Phil Hobden

The action sequences were 2nd Unit directed by Jude Poyer (28 Weeks Later, Hitman starring Jet Li) and the film was executive produced by Audtralian producer David Hannay (of Stone and The Man From Hong Kong fame) and US sales agent/producer Anthony I Ginnane.

Phil Hobden (born 14 August 1976 in Lewes, England) is a filmmaker and writer based in the South of England. He is also notable as a screenwriter, film producer, journalist and media campaigner. Hobden is the co-founder of Independent production company Modern Life? and has been responsible for the DVD release of numerous films through his distribution sales company Pulp Movies.

Hobden's first film role was on the 1993 Indie British film Project:Assassin (aka New Blood), directed by Mike Hurst and Andy Hurst.

From 1993 to 2001, Hobden with partner Ross Boyask was involved in the production of almost 40 short films.

1993 saw Hobden's first short film The Gauntlet completed. Starring Glenn Salvage and Tom Hay, the film was sent by the filmmakers to Jackie Chan. Chan wrote back commenting... "Good try. Keep going...".

Modern Life? have numerous additional interests: From highly regarded martial arts action comic book, Night Warrior (www.nw-comic.co.uk) which is based on a short film made by Modern Life? in 1994 to PulpMovies.co.uk in which Modern Life? has been responsible for releasing UK films Infestation and The Silencer, in partnership with UK studio Blackhorse Entertainment.

1995 saw short film Boyz Gone Bad win Best Short film at the Brighton Short Film Festival.

In 1998 short film Lone Wolf was screened, in an edited version, On Channel 4 in the UK.

In 1998/9 he saw his first feature film in development, the darkly comic 'Brighton Born, Brighton Dead' which sat with Miramax UK for over 2 years. Eventually the relationship broke down and the screenplay was lost into development hell. It remains unproduced to this day.

In 1999 Hobden won awards for Best Editing and Best Writing for his short film Blue Eyes at the RedTape festival.

In 2000/2001 Hobden was offered the chance to work on the Dave Courtney gangster action film Hell to Pay alongside its original director Ross Boyask but turned it down, instead focusing on setting up his own business, the media production company Modern Life?

In 2001 short film Pure Vengeance, starring Scott Adkins (Bourne Ultimatum, Sheppard), Brendan Carr (Love Struck, Ten dead men) and Gordon Alexander (Accidental Spy, The Purifiers) was screened on the Jonathan Ross BBC2 show Stop Kung Fu.

In 2002 Hobden started work on his first feature film, the low-budget martial arts action feature Left for Dead.

Starring Glenn Salvage and newcomer Andy Prior, the film features cameos by Joey Ansah (Bourne Ultimatum), Brendan Carr, Cecily faye and Cage Rage fighter Jeremy Bailey. Finished in late 2004, the film was shot for under £10k UKP and has been released in over 15 countries to date, including the UK, Canada, US, Thailand and others. The film was Released in the US to positive reviews in September 2005 and then eventually in the UK in March 2007.

From 2006 to 2011 Hobden has also written for Impact, Vengeance, KungFuCinema.Com, Bloody-Disgusting.com, FareastFilms.com as well as his own film review site 'Phil's Quick Capsule Review'.

Left for Dead was acquired for broadcast on Sky channel Movies4Men in late 2007. However Movies4Men sesequently decided the film was too violent and opted NOT to screen the movie.

Hobden has been the Film News and Review Editor for Combat Magazine since 2007 where he regularly writes a column called Combat Film that looks at Action film related topics. Such topics have included "The Top 10 Worst Named Martial Arts Movies" & "Assassins, Mummy's & Superheroes"

In 2008 Hobden, through an associated company called Pulp Movies, was responsible for the UK DVD releases of UK action films The Silencer and Infestation through collaboration with leading UK Independent DVD distributor Blackhorse Entertainment.

However, in late 2008 Blackhorse Entertainment become insolvent and ceased trading. As part of the liquidation of assets, and in association with Cornerstone Media (a new company that consisted of several former Blackhorse employees), Pulp Movies acquired the distribution rights and remaining stock to both Infestation and The Silencer. Furthermore, Pulp Movies obtained the rights to Hobden's own film, Left for Dead, and that of James Eaves’ The Witches Hammer.

In 2009 Hobden was credited as associate producer on UK action film Unarmed But Dangerous aka Kung Fu Flid, which starred Mat Fraser and Faye Tozer.

In 2010 Hobden was credited as associate producer on UK horror film Cut featuring Gremlins star Zach Galligan and UK model Danielle Lloyd.

In 2010 Hobden and Pulp Movies were responsible for the sale of UK independent horror film CUT to BritFilms.Tv, the distributor for Hobden's own Ten Dead Men, which saw the film released on DVD in leading retailers such as Amazon, HMV, ASDA and Sainsbury on 22 February 2010

In September 2011, Phil Hobden launched the Filmsploitaion Podcast – a film, news and reviews podcast co-hosted by Richard Blanchette for episodes 1–25 and Andrew Mackay from episode 25 onwards. With alternating guest hosts, the podcast is seen by many as the successor to the phenomenally popular AMR Movie Show, also co-hosted by Richard Blanchette.

On 9 July 2011 a message on the Modern Life web site a post entitled "And Now The End Is Here..." announced the retirement of Phil Hobden from filmmaking.

In 2011 Hobden was inducted into the Combat Magazine Martial Arts Hall of Fame for Services to the Martial Arts Industry.