By NOEL MURPHY
FEW filmmakers get the chance to boss around actors like Lethal Weapon’s Danny Glover but when the director’s a martial arts expert with hypnotic skills it’s surprising what Hollywood can deliver.
Geelong’s Rob Baard, producer, director and lead actor in The Ninja: Immovable Heart, due for release next month, managed to do just that.
It’s all testament, of course, to his connections, hard work and drive but it was still a special moment when Mr Baard had the star at his disposal.
“The Danny Glover thing was huge for us,” he told the Independent this week.
“I went to LA and shot with him. We put him in the film and now we’ve got him in the short film we’re shooting this weekend on the Geelong waterfront as well.”
Mr Baard’s Ninja Universe superhero movies, short films, related graphic novels and more are the fruition of many years’ work on a Marvel Avengers-type franchise.
This weekend he will film an action scene in the water off Royal Geelong Yacht Club for short flick Interlude to the Ninja, with irrepressible Mayor Darryn Lyons lending some colour to the proceedings.
“The Danny Glover footage and everything’s already done. I went to LA, to Hollywood, and shot him.
“The opportunity came up to put him in it and there was interest. We said, ‘All right let’s do it’.
“t was a Wednesday and they said, ‘We’ve got him for Friday’, so I had to drop everything.
“I got on the plane, had no idea where I was going, no accommodation, but then I’m watching the screen and there’s Danny Glover.
“It’s surreal when Danny Glover’s there going, ‘Hey Rob, hey Rob, I’ve got a question’.
“In your mind you’re going, ‘Danny Glover’s just asked me how to say his lines – I’m telling Danny Glover how to say these lines!’.
“When I was a kid I was watching Lethal Weapon, so for me it was surreal. In the back of my mind that was still playing out but you’re too busy, we had him for a short time and had a lot to shoot.”
Baard has created, produced, directed and starred in films, TV series and stunt shows. He’s produced and taught screen writing, visual effects and action courses.
He tempers his martial arts with healing-arts skills, telling the Independent his Ninja movies were as much about entertainment as helping empower people to improve their lives.
