Mike Leeder
Mike Leeder
(Croydon - London - England)
Mike Leeder (born 5 August 1968, in Croydon, England) is a Casting Director, Producer and Actor based in Hong Kong. Leeder has been responsible for the DVD and Blu-ray special features for countless Hong Kong movies released by such companies as Hong Kong Legends, Premier Asia, Dragon Dynasty, Media Blasters, Shout Factory and more. Leeder is considered an authority on Asian Cinema and International Cult and Action Cinema, as well as for his work in front and behind the camera, with his work on such projects as Fearless (2006), The Raid 2 (2014), The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), Man of Tai Chi (2013), Ultimate Justice (2016), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Chasing the Dragon (2017) and Donnie Yen's Big Brother (2018). Since arriving in Hong Kong, Leeder has written extensively on the subject of Hong Kong, Asian and International action and martial arts cinema, and is widely acknowledged as an expert in the subject. He has written countless reviews and conducted interviews with actors, directors, choreographers including Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sammo Hung, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Ronny Yu, Yuen Woo-ping, Scott Adkins, Isaac Florentine, Tony Jaa, Gareth Evans and more for such publications as the South China Morning Post, Combat, Budo International, Karate Illustrated, Femme Fatales, Inside Karate, Inside Kung Fu, Black Belt magazine, Blitz International, Time Out Beijing, BC magazine, Hong Kong Magazine, Eastern Heroes, Screen Power, Jade Screen and of course Impact magazine, for which Leeder served as a contributor since the first issue and as Far East Editor from 2000-2017. Leeder also helped create the special features for numerous DVD & Bluray releases for such companies as Hong Kong Legends, Premier Asia, Media Blasters, BCI, Dragon Dynasty, Shout Factory, Germany's TVP-The Vengeance Pack and more, conducting interviews and recording audio commentaries. Leeder has worked both in Asia and internationally as a Casting Director and Consultant, being involved in the casting of such projects as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Jet Li's Fearless, Jackie Chan's Rush Hour 3 and CZ 12: Chinese Zodiac, RZA's The Man with the Iron Fists part 1 & 2, Keanau Reeves directorial debut Man of Tai Chi, various projects for HBOAsia including Serangoon Road & Grace, the Resident Evil franchise, the Ip Man series, Donnie Yen's Chasing the Dragon & Big Brother, Blood the Last Vampire, Yuen Woo-ping's True Legend, the black comedy Stegman is Dead starring Bernice Liu, the BBC's ill-fated Phoo Action, and the star studded martial arts adventure Triple Threat starring Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Celina Jade & Scott Adkins. Leeder's credits as a stunt liaison include The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor working with Vic Armstrong, The Raid 2 working with Gareth Evans and Bruce Law Stunts Unlimited, Pound of Flesh, Abduction and Ultimate Justice. As a producer, Leeder's credits include indie action movies The Silencer, Ten Dead Men, George Clarke's killer clown thriller Splash Area, Ross Clarkson's psychological thriller Captured, Albert Pyun's Interstellar Civil War, the Australian TV series Tiger Cops, Ernie Barbarash's Pound of Flesh starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Abduction starring Scott Adkins & Andy On, Noriko the Hong Kong Dead, 12/Underground starring Mark Strange and The Bodyguard: A New Beginning as well as the upcoming documentary Neon Grindhouse: Hong Kong. Leeder refers to himself as an occasional actor, having played minor roles in such projects as ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1 & 2, Jackie Chan's CITY HUNTER, the SAD STORY OF SAIGON, and larger supporting roles in such projects as FEARLESS, HELIOS, Ultimate Justice, the PATH TO THE DREAM, NIGHTFALL, MISSION MILANO, Chasing the Dragon, Big Brother, HBO Asia's Sent, Pound of Flesh & Abduction. Leeder was one of the founding partners in the Hong Kong & Germany based independent production company Silent Partners, producing the indie action movies One Million K'licks starring German martial arts sensation Mike Moeller, and the dark thriller Ultimate Justice starring Mark Dacascos, Matthias Hues and Mike Moeller. Leeder left the company in 2017, citing ongoing creative differences with his co-founder over the direction the company was heading, and that the way Ultimate Justice was altered in post-production did not match the original vision or plan for the movie. Leeder was the co-founder of Silent Partners, the production company responsible for One Million Klicks and Ultimate Justice. Leeder left the company in 2017, citing ongoing creative difference with his co-founder over the direction the company was heading. In late 2017, Leeder began working with the UK's Goldfinch Studios (www.goldfinchstudios.co.uk) on a number of projects, and partnered with the company to form Goldfinch Neon, a more genre focused arm based in Hong Kong.