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Rising Sun Productions The World's Leading Martial Arts Media Distributor HOW IT ALL STARTED I suppose it all started in 1966 and 1971 when two young men developed a passion and love for the Martial Arts in two countries a world apart. Don Warrener started karate in 1966 in Hamilton Ontario Canada while Isaac Florentine started karate in 1971 in Tel Aviv Israel. After developing and training in the martial arts for many years they both ended up in Hollywood California where they decided to move and take a crack at making a bigger impact on the martial arts then they could in their home towns. Isaac a trained director came to Hollywood to direct films and to bring a deeper quality of martial arts fight scenes to the silver screen while Don after a successful career in the running of franchises wanted to be involved somehow in the next “Enter The Dragon” “Bloodsport” or “The Karate Kid” it did not matter what he did even if it meant sweeping floors. Every year LA was the host of a terrific event called Dragon Fest which they both still not knowing each other ended up at. Don who had just arrived in LA in 1998 realized that if he was going to make it he must meet and get to know as many people as possible so he vowed that at this particular event he would go up to 100 people that day and say “Hi I just moved here to LA and am running a martial arts video company and I would like to do videos with you” dressed up in a royal blue suit white shirt and a big gold tie he began with Don Wilson then Benny Urquidez and Anna Capri from Enter The Dragon. Then he seen a rather quiet man off to the side enthralled in a book with three little kids running around his legs and when he looked at the title it was the book by Gichin Funaksohi he had translated called To Te Jitsu and then published by Masters Publication. He asked him if he liked the book and Isaac said “oh yes very much I love traditional karate”. That was the beginning of Rising Sun Productions. After a couple of minutes Don had found out that Isaac was the original director of Power Rangers and WMAC Masters TV Show and he had directed 5 feature films already. They parted and when Don went back to his booth he said to the person he was sharing the booth with “I have just met the real deal martial arts director or the best “BS”er I have ever met. A few minutes later Isaac showed up at the booth and bought a bunch of books and videos and asked if we would like to go to lunch tomorrow after watching him edit the latest Dolph Lungren movie “Bridge Of Dragons“ that he was finishing up. They jumped at the chance and sure enough Isaac was the real deal. He asked them to come the next day and they did striking up a good friendship and as always the talk turned to the martial arts and styles and who you know and who you don’t like etc. Isaac invited them back again for lunch but they declined as they did not want to take advantage of this nice guy. But Isaac would not be stopped and he called Don the next day and asked him to come to lunch on the Thursday as he had something he wanted to talk to him about. So Don went and Isaac said Don lets you and I become partners and set up a martial arts video production studio. Don instantly said no as he had just come out of a bad partnership and wanted nothing to do with them. But Isaac again would not be stopped and said OK don’t answer now think about it. That evening he called Don and asked him if he would come to dinner at his house and meet his family and talk karate some more. Liking Isaac right off the bat he went. After meeting Isaacs family his wife and 4 children he was sold on the partnership as Isaac had used what he calls his secret weapon on him. His family. They dropped to his knees with the warmth, kindness, and family values. The next day they started on a handshake and so it remains till today. Isaac makes them and Don sells them and it is as simple as that. The next day they began work and were one of the first in California to buy digital cameras and the state of he art editing system “Final Cut Pro”. They then started bringing in others to help them along the way Angel Lemus a Shorin Ryu stylist came in with his tremendous knowledge of Apple Computers and the digital revolution. Then came Tosha Lord (Goju student) and Danielle Warrener (student and daughter of Don’s) as graphic artists and web site designers. Then after a few years of development Rob Johnson, Brett Bailey, and Colin Arnold decided that they wanted to study more karate with their Sensei Don Warrener and moved to California. Annette Hellingrath owner of Masters Publications was asked to join the team as well. Tracy Warrener joined in by developing the Internet sales on Amazon, E-Bay and other sites as well. Both Isaac and Don realized that to build a strong company they needed martial artists involved at all levels so they attained the services of many of the worlds leading experts to help them out. Names like England’s Jim Wilson as their Shotokan expert, Emil Farkas as their American Martial arts historian and expert in self defense, Chuck Merriman as the Goju expert. So as you can see it appears that it was destiny that has brought this group of martial artists together to form one of the fastest growing companies in martial arts. They all have one common denominator and that is the martial arts and their never ending passion for the martial arts whether it be karate, kung fu, judo, ju jitsu or any of the others. Whether it is Jean Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, or Dolph Lungren. They all know the guys at Rising Sun Productions and they all know that they are first off martial artists and secondly business men and they are all proud that this is the order of importance. Who knows one day it just may be Rising Sun Productions that produces the next big “Enter The Dragon” or Bloodsport”. |