 Cynthia Rothrock is a pioneer in the martial arts and needs very little introduction. She played a major part in bringing martial arts cinema over to America, paved the way to an undefeated victory in tournament competition, blazed the trail for female action stars, and has been featured in more than 60 films. Today, she's here to talk with us about her new film, Black Creek, and why this one is very different from what she's done before. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Cynthia Rothrock. So you've been in more than 60 films in your career and now you're working on Black Creek. Can you tell us a little bit about this project and why it's such an important milestone for you? Right, you know, because of all the movies I've done, I've always worked for someone else. I never knew how the outcome with the movie was going to be. I really didn't have too much control over it. So I would just go in and do my best. And for the longest time, I always wanted to do my own film to be in control. But, you know, it's a big endeavor to take. And I was always like nervous to do it and and had anxiety. But then, you know, I I just finally said it's time to do it. So first started with what kind of film would I like to do? And I wanted to do a Western all this time. I know it's really different and off the wall compared to all the other action movies you see. But then it was what's the plot, get the storyline, then hired a writer. And three of us just wrote the script for a while until we found it. It was great. And then it just took off from there. You know, I hired a line producer and then I said, OK, this is my budget. All right, let's do a Kickstarter program to see if we how much we can fund. So we could get this project made. And it's I'm just overwhelmed by how successful it's been right now. Black Creek Kickstarter is the number three all time successfully funded action picture, and we still have 11 days to go. And we have two more stretch goals to reach. And we reach that. I'm going to be adding more cast members. I know if those of you who follow me on Facebook can see that I'm constantly adding new people. So the more more raising of funds that I get in, the more I can get a bigger cast. And that's been my dream is to do a martial art movie that's really different, but really have the people that I love in it that I know can really fight and that are, you know, are really, really good to work with. So I'm I'm just so excited to finally take on this project and go for it. 100 percent. Now, are you finding that the anxiety and it's this patience a little bit less now that you're in control of the whole thing? Or is it a different experience in that regard? I think it's even more worse now, you know, like first it was like, oh, can we raise the goal? Because like I'm Kickstarter, you know, whatever monetary you put in there, if you don't reach that, then you don't get anything. So I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to put in the full budget. So I put in like maybe a third of it. I am going for it. I believe in this project so much. And it's definitely I think when the project is done, I'll go. Oh, so did you have any particular inspiration? Like what drew you to the to the Western genre? I love Westerns. I've always wanted to play like some kind of Annie Oakley character, you know, and and then just lately with the upsurge, you know, like I love like I love Tombstone. I love the old Clint Eastwood ones. And there isn't really a notorious in the Western genre, a female gunslinger that you could think of. So I was like, OK, I want I want to be the first one that can really fight and do action and have a surrounding martial art art cast. So I think what really fired my goal is that I I love like a Yellowstone. And I was like, that is such a great part, you know, for Kevin Costner. It's a brilliant part. I loved it. I love the the darkness of that. And so I wanted to create my own. And and this will surprise people. It's not like there's nothing funny about it's very dark. It's very gritty. It's interesting you touched on it because there's a lot of Western films and there's only a handful that have a female lead and there's only a handful of martial arts, but you don't really see them put it together. So I kind of like this amalgamation of these elements. And you're known for breaking down barriers for females in the martial arts. What kind of setting do you hope or what kind of doors do you hope this opens for female actors in the future? Well, I hope it opens doors that, you know, I've been told, oh, well, this actor didn't do it, you know, so why do you think you would do it? And you know what? I have faith in myself and confidence and I know this project is good. I think trailblazing for women, you know, to, you know, get more involved in films, even though maybe someone says you can't do it, you know, that you don't listen to that. Now, you've mentioned the word gunsling in a few times and Westerns are definitely known for that very specific type of action. And you come from a martial arts background, which is kind of almost a different fan group. So how are you playing in the balanced gunsling in Western action with the