Project Description

QUEST FOR JACKIE CHAN! is a transmedia film project that is the brainchild of Maria Tran that is set to be fun, innovative, and bold! It already has, and will continue, to engage with a wide and diverse range of participants and audience in all major population centres from Australia, around the world and back to Hong Kong in the quest action film superstar – Jackie Chan.

This project is for everyone and anyone with an interest in, action adventure movies, who are fans of Jackie Chan, and are excited about participating on this online hub (twitter, facebook, blogger, fansite, Jackie Chan Site, Redbubble, Youtube etc...).

This project seeks to document (cross-platformed, interactive and via documentary film) the diverse stories and experiences of young people and their connection to Jackie Chan.

It will utilise popular aspects of social media to allow the whole of Australia to develop their connection to Jackie Chan and particularly indie filmmakers and their self-initiated projects and groups and how that relates to Jackie Chan.

This was created from the makers of Australia’s Kung Fu feature film “Maximum Choppage: Round 2” and nationally screened ABC-JTV TV series “Downtown Rumble” in partnership with the community response to the explosion of young filmmakers and their DIY guerrilla attitude of You Tube and Facebook generation.

STAGE 2 – Quest for Jackie Chan! Urban Action Film Forum launches on the 7Aug, 2010 featuring Hong Kong action director Antony Szeto (director of Jackie Chan produced film “Wushu”) in front of an audience of 120 people (casting directors, production houses, actors, directors, producers, martial artists).

STAGE 3 – The Australia Tour

During her tour, she will run free “Ideas to Reality” workshops in each major cities for the community to help other artists get their projects moving, collaborate with local artists, set up drop off points for people to hand over mail, contribute vlogs and interview a number of people who may be in the final film documentary.

MARIA TRAN – DIRECTOR/ PRODUCER/ WRITER
Maria Tran, 25 years old (born Jan, 1985) is an Australian-based gungho filmmaker, actress and dynamic social media personality based in Sydney’s south-west.

She is about to take Jackie Chan fandom to a new level by embracing all things creative and digital to connect, engage and interact with anyone, any place, anything related to the Jackie Chan phenomena via her recent project Quest for Jackie!

Since Dec 09, Maria on the search high and low throughout Australia, knocking on doors, jumping fences and wearing rabbit suits to drum up attention that this cause is a serious one – one of epic proportions.

AS A WORKSHOP FACILITATOR

Maria Tran is a youth activist and an experienced workshop facilitator who have run workshops interstate on themes of leadership, digital arts, creativity, youth empowerment, youth activism & community development. She has a strong advocate for a positive can do attitude, that anything is possible, and its up to the individual to develop self awareness and create their own opportunities. Maria loves travelling and eating ice cream!

She has designed workshops to be very fun, kinetic, highly interactive, challenging and motivating. She designs tailor made program focuses on developing personal character and a sense of value, identity and purpose, while also enhancing leadership and interpersonal skills.

Maria is a Vietnamese-Australian guerrilla filmmaker who has worked extensively in the field with young people from culturally diverse backgrounds in as a facilitator/trainer in digital storytelling.

She has worked implemented projects such as “Koori Stories”, “Pop Series: Shorts that Speak Out!”, “Vietnamese Storyexchange” – an intergenerational multimedia and visual exhibition for the young and old. 

She has done many workshops and presentation for 2008 Youth Association Action Policy Conference (Sydney, AUS), 2009 Multicultural Summit on “Youth Digital Cultures” (Brisbane, QLD), 2009 South East Asia Text, Ritual & Performance “New Media in the Vietnamese Diaspora” (Riverside, CA).

A girl wearing many different hats to make a difference!

PROJECT HISTORY

After struggling to complete her Psychology university degree (Nov, 2007), plunged into unemployment and the participating in a free community filmmaking course (2008), this is where her guerilla film making tactics were incubated and developed that led to the completion of Australia’s first urban action comedy “Maximum Choppage: Round 2” (www.mc2movie.com) (Nov,2008)

This ultra shoe string budget feature film has several screenings all over Australia and overseas in Hollywood and led into the making of Ninja micro TV series “Downtown Rumble” which was aired on Australia national TV ABC/JTV in late 2008.

