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
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June 19, 2026

305: Is This Podcast Real?

305: Is This Podcast Real?
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Season 3

Rob Alicea is the Director of Serena (2026), a critically acclaimed science fiction screenlife thriller in which a down-on-his-luck rock star (Steven Strait - The Expanse) becomes a beta tester for a revolutionary new chat bot (Andi Matichak - Halloween, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends). Serena premiered at CineQuest 2026 to rave reviews. Rob was nominated for Best First Feature at the 2026 Miami Film Festival. At the age of 19, Rob wrote and directed his first film, End of Our Day, based on the Howie Day song of the same name. His breakthrough pilot Adulthood (2017), which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, took home Audience Favorite at 2017 TMFF and Best Ensemble Cast at the 2017 Bilbao Film Festival. He would then go on to co-write, direct and produce The Hat Man (2022) and the upcoming feature Operation Fastlink, Directed by Jerry Careccio.

MENTIONS:

Rob Alicea on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2236012/?ref_=fn_t_1

Serena on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35047940/reference/?ref_=nm_knf_t_1

Serena on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serenathefilm/

Rob Alicea on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robalicea/

JoBlo Review of Serena: https://www.joblo.com/serena-review/

Learn more about the TSP: https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/index.html

Support the TSP: https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/inv_in_innovation/sponsor.html?v=eUNc33MfXgI

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 (use discount code FFWFPOD for 25% off a daily subscription and 15% off a weekly)

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