Kung Fu martial arts action? Well, obviously, you know, Western would you have, you know, we're going to shoot it in all Tucson, which is a Western town. It's in the 1900s. It's not a contemporary film. And basically, there'll be some gunplay, but the emphasis is not going to be on that. It's going to be on incredible martial art action. And if you look at the cast they have so far, I have like Richard Norton, Billy Blanks, Don the Dragon, Wilson, Benny the Jet just came on board today. Marcus Taylor, Kevin Sorvo. And it's just keep getting better and better. And I know these guys are going to come with phenomenal fighting. And I made sure that all these characters are really important characters. So I want to get back to the Kickstarter goals in the second. But you mentioned about having more days on set and having the cast that you are the cast and crew that you want to work with to the people who might not know much about filmmaking. You've talked about this in your previous interview with us about having those extra days on set. What kind of differences that make in terms of choreography and safety and getting the action that you want, just having a few extra days to be able to film those. Oh, yeah, it's so important because I've been in movies, you know, where, you know, the producer will talk to me and say, oh, yeah, we're going to have this great climactic fight scene. And we're going to have a whole day to shoot it. And then shooting goes very slow that day. And we get to the ending climactic fight scene and they go, OK, we have 20 minutes to do it. We have to get out of here. You know, and that happens so much. And that is not going to happen in this film. I'm going to make sure that the fight scenes are not rushed like almost every American movie I've done. That it's shot right and well. And everybody is happy with what we see. I'm bringing in choreographers from Switzerland that I worked with. And I loved the choreography that they did. So I'm excited to use them. They're excited to come to America and do their first like American picture. So there's a lot of bursts in this. And I think a lot of people now, the big buzz out on the internet is that this is going to be in a historical film. And I'm just I am just so proud and blessed that I'm the person that can bring this to the screen that I think all the fans want to see, but nobody has ever done it. You know, they're kind of saying, oh, it's like an expendables. But I'm like, no, it's nothing like the expendables. Yes, there's a lot of action stars in it. But nothing nothing like that movie, you know. And what are the stretch goals that you still have left? Like what still are you trying to accomplish for the film? And how can people be a part of it even after the Kickstarter has ended? Well, once the Kickstarter ends, I think that that's it. So we have 11 days, you know, more for people to be part of it. And my goal is to reach four hundred thousand. If I could reach four hundred thousand, that's great. If I could go over that, that's even better. Because then, you know, I could put every every little penny is going into this. And how can I make it better? Like, like I said, more shooting days. I keep adding added incentives to the backers. Like I tell the backers, OK, if we reach, we reached, you know, the hundred and fifty thousand goal, now you're going to get this. Now you're going to get this. And the next incentive, if we reach it for the backers that have already have done two hundred and fifty dollars and up, they'll be getting with their rare Blu-ray copy behind the scenes commentary of what the movie is about and what's going on. So we have to shoot that separately. So a little bit more money will give us time to do a back story of what's going on behind the scenes with myself and with some of the other characters, you know, new upgraded T-shirts, you know, we have like a great T-shirt that's only going to be available to backers, you know. So the DVD and this, you know, will be a rare, a rare item. I mean, we will have another DVD once the movie comes out that this particular first one is going to be a limited release just for backers, you know, to say thank you, you know, for backing the project. Now, you mentioned filming in the old Tucson set for those who are not familiar with that. Can you tell us the significance that has in American cinema? Yeah, you know, there is a lot of an old it's called old Tucson. It's a town in Arizona and many action movies were shot there. And the reason I picked this is because our my script takes place all in this one town. So we don't have to go to location after location, location. There's interiors, there's exteriors, you know, you have the saloon and has a corral, you know, because of course, you know, we're going to have choruses. So it's it's got everything just all, you know, in that one town. So all of our shooting every day will be on the set of this town. And besides the Kickstarter, is there any sort of official website or a place that people can go to get continuous updates? Right now, I'm doing a lot of updates on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. But once we do have a website, which is Black Creek movie dot com. But