Maximum Choppage

Maximum Choppage
Genre Comedy
Created by Matchbox Pictures
Directed by Craig Melville
Starring Lawrence Leung
Stephanie Son
Dave Eastgate
Country of origin Australia
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 6
Production
Executive producer(s) Debbie Lee
Tony Ayres
Producer(s) Sophie Miller, Julie Eckersley, Linda Micsko
Running time 29 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel ABC2

Maximum Choppage is an Australian television comedy drama series starring Lawrence Leung. The six part series is set to premiere in 2015 on ABC2. It is directed by Craig Melville and written by Leung, Duncan Sarkies and Josh Mapleston. It is produced by Julie Eckersley, Sophie Miller and Linda Micsko with executive producers Tony Ayres and Debbie Lee. The series is based on the film work of Timothy Ly which was developed into the TV series by Matchbox Pictures.

Lawrence Leung stars as Simon Chan

Plot

Simon Chan has returned to his hometown of Cabramatta. Whilst everyone thinks he was studying at a legendary martial arts school in Beijing, the truth is he was at Marshall's Art School, in Melbourne. Skilful with a paintbrush but clueless in combat, Simon is the exact opposite of an action hero. However, due to his mother’s boasting, everyone in Cabramatta thinks he is a kung fu master and the new saviour of their town.[1]

Cast


Episode Summaries

Episode 1

Simon Chan has returned to his home town after many years training in a faraway martial arts temple. Well, not really. The truth is Simon was at Marshall's Art School, in Melbourne…

Episode 2

Simon must find a way to defend his mother's shop from a gang of pirate DVD dealers. Petal pushes Simon to tell Egg that he's not a warrior, but he's worried Egg will blow his secret. Egg is tempted into pirate DVD addiction.

Episode 3

Cabramatta is gripped by fish-fighting fever. After a winning streak with her prize fish 'Little Simon' Mrs Chan loses her shop in a bet with gang leader Kai Le. Can Simon, Petal and Egg win it back? Starring: Lawrence Leung.

Episode 4

It's ghost month and angry spirits are attacking shops. Simon is called upon to drive them out, but after a visit from his dead father he becomes convinced that his lie about being a warrior has made the spirits restless.

Episode 5


It's Cabramatta's food festival and Mrs Chan is competing in the Signature Dish Smackdown Competition with her horny duck recipe. A rival chef is found dead and Mrs Chan is the prime suspect. Can Simon save her?

Episode 6


Mayor Crawford evicts Mrs Chan and the Old Market Street residents from their shops and gleefully announces his plan to erect a multi-storey car park in their place. Simon challenges the Mayor to a series of public debates.

Development of the Series

The television series is based on the film work of Timothy Ly, who grew up near Cabramatta. Timothy studied Martial Arts after school and weekends as a teen. Timothy graduated from Fairvale High School in 2002 and began a no budget production of martial arts short films. The term "Maximum Choppage" relates to the martial arts trainer who chopped people who failed to train right or made form mistakes. A bad fail would be met by Maximum Choppage. After the short film was made, a feature length film was made, again on no budget. All actors in the earlier film versions were locally sourced. The audience appeal of the subject matter, and the unique use of a community often ignored by mainstream media, make the production iconic.

See also

References

External links