, I'm talking with Kenji Tanagaki all about his new film, The Furious.

Film is actually being released here in the United States pretty wide. It's at the local multiplex or release. The poster is reminds me of things like the ray taken John Wick All just kind of rolled up in the one. Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you enjoyed the interview. Can you tell me a little bit about The Furious on how this project came together?

Three years ago, Bill called the process of the courasch entire sun dravel. He asked me, because we worked together in the past, maybe it's three or four for movies as a producer and as action director. And he asked me, Hey, Kenji, let's make that. And I don't know what the ultimate means, but yeah, yeah, let's do this. And then he said, how do you think if we use the shamew from China is I know, I've known Shemeo for many years, and I think, oh, that's a very good idea.

Yeah, he can do that. And then I called Jotassim and brand Lee and Yaya Lukin and Joy and Ira to team up. Yeah. The cast of this is amazing and such an international cast as well. Yeah, and the unique each character have their own very strong national's background and culture background, so very unique and every character is a different What.

Was that transition like for you when you went from being a stunt coordinator and action director to pure director. I'm still in the learning process. I'm learning everything. The biggest difference is some coordinator or action director. I'm working as an action director.

I'm the first guy if something happened, if something doesn't work, I'm the first guy learning to on the set and then fixed this accident. But as a director, I should wait for somebody to fix because if I'm the first guy to learn it running as a guy says just watching, and then as director I don't have to be the best guy in this team, because I should have the best guy around me to fix fix this from as director, I should trust everybody, trust every department because they have the best guy and they will give me the best answer. And I'm the guy to choose this answer, to be there to make it look good. But this is a big difference. I need a patience.

What is it like when you have all of these people doing these very intricate fights. Do people ever accidentally take a punch? Or how important is safety on the set? Believe or not this will be crazy, but really not crazy. Everything is safe.

First, there is safety. Punch is distance is very important. Sometimes punch that is is not too full. But punch like this it is too much. Everybody get injured.

Everybody needs a look the good sense of the distance. So like this needing point. This is very good. So they are so skillful, okay, so skillful, and see even they fight each other, but that means they must walk together. Need a very good sense of the combination.

But they did a great job in the during our production. Nobody gets serious injured. Of course, some pay pay, some pay or some some have strings pay, but no of no, bone braking or no. No one died of course, and no serious injured. How much do you or can you supplement things with digital technology?

So like people following or those kind of things, is that do you get to enhance those things digitally? So it's not putting as much risk in there. It depends on the which movie and what kind of genre. We need to put a lot of looking good, but this movie is more grounded. I try not to use a lot of technical things.

Of course, we use a mattress with a mattress or removed because we are the mattress. Their performance is not. We're not so good or easy to get injured. That's what I don't want, right, So sometimes we put a mattress out to remove. But the wire we don't use any not so many wire of course some over there in the opening, see you remember the bad guy holding their tiny girl.

If we don't use the wire, that are very rude. Right, So it's very safe. I use a wire and they use the plate under knees. It's very safety. Yeah, But this kind of city, this kind of be effix is invisible beefix.

It's not the beever befix. It's invisible and then get to see small grounded. So this is our direction for this movie. When you are shooting a film like this, do you tend to space out the action scenes? You shoot them all at the end or the beginning.

How do you actually keep your performers so that they're not exhausted all the time. Or you love to watch act struggling? Right? So anyway, ishausted try to every action scene have the intergra after the action see drama. Of course, have drama in the action scenes.

But yes, we try try to avoid some people. For example, Shamela. Oh, I remember Samel has a COVID inmproduction, So ask Joe, hey, can we shoot the action scene today? Yeah, he's willing to do that, or somebody or it's a Shamel again because at the ending we spend the eighteenth night in the in that police station, and the shamail because of a high plache he must go to the hospital to look and then or I asked Joe and the iron again because oh, can we shoot your path today? So we just take care of the each actors, publish it, and then we turned up the schedule.

Switching subjects a little bit. I rather you had burned under Yasuaki karate, Etcru. Do you know that? Oh, yes, there is master in Japan. Yeah, do no work with I just followed him and then we had like master and student and he's very strong and he's very dedicated to the Amashal arts.

And then he has a he's a discipline. Every day I'm training and he aged eighty, he's still spread. And the last year I directed his short movie show film because three students me and other two already be the director and we se walk together to short film for him. And he's amazing. He can move like age thirty and then he's spread and he psyched and then he used a pig or his new chappoud.

Yeah, I think he's amazing. And then believe or not, he's very man of humor. I am excited for more people to see The Furious. I thought it was fantastic. Do you know what you're working on next?

Oh? Yeah, man project. But I hope you can have the chance to shoot the sequel we made this movie. But yeah, already like yours, So I hope this movie is growing up in your audience hands. And then I hope I have the chance to shoot the cheat girl or.

Pretty sir, thank you so much for your time. This was great. Thank you, Mike. Just get that you must. You don't know the things you must to pay to make sure consent.

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