Interview with Tanguy Guinchard

Tanguy Guinchard is a Swiss stunt performer, director, actor and action director. We interviewed Guinchard, the filmmaker behind the comedy-action short film Eggxit. Guinchard was the director and played the character Sam in Eggxit, which was screened at Fighting Spirit Film Festival 2020.

Describe yourself in three fictional characters.

Photo Courtesy of Tanguy Guinchard

1. Sherlock Holmes: I love analysing others work.

2. Sangoku: I have a strong will to train and an unbelievable appetite.

3. Heidi: Because my roots are Swiss and I have really strong bonds with Switzerland.

Can you tell us about your martial arts background?

I saw my older brother going for Judo class when I was five, as the little brother I wanted to follow my big brother’s every step so I signed up too. This was my introduction to the world of martial arts. Judo is a very important part of my martial arts career, I’ve been practising Judo for over 19 years now.

A few years after my first Judo experience, I wanted to try few other disciplines taught in my martial arts club. I then trained in Yoseikan-Budo and Karate Shotokan. I practiced both of them between the ages of 10 and 16 years old.

Because my family noticed my obsession with martial arts, in December 2009 they bought me a very special Christmas present. I received my very first pair of nunchucks, practicing this weapon became a real obsession, I was training several hours a day every day (breaking a few lamps and furniture through the process). One day, during my usual online tutorial research I found out about those guys jumping / kicking / flipping, literally real ninjas, this was Martial Arts Tricking. I thought it would be a great addition on to my nunchucks routines. I started practicing tricking with a friend of mine after the judo classes. Later on, both my friend and I developed a Tricking Show Team in Switzerland with which will lead us to perform for international stages and important Martial Arts Festivals around Europe and Asia. (Team STAMA).

Next to our tricking performances, I kept training nunchuks and became a several world champion in Xtreme Martial Art.

How did you get your start in stunts? 

Thanks to the Tricking Show Team, that I founded with my friend, we were able to travel around Europe and abroad, for competitions or for performing our shows. I met a few professional stuntmen along the way and this was an eye opener for me, because back then, I didn’t know that we can make a career out of being a stuntman. I was ready to turn my passion into a career.

After one year of mandatory Swiss army service I went to the UK and heard about the British Stunt Register through a S.P.A.C.T. agency. I signed up at the agency (British Action Academy) and landed my first gig thanks to them. I set myself a personal aim: get onto the British Stunt Register.

A person I met during a Xtreme Martial Art competition in Germany in 2015 got in touch with me in 2020 and asked for my availability about an upcoming project. This person was the famous Andy Long from Jackie Chan stunt team. Working with Andy was a dream I didn’t even dare dreaming of! I owe him a lot, he gave me a chance to prove what I was able to do. He brought together an amazing team, I’m proud to call them my stunt family!

In 2018, I went to film school, in order to go forward with my stunt career and to try and develop the action industry in Switzerland. I wanted to make my own movies and connect with the very shy Swiss film industry. Now my five year plan is to gain more experience as a stuntman and develop the Swiss action film industry.

What is your favourite part about doing stunts?

More than performance in stunts, I love being involved in the whole process, from choreography up until editing the fight scenes. For most of the big budget movies, stuntmen are called to perform the stunts/the fights but before that, they wait for countless hours in the trailers. What’s great about independent filmmaking is that stunt people are involved from concept to the final cut of the fights/stunts.

If I had to pick just one aspect of the process behind building an action scene, I would tend to say the way to “cheat” stunts. Either with camera angles or by off screen tools. Filmmaking is actually the definition of cheating to make something look cooler than it is, finding the best option for hiding the trick.

What do you see as the future of martial arts/action cinema?

During the last decades we went through the “superhero” trend. I think like any other trend this will change into something else.

We saw what Chad Stahelski did in John Wick with creating a whole new action mixing up gun fighting and Japanese martial arts. I think mixing martial arts style and film genres might work for bringing something new to the audience. It’s hard to predict what will entertain the world in the upcoming years.

Maybe a Western / Drama / Kung-fu / Sci-Fi movie?

What prompted your interest in directing?

First it was a way to promote my team and myself as a stunt performer. Directing my own short films for showcasing some cool moves and stunts. But after all, action sequences should be viewed as a story in itself. I’m a forever learner and have a lot to experience with directing, but I know that the one thing I want to promote through my short film is that every fight should tell a story.