Now, her team has completed pre-production for TV series “Rumble High” and interchangably developing concepts after concepts, her hopes are to break beyond the “ceiling effect” of the Australian film industry and invigorate the martial arts/ action-adventure genre initiated by young people from culturally diverse backgrounds in Australia.

Now, in the midst and struggles came “Quest for Jackie!” – a project that may be the last attempt to connect Australia-wide and to fans of Jackie Chan and also to the film genre he has successfully endeavoured decade after decade.

STATUS

Quest for Jackie Chan! has organically grown as a transmedia project. It has been bold, interactive and fun, connecting with hundreds and hundreds of people from across Australia as well as worldwide!

There has been numerous of support from people who gave the gift of time and words of wisdom and hundreds of emails have flood through for me to take this project to people’s spaces. The project is driven by passion so far it is completely self funded. Being a 19 day, one way tour of the country, the expenses on project is breaking my piggy back so I’m hoping YOU can lend a helping hand and support.

The tour flights have been booked but I’m hoping that you can help this project run smoother during the tour phases. The money raised will be used to pay for things such as:

• Workshop production and expenses
• Accommodation & ground travel
• Minor film equipment purchases (sound equipment!!!)

IN THE MEDIA

A LETTER FROM ME!

Hi there everyone and welcome to my Crowdfunding site for my passion project – Quest for Jackie Chan! Firstly, thanks a lot for taking the time out to check what all the fuss is and find out “why the heck?” this would this exist.

I’ve been getting a lot of feedback lately, from people who love the idea and think it will be a “hit” of a project, drawing long winded ideas on how to make it happen, while others will pass this as “another crazed fan project” and that “Jackie Chan” is simply just another human being, with flaws and all, hence a project not worth supporting and that I should do one on “World Peace” which is much likely to get the backing.

What people may not know is, beyond the “pop” value, this project is complex, vast, and largely experimental. Nothing is pre-deterimined, is even the build up the crescendo of meeting Jackie Chan is an all or nothing experience.

My core aim to simply to test the ABCs in life that I loosely follow:

A – Anything is Possible

B- Becoming Aware

C – Creating Opportunities

I’ve crossed over from being a newbie (no-school) filmmaker, to contributing to Australia’s first Kung Fu movie, a kick butt micro nationally air TV series to...well....still waiting. So when the idea of meeting Jackie Chan came to my head – I simply dismissed it as a mission impossible. I started listing 101 reasons why it wouldn’t happen.

And that my readers, is what the mindset that we are also so used to. Fear of failure, hence we set “safe” and “reasonable” goals in life, feeling that we “don’t deserve it” and hence we will never get there.

I for one, want to break away from the moulds of this kind of limited modes of thinking and I’m going to use my project, and with all trials and tribulations, rants and melodramas see it through.

So therefore, if an Asian girl from Australia (hey! I’m not related to Jackie Chan okies, so there’s no head starters) can take her project around Australia and meet Jackie Chan then pretty much anyone can really do anything right?

Its been a fun journey so far, I learnt new skills; designing, shirt printing, sticker bombing, making badges to building websites, and other ways to grow my project.

I’d also like to give my special thanks to all the people that I’ve met along the way, who have inspired me to be bolder and try new ways of thinking into getting there.

These people have been diverse: from leading multimedia activists, newbie to distinguished filmmakers, teachers, families, and people living in all sorts of circumstances across the world.

It gives me great joy to receive emails from people living in India who encourage me to continue on, or filmmakers from Hong Kong who keep me track of what’s happening in the industry, or a mother from Romania who thinks Jackie Chan is a spud.

Overall, filmmaking is evolving and becoming more inclusive in nature. The power of collaboration can be immense, and in the midst you will find that it the diverse stories that will enliven your soul.

FOR MORE INFO:

www.questforjackiechan.com

www.q4j.tv

jackiechanfanasutralia.blogspot.com

questforjackiechan.blogspot.com