Yuen Wo-Ping

April 6

From the Wikipedia:

Quote

Yuen was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. With a support of Ng See-yuen, he achieved his first directing credit in 1978 on the seminal Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, starring Jackie Chan, followed quickly by Drunken Master. The films were smash hits, launching Jackie Chan as a major film star, turning Seasonal Films into a major independent production company, and starting a trend towards comedy in martial arts films that continues to the following two decades.

Yuen went on to helm other star vehicles for such figures as Sammo Hung in Magnificent Butcher (1979), Yuen Biao in Dreadnaught (1981), Donnie Yen in Iron Monkey (1993), Jet Li in Tai Chi Master (1993), and Michelle Yeoh in Wing Chun (1994).

Yuen's works, particularly his action choreography on Fist of Legend (1994), attracted the attention of the Wachowskis, who hired him as the martial arts choreographer on The Matrix (1999). The success of this collaboration, plus his action choreography on the following year's hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, made him a highly sought after figure in Hollywood. He went on to work on the first two Matrix sequels, as well as Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004).

More recent action choreography duties in Hong Kong cinema have included Kung Fu Hustle (2004), starring Stephen Chow, and Fearless (2006), starring Jet Li.

Yuen also choreographed the action sequences in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), a Hollywood martial arts–adventure film, which was the first film to star together two of the best-known names in the martial arts film genre, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. He worked as a fight choreography consultant on Ninja Assassin (2009).

In late 2010, Yuen released his first film as director since 1996, True Legend, starring Vincent Zhao, Jay Chou and David Carradine (in a minor role).

Yuen went on to work as stunt co-ordinator in two South Indian films, Enthiran (2010) and I (2014), both directed by S. Shankar.

In 2015, Yuen directed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, re-creating many of his signature action choreographies.

The annual and highly anticipated Hong Kong International Film Festival was held for its 45th edition in April 2021. Yuen is one of the six veteran Hong Kong filmmakers who contributed segments to the Johnnie To-produced anthology film Septet: The Story of Hong Kong. The other filmmakers who directed segments are Sammo Hung, Ann Hui On-wah, Patrick Tam, Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam. The short files were shot entirely on 35mm film with each of them touches on a nostalgic and moving story set across different time periods, with every one acting as an ode to the city.

His (behind-the-scenes) filmography (I included some of the HKMDB's entries for the Yuen Clan):

Director (29 films)
       Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
       Drunken Master (1978)
       Dance of the Drunk Mantis (1979)
       The Magnificent Butcher (1979)
       The Buddhist Fist (1980)
       Dreadnought (1981)
       Legend of a Fighter (1982)
       The Miracle Fighters (1982)
       Shaolin Drunkard (1983)
       Drunken Tai Chi (1984)
       Mismatched Couples (1985)
       The Close Encounter of the Vampire (1986)
       Tiger Cage (1988)
       In the Line of Duty 4 (1989)
       Tiger Cage II (1990)
       Tiger Cage III (1991)
       Iron Monkey (1993)
       Heroes Among Heroes (1993)
       The Tai-Chi Master (1993)
       Wing Chun (1994)
       Fire Dragon (1994)
       The Red-Wolf (1995)
       Tai Chi II (1996)
       New Shaolin Temple (2000)
       True Legend (2010)
       Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
       The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017)
       Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018)
       Septet - The Story of Hong Kong (2020)

    Writer (4 films)
       Shaolin Drunkard (1983)
       Drunken Tai Chi (1984)
       Tai Chi II (1996)
       Septet - The Story of Hong Kong (2020)

    Action Director/Martial Arts Director (89 films)
       Heroes of Sung (1971)
       The Mad Killer (1971)
       The Killer (1971)
       Call to Arms (1971)
       The Bloody Fists (1972)
       The Deadly Knives (1972)
       Tough Guy (1972)
       The Lizard (1972)
       The Devils (1973)
       Fist to Fist (1973)
       The Villains (1973)
       River of Fury (1973)
       The Awaken Punch (1973)
       The Bastard (1973)
       Freedom Strikes a Blow (1973)
       The Money-Tree (1973)
       The Black Belt (1973)
       The Master of Kung Fu (1973)
       Gambling Syndicate (1973)
       The Big Showdown (1974)
       The Shadow Boxer (1974)
       Wits to Wits (1974)
       Tiger Force (1975)
       Bruce Lee and I (1976)
       Brotherhood (1976)
       Homicides - The Criminals, Part II (1976)
       Arson - The Criminals, Part III (1977)
       Deadly Angels (1977)
       The Secret Rivals, Part II (1977)
       The Invincible Armour (1977)
       To Kill a Jaguar (1977)
       Snuff-Bottle Connection (1977)
       Broken Oath (1977)
       Revenge of the Shaolin Master (1978)
       Born Invincible (1978)
       Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
       Drunken Master (1978)
       The Instant Kung Fu Man (1978)
       The Magnificent Butcher (1979)
Six Directions of Boxing (1980)
       The Buddhist Fist (1980)
       Tower of Death (1980)
       Dreadnought (1981)
       Legend of a Fighter (1982)
       The Miracle Fighters (1982)
Duel of the Masters (1983)
       Shaolin Drunkard (1983)
Drunken Tai Chi (1984)
       Taoism Drunkard (1984)
       Merry Christmas (1984)
Lucky Diamond (1985)
The Close Encounter of the Vampire (1986)
  Young Taoism Fighter (1986)
       In the Line of Duty 4 (1989)
Live Hard (1989)
       The Twin Dragons (1992)
       Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
Heroes Among Heroes (1993)
Last Hero in China (1993)
       The Tai-Chi Master (1993)
       Fist of Legend (1994)
Wing Chun (1994)
The Red-Wolf (1995)
       Tai Chi II (1996)
       Iron Monkey 2 (1996)
       Black Mask (1996)
The Matrix (1999)
       Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
       New Shaolin Temple (2000)
       The Legend of Zu (2001)
       Black Mask II (2002)
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
       Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
House of Fury (2005)
The Banquet (2006)
       Fearless (2006)
       The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
       Man of Tai Chi (2013)
       The Grandmaster (2013)
       Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (2014)
Ip Man 3 (2015)
       Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
On That Night... While We Dream (2017)
       The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017)
       Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019)
Septet - The Story of Hong Kong (2020)

    Producer (6 films)
       The Buddhist Fist (1980)
       The Close Encounter of the Vampire (1986)
       Madam City Hunter (1993)
       Heroes Among Heroes (1993)
       Wing Chun (1994)
       The Banquet (2006)

    Presenter (1 film)
       Wing Chun (1994)

    Executive Producer (3 films)
       Chinese Heroes (2001)
       The Banquet (2006)
       The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

    Planning (2 films)
       Postman Strikes Back (1982)
       The Champions (1983)

    Production Manager (1 film)
       Tai Chi II (1996)