Directing action short films is a way to sharpen my knowledges in order to (maybe in a few years) directing an action feature film made in Switzerland.

Who are the directors that inspire you?

There are many films that stand alone in the action industry, therefore the people that inspire me the most aren’t part of the big budget world. They were people with whom I could relate to. People that are inspired by their creativity over their budget, so the directors that inspired me the most to make my own movies are the independent filmmaking legends: Vlad Rimburg, Eric Jacobus, Andy Long… and really all the independent action filmmakers.

How did the project Eggxit come about?

I made myself a challenge to direct as many action shorts as I can. The quest for inspiration is a constant struggle. As soon as I have some ideas or funny situations I write them down. Eggxit is a “tutti frutti” of several ideas and late night tapping stories on my laptop.

What were some of your inspirations for Eggxit?

I try to find my own directing style. It tends to be more an action-comedy, Jackie Chan oriented style with some different sauce. Of course Jackie movies are a big inspiration for a lot of people including myself.

How did you find the location for Eggxit?

Photo Courtesy of Tanguy Guinchard

It was tough finding the perfect “cliché” museum for Eggxit. While I was writing the story of Eggxit I had in mind a famous museum located in Lausanne, Switzerland. I went straight to contact them asking for film permit. The were okay with letting us film in the museum but the price for it was quite expensive since I was producing the short film by myself. I decided to shoot there anyway but I needed to shorten the story so that it could fit in my budget. We ended up filming in this museum over one night only.

How did you put together the cast and crew for Eggxit?

I directed Eggxit while I was in film school. I was lucky enough to meet some really helpful people during my studies. My film school mates helped me out with the technical aspect of the film (make-up, light, art…).

About the cast, I contacted some of my old time friends from France (Thibault Gassmann and Maxime Ecoiffier). They were in the exact same situation as I was: looking for ways to get into the stunt industry. As stuntmen we should be in constant search for projects and look for gaining experience on any sets. Teaming up toward the same aim and creating opportunities to get experience and footage for our stunt reels is a good way to help each other out.

Can you talk us through how the stunts were choreographed for Eggxit?

My friends coming from France had a really narrow schedule and arrived Saturday afternoon for filming Saturday night. We didn’t had the chance to choreograph anything together prior the shoot. I choreographed the main ideas and the concept before the shoot. We adjusted and changed some part of the choreography with my friends while the crew were setting up card boxes for an high fall stunt.

How was your experience of filming Eggxit?

It was a challenge in itself and as in every project I’ve learned a lot doing it. This is the main reason why we do short films, to experiment, to challenge ourselves and deliver the best we can under the given circumstances. 

Can you tell us about the best part of filming and the most challenging part about filming Eggxit?

Because of budget, we had to film the whole movie over one night only. This was really challenging. Moreover, we shot Eggxit on the 21st of June, which was literally the shortest night of the year. During the few hours of night time we had to film: the entire build up before the fight, rehearse the fight scene with my two French friends and set up hundred of boxes for a high fall.

Looking at it now this was a really big challenge. Preparation before the shoot was the keyword to bring this short film to the screens. It really shows that even with little amount of time and good preparation, you can make a short film. 

Do you have any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

We just released our brand new short film: RETROTAPE on June the 2nd. This is a Kung-Fury tribute fan film where I wanted to explore a more dynamic approach on filming the Kung-Fury style on a green screen. I tried to explore a little bit further my directing style on this.

More independent projects are on their way and 2021 feels like a far better year for creating!

How has your experience been with the Fighting Spirit Film Festival?

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to attend the festival because of COVID issues and hard time travelling from Switzerland to the UK. If the opportunity will knock again I will for sure come and connect with my fellow action lovers!

Photo Courtesy of Tanguy Guinchard

Speed Round. Pick one film for each category.

What was the first film you remember watching?

First film in Theatre: Finding Nemo from Pixar

What was your favourite childhood film?

The Tuxedo (before knowing who Jackie Chan really is ^^)

What is your favourite film by your favourite filmmaker?

Police Story II – Jackie Chan

Which cinematic universe would you like to live in? (e.g. The Grand Budapest Hotel, X-Men, MCU)

The Last Airbender

What film are you looking forward to watching this year? 

The 4th John Wick film since Donnie Yen was announced in. It sounds like a really badass team up.

We hope you enjoyed our interview with Tanguy Guinchard. To keep up to date with Tanguy, you can follow him on Instagram and Subscribe to his YouTube Channel.