...David No... [데이빗노]

So who am I and what do I do? A simple question, with a not so simple answer. most like to put labels on people… they like to categorize and sum up someone in a word or two. I’ve always had a problem with that question…
Let see – I was born into a martial arts family, so I’ve done martial arts my entire life. I never chose to do it, so I am not passionate about it. I am not passionate about breathing either, yet it is an essential part of my being, and something I will always do.
At age 15 I started teaching judo and taekwondo; by 19 I ran my own club, by 21 I had four clubs plus taught at my fathers club. I was in the Australian Judo Team in ’92 and the Australian taekwondo team in ’95. Although competition was ever present, it was always secondary to study.
At university I studied Physiotherapy. It was during my 2nd year that a friend asked me to meet a young film school director (Brent Houghton) who wanted to make a martial arts flick for his final year piece (a first for any film school). This was my entry into the world of film. The film (The Huntsman) attracted a cult following around the world. John Woo rang from the states and Peter Jackson sent a letter from New Zealand.
I started drama classes and got myself an agent. You would have seen me on: Mr Nice Guy (Jackie Chan & Sammo Hung); Moby Dick (Patrick Stewart & Gregory Peck); Blue Heelers (TV Series), Subterano (Alex Dimitriades); Invincible (Billy Zane) and Matrix Reloaded and Enter the Matrix video game (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishbourne). I also did a short stint at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) where I appeared in the Shakespeare Vignettes, playing Brutus (Julius Caesar) and Petruchio (Taming of the Shrew).
As I was constantly doing my own stunts, I decided to get my stunt qualifications. I was constantly developing my skills as a martial arts choreographer and before making my second film (Huntsman 5.1) I ran stunt training for 6 months. In ’04 I was nominated (along with the rest of the stunt team) for Best Fight at the World Stunt Awards (Matrix Reloaded). I guess that was some consolation as it was that fight scene that I seriously damaged my knee (almost turning it back to front after flying across the room and through a statue).
Australia doesn’t make action films – we haven’t done so since Mad Max in the ‘80’s. So I had a choice, go overseas or make it work here. So in 1998 Furious Films was born (www.furiousfilms.com.au) – its goal was to develop Australian genre based film projects. We won the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) annual pitching competition and we were suddenly taken seriously by the Australian heavy weights. We started writing and developing films for companies like Beyond Films, Franchise Pictures Australia and Arclight.
I got involved in the Korean commercial industry, initially as an actor. But one day they asked me to Line-Produce a $4.5m Jackie Chan commercial shooting in Thailand – and yet another career chapter was started.
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Since then, I have Line-Produced Korean films, tv dramas and commercials all around the world for some of the biggest names in Korean show business. Names like: Lee Hyori, Eric Mun, Jeong Woo-Seong, Kwon Sang-Woo, Jeong Du-Hong, Choi Ji-Woo, Jang Dong-Gun, Gang Dong-Won, Kim Tae-Gyun, Cha Eun-Taek and Kwak Kyung-Taek just to name a few. Often on these projects, I would produce, act, action direct, do stuntwork – all on the same project!
In 2006, I decided to take a break from making other peoples films and concentrate on making my own – Forged. This film is the first ever Australian sword drama. It serves as my directorial debut, but as you can read above – my involvement didn’t stop there. I wrote it, trained the actors and stuntmen, played a role, injured myself too many times; edited and spent too much of my own money! Check it out: (myspace.com/forgedmovie)
Many people have said to me: “but what do you really want to do… if you had to make a choice”. I think it is easier for people to put you in a category – to be able to sum you up in a word or two. I don’t see it that way. I’ve always made an effort to explore many facets of life, and to learn as much as I can. Money is almost a secondary issue. Life fulfillment is more important. If you enjoy what you do, you never have to work a day in your life!