Director Dastan Khalili And Stars Of THE WAY To Hold Virtual Fireside Chat

On Monday, November 8, 2021 at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST, DGA director Dastan Khalili and actors Eli Jane, Joan Wong (niece of Kung-Fu Master Wong Jack Man), Lorenzo Antonucci (Paradise City) will participate in an intimate fireside chat, in advance of the November 12 world theatrical premiere of the action thriller film The Way. R.C. Samo, editor-in-chief, Fanboy Nation, will moderate the free hourlong online event.

Event Link to watch live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou16EN1gnrs

You may also rsvp HERE!

The Way is the story of Jane Arcs (Eli Jane), who thirteen years ago was condemned to death after brutally killing her opponent in an underground street fight. Now, in just 24 hours, Jane will be executed for her crime. During her years on Death Row, Jane has undergone a major evolution under the tutelage of a fellow inmate and Qi Gong Master Xin (Joan Wong/ the niece of Kung-Fu Master Wong Jack Man, who was best known for his controversial duel with Bruce Lee in 1964), learning the way of Qi Gong and ostensibly gaining supernatural abilities. As the day of her execution arrives, Jane embraces her punishment in the spirit of transformation. Max Stone (Kelcey Watson), Jane's boyfriend as well as correctional officer and part of the execution tie down team, has very different ideas. He is willing to do anything to save Jane.

The Way will hold its theatrical red-carpet premiere on Friday, November 12, 2021 at The Music Hall Lumiere Cinema in Beverly Hills and will run through November 18th. (Pre-sale tickets are available now at https://lumierecinemala.com/film-the-way/) Gravitas Ventures has acquired the exclusive North American rights to the action drama and will debut the film on all streaming platforms in early January 2022.

Dastan Khalili is an award-winning director (2005 NYC Independent Film Festival: Best Feature, Best Director - Insomnia Manica; 2010 NYC Independent Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Director - Earth Turns to Gold; 2011 New York Film Festival: Best Environmental Documentary Director - Making of A Dream). He began his filmmaking career in 1995 after graduating with a BA from the Pomona University Theater Academy. Dastan has a wide range of directing experience including feature films, documentaries, educational films, music videos, and theatre. In a review of his feature debut, Insomnia Manica, the Los Angeles Times said: "It's an elegantly shot mood piece set amid the downtown LA lost crowd, and the intense Khalili creates a striking screen presence." Another reviewer wrote: "Dastan Khalili sparks with moments of genius in his first narrative feature. I cannot wait to see what's next."

Eli Jane was born in Michigan and from an early age loved playing sports which led to being a competitive gymnast and diver. As a teenager she began modeling and along with 35,000 others entered Seventeen Magazine's cover model contest where she finished as the runner-up. She was then featured on the Oprah Winfrey show as "An Up & Coming Star" and began working with the famous Italian photographer Giovanni Leonardi appearing on several international magazine covers. At 18, Eli moved to Los Angeles and became the first model and investor in the clothing line she helped launch Von Dutch. She then began her career in television and film both behind camera as an associate producer and producer and in front of camera as an actress and stuntwoman, appearing in hundreds of music videos, national commercials, television projects and films. Since 2019 Eli has booked four leading roles in feature films.

Joan Wong was born and raised in Oakland, California to Jack and Yan Wong. Joan is also the niece of Kung-Fu Master (Sifu), Wong Jack Man, who was best known for his controversial duel with Bruce Lee in 1964.

Joan got her first taste of martial arts as a young girl from her Uncle Wong Jack Man when they used to play Kung-Fu games along with her cousins Chris and Stephanie (WJM two daughters). She then also briefly trained with her uncle in Kung-Fu at his studio in Fort Mason, San Francisco.

Joan has studied with East-West Players, The Groundlings, Meisner Technique, and is an alumnus of The Beverly Hills Playhouse. Along with studying acting, Joan has done some boxing training with The Saucedo Brothers, whose gym is sponsored by Oscar De La Hoya. She is also keeping up with her love for martial arts by training in Wushu Kung-Fu with Master Hu Jianqiang.

With ALL THAT training, Joan has landed roles on shows like ARLI$$, Rock Me Baby, Monk, The Closer, Touch, Pet Friendly with Whitney Cummings, and many more movies and television shows.

Lorenzo Antonucci is series regular in Paradise City starring Bella Thorne, Cameron Boyce, Drea de Matteo and Perry Reeves. He is also an executive producer and writer on the series, which is on Amazon Prime and has charted No.1 on multiple platforms, transactionally.

He's co-starred on GAME OF THRONES (2019), and Ballers (2018) on HBO alongside Dwayne Johnson. Lorenzo was also on DAYS OF OUR LIVES and starred in the controversial TV movie CRACKA, which he also produced, that premiered at the 2020 Pan African Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying festival. Upcoming projects include White Elephant with Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Michael Rooker, the feature Paradise City with John Travolta, Bruce Willis and Stephen Dorf, Reactor with Bruce Willis, Patrick Muldoon and Mathew Marsden, and The Free Fall, a horror film starring Andrea Londo and Shawn Ashmore. Lorenzo began his producing and writing career in 2015 with What Now featuring Ice Tea, Bizzy Bone alongside many icons, followed by American Satan (Showtime) starring Malcolm McDowell, Denise Richards, John Bradly, Bill Duke and Olivia Culpo.

R.C. Samo (Editor-in-Chief, FanboyNation, Critics Choice Association Member will moderate the online event. R.C. began his journalism career in 1996 as a college freshman. He has been published everywhere from Pro Wrestling Illustrated to the Oakland Tribune and Orange County Register. His vision for FanboyNation was to return a sense of traditional journalism to a world full of sensationalism and geek rage. R.C. loves comics, animation, films and MMA.

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