Film Fights With Friends
Film Fights With Friends
Film Fights with Friends is the premiere action filmmaking podcast and film festival. Join filmmaker stuntmen Paul Varacchi and Stephen Koepfer on a show that was nominated for Best TV/Film Podcast at the 2025 Podcast Awards and won the Dramatic Action Awards for the past 2 years running! In 2015 Paul and Steve founded Breakfall Studios, New York’s top action design studio. Get a view behind the camera as they sit with industry guests, break down cinematic fight scenes and action sequences, explore the filmmaking craft, and share their own filmmaking journeys. STEPHEN KOEPFER Stunt performer, filmmaker, renowned coach and martial artist. Stephen has stunt doubled for the likes of Jonanthan Banks, Eddie Marsan, Henry Winkler and Tom Hollander as well as performed stunts on productions including Ray Donovan, Caught Stealing, The Beast in Me and John Wick 2 & 3. As a filmmaker, he has produced and directed several narrative films and documentaries that reflect his passion for storytelling. PAUL VARACCHI Martial artist, stunt & motion capture performer, and celebrity chef. Paul has appeared in such shows as Daredevil, The Punisher, Walking Dead: Dead City and World Beyond, The Night Agent and Gotham. Behind the camera, Paul has many years of production involvement in roles ranging from PA to department head including extensive Health and Safety experience at Marvel and Disney. At the age of 8, Paul’s dad took him to see Robocop and the rest is history! ® Film Fights With Friends, LLC
Choose your favorite podcast player
Apple Podcasts Spotify iHeartRadio
RSS Feed
May 8, 2026

302: The Pope of New York

302: The Pope of New York
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio
RSS Feed
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio
RSS Feed
Season 3

S3 Ep2 – The Pope of New York

Stephen Pope is an Emmy winning stunt coordinator (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 2024) and 9-time SAG Award nominee. His most recent Emmy nomination, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Drama Programming, was for HBO’s The Penguin. Our discussion starts with the challenges of coordinating The Penguin and proceeds to dive deep into the importance of mentorship, leadership, set culture and ongoing changes in the stunt and film industries.

MENTIONS:

Car Chase and Fight Scene/Oz vs Sofia's Henchmen – Episode 1: https://youtu.be/luxZ6HBXEHE?si=q5yS8jrlwpd8AgFt

Oz Kills Taj and Nadia - The Penguin Episode 5 Fight Scene: https://youtu.be/cf-84-RsKoI?si=jQK6jBUpabtrW0pz

Oz VS Sofia Final Fight - The Penguin Episode 8 Sofia Gigante Got Arrested: https://youtu.be/vXGktiisTkg?si=p9WMekKgNYSRQ336

Stephen Pope IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0691189/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Leftovers fight shot for shot remake: https://youtu.be/aUIbIa2zC-M?si=xfMp10T6igf_QXQn

Support our food drive: Support our food drive: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participant/NYCombatSambo

FILM FIGHTS WITH FRIENDS

Do you listen to our show as an audio podcast? Give video a try. Subscribe to our Youtube for the video version with awesome behind the scenes pics and video! https://www.youtube.com/@FilmFightsFriendsPod?sub_confirmation=1

Dig the show? Consider supporting our Patreon. There are some cool perks! http://patreon.com/FilmFightsFriendsPodcast

Join our e-mail list! Hit us up here: fightingwithfriendspod@gmail.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/FilmFightsFriendsPod

Facebook: http://facebook.com/FilmFightsFriendsPod

Steve’s Instagram: http://Instagram.com/sambosteve

Steve’s IMDB: http://imdb.me/stephenkoepfer

Paul’s on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/KravMagaChef

Paul’s IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8062990/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Breakfall Studios’ Instagram: http://Instagram.com/breakfallstunts

SPONSORS

Stunt Contact

https://stuntcontact.com/

Stunt Access

https://stuntaccess.com/

PRODUCERS

Executive Producers:

Stephen Koepfer

Paul Varacchi

Produced by:

Press Record Studios

-Matthew Kaplowitz

-Richard Butler

-Andrea Levine

http://www.pressrecordstudios.com

Video Editor

Matthew Kaplowitz

Original music by:

Ahrue Luster

Brought to you by Breakfall Studios

®Film Fights With Friends LLC