right now we have it so it's easy for the backers to click on that. And it takes you right to Kickstarter. But once Kickstarter is finished, then it will go to the website, which, you know, will just be the movie. And we will have a lot of updates and everything. And what I'm doing with the backers, we're going to have a lot of Zoom meetings. I'm really, really, I appreciate the people that are backing me and supporting my project so much that I am going to invite them in on the Zoom calls when we're talking about the story, when we're talking about the location, when we're talking, you know, I'm going to try to keep everybody involved. Because what I feel like is that, yes, this is my film, but it's also my backers films, too. Because without them, I wouldn't be able to do this. And I am so going to keep them in, like, for example, I have 11 people that have done the incentive for the fight scene with one of us. I mean, whether it's me or Don or Richard or Olivier or Billy Blanks or Benny, you know, they're going to fight, you know, with one of us. And people have said, this has been my lifetime dream, you know, to do this. And I'm going to have some days set aside just for them to work with me, to work with maybe the actor that they're going to fight with, and the stunt choreography to make sure that they're really good. We have online training classes as an incentive. And that would be awesome, too, for people that, you know, are going to do this fight scene to pick that up as well, because we just want to make sure they're going to look great and they're going to be proud, you know, of their part in Black Creek. And that is such an exciting thing to offer. I mean, that is such a rare opportunity for people to have to be part of martial arts history, especially, you know, your films are famous and everyone who's in the martial arts knows them. So to give that opportunity, I think it's absolutely wonderful. And you know what I think is great about people that are in my film? Say, for example, OK, we have like I have Chris Howard, he's going to be fighting in it, right? Now, say he fights, he's fighting with Don Wilson and Don Wilson goes, well, you're really good. I really love that. So now when Don does the next movie, he's going to say, yeah, I'm going to use Chris Howard. He was really good or Billy could say that or Olivier or Richard Norton could say that. So it's a great place. There is no place in this world that someone is going to be able to come together with these martial arts greats and the greats are going to see their talent. And if they do a good job and they're going to want to work with them again. So it's it's a fantastic opportunity. That's kind of how I got started when I first did Yes, Madam. I thought, oh, I'm just doing one movie and how cool is that? I'm going to be in a movie. And I didn't really know that I was going to continue to do movie after movie until that movie was such a big success. And people started asking me like Golden Harvest said, you know, we want to sign you up for a three picture deal. I'm very thankful that Black Belt magazine, Black Belt app are sponsoring our two premieres already. We have a premiere in the arena, a big casino in Las Vegas. And we'll have one in LA as well. And I'm I know it's a ways up, but I'm so proud of everybody that's going to be in this film to be able to take part in this awesome red carpet premiere. You know, and I'm so lucky to have because this project is so good that I have these sponsors. Everything is just falling in place the way it's supposed to be. So I am I'm very, very blessed and thankful for that. Excellent. Well, I just personally want to thank you so much for coming on here and telling us about your movie and not only that you're providing opportunities for other people to get their break to the martial arts and filmmaking, like you said, and also you're taking such a classic milestone of American cinema and you're taking such a classic milestone of martial arts films that you actually helped pioneer over here and you're bringing them together. I just want to thank you for your innovation and for bringing this to light. And I think this is a really exciting project to follow. And I wish you the absolute best of luck in it. And thank you so much for sharing your experience with us today on that. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for you, you know, for having me on to promote this. And again, thank you so much to all the backers and the supporters. I have a strong passion for filmmaking and I am personally excited to see how this project works out. And we'd like to thank Ms. Rothrock for spending her time with us today to talk about this project and give us a little bit of a behind the scenes sneak peek. Please be sure to support her. It's not very often that you get the opportunity to be a part of a martial art legends project and you can find more information and link to it down below. Now, if you'd like to hear more about her experience in both the martial arts and martial arts cinema, click here to see our previous interview with her and learn just how impressive her accomplishments really are and why they call her the queen of martial arts.