Official Trailer
The third and final trailer for Fight the Panda Syndicate — a glimpse of Nazis in the snow, contractors out of their depth, sorcery in the shadows, and a fortress that should not exist.
Fight the Panda Syndicate Legacy
Once there was a cartoon on a scrap of paper, a ridiculous title, and a simple question: “What if we really made this?”
From that joke grew a dark comic adventure about sorcerers, Nazis, machine shops, tattoo parlors, and a fortress in the woods — and a filmmaking community that refused to let the dream die. This page is our archive, our scrapbook, and our thank-you letter to everyone who helped bring Fight the Panda Syndicate into the world.
A Community-Built Independent Feature
Fight the Panda Syndicate was never just one film. It was a long, unruly experiment in collaboration, an independent feature that drew together actors, musicians, stunt performers, camera operators, friends, family, and believers who poured themselves into a world that technically should not have existed.
What started with four friends and a fake movie title grew into a full production that spanned years, locations, and lives. Over hundreds of shoot days, our cast and crew transformed machine shops into secret headquarters, hotel basements into sorcerers’ lairs, woods into battlefields, and New Jersey nights into something mythic and strange.
This page is dedicated to that effort. To the camera teams who hauled gear up stairwells and into forests. To the boom operators who stood on chairs at four in the morning. To the artists who designed props and sets on shoestring budgets. To every actor who learned pages of dialogue for one night in a jail cell, a tattoo parlor, or a restaurant that closed its doors so we could play.
We remain humbled and grateful. If you were part of Panda, this page is for you. If you are discovering the film for the first time, welcome to the Syndicate ... tread carefully.
Quick Facts
Genre: Dark comic adventure with sorcery, Nazis, and New Jersey contractors.
Scope: A feature built across multiple years, dozens of locations, and a sprawling ensemble of heroes, villains, and everyone in between.
Key Locations: Machine shop in Bogota, tattoo parlor in Bogota, hotel in Mahwah, Ninja New York, Club Snitch, mansions, forests, back roads, basements, and more.
Music: Original score by Swedish composer Glen Gabriel, with additional music from a line-up of independent artists and bands.
The Journey of the Panda
The film took shape in waves — from the first scribbled title to the last days of post-production. This is a simplified glimpse at a much longer road.
2005 – The IDEA
A cartoon panda, a wild movie title, and a conversation that ended with, “Why don’t we actually make it?” The first outlines, story sessions, and late-night talks began here.
2006 – Pre-Production & First Footage
Casting, storyboards, and experimentation with cameras and lighting. The first test shoots proved that the world of Panda could live on screen — if everyone was willing to work very, very hard.
2007–2008 – Production Across New Jersey & Beyond
Principal photography across machine shops, hotels, restaurants, clubs, forests, and improvised fortresses. New characters, new fights, new locations, and new friendships were forged one weekend at a time.
2009–2011 – Post, Reshoots & the Long Edit
After years of shooting came the even longer work of cutting, re-cutting, and refining the story, recording additional material, and shaping the film’s final sound and score.
2017 & Beyond – Rekindling the Dream
With the film completed, Crazy Elk turned its focus to finishing touches, screenings, and distribution, and to preserving the story of how this impossible movie came to be.
Watch, Read, Explore
Here are some of the best ways to dive deeper into the world behind the Panda Syndicate, from trailers and interviews to articles and production materials.
Making the Panda
A long-form look at the production process — from the first casting calls and location scouts to midnight shoots, improvised sets, and the lessons learned in the editing room.
Press, Reviews & Broadcasts
News stories, interviews, and essays that tracked the project from “Indie Filmmaker’s Dream” to a finished feature.
Scenes, Stills & Production Art
These galleries are designed as placeholders for the many images that tell the story of Fight the Panda Syndicate — from early location scouts and construction days to final battle sequences and wrap photos.
Key Art & Posters
On-Set & Behind-the-Scenes
Stories from the Set
A film like this is built on stories — the kind you tell in editing rooms, at wrap parties, or years later over coffee. Here are a few glimpses into the chaos, heartbreak, and joy behind the camera. Longer versions of these stories will be collected over time.
Scene 18 at Four in the Morning
Our first major shoot introduced Jim, G, and Artie around a makeshift desk in a re-imagined office space. The set was built from pallets, boxes, and a single heroic work-light, and we wrapped as dawn arrived. The film felt different after that night, like it had finally decided to exist.
The Fortress
To build Xiongmao’s inner sanctum we rented a warehouse, designed a throne room, and constructed walls, platforms, and a massive seal. The set never quite matched the dream, but the experience forged friendships and taught us how far imagination could stretch a budget, and where it could not.
Jails, Forests & Missing Actors
On more than one occasion, illness or last-minute conflicts meant rewriting scenes on location, including a pivotal jail sequence. Schedules broke, lines shifted, and we learned quickly that continuity is a luxury on a film held together by passion and weekends.
Music, Sorcery & the Opening Theme
When the first version of the main theme arrived, it changed everything. Suddenly the film had a heartbeat, an eerie, driving melody that made every composite shot, every late-night edit, feel like it belonged to a much bigger world.
With Gratitude
Fight the Panda Syndicate exists because hundreds of people decided, again and again, that this strange adventure was worth their time, energy, and heart.
To the actors who trusted us with their time and talent. To the bands and composers who gave the film its sound. To the twenty-eight boom operators and the camera teams who carried the movie on their shoulders. To the mentors who opened locations and the families who gave up weekends and living rooms. To every believer who kept saying, “Keep going.”
Thank you. This page is only the beginning of the archive. The story of the Panda, and of the people who fought to bring it to life, will continue to grow.