Empty Mind Films

Empty Mind Films has earned a reputation as the leading documentary filmmaker of Asian culture and in particular: Japan, China and India. Our films are authentic, accurate and full of realism. We feature real masters of their art wether it is religion or faith, health and wellness or the martial arts. We do not need to sensationalize or glorify people or situations in our documentaries. In this way, we are regarded as the most accurate independent film source for traditional cultures of Asia. We are committed to telling the stories of the world’s top masters of martial arts and the philosophies of China and Japan. Empty Mind Films have contributed movie footage to many leading broadcast channels, including National Geographic.

Empty Mind Films is the work of the director and photographer Jon Braeley and is a combination of his passion for Asian culture, the martial arts, storytelling and photography. He has over twenty five years of professional photography and filmmaking experience. Born in Yorkshire, United Kingdom, Jon obtained a Bachelor of Arts and degree in architecture. In 1990 he moved to New York and switched from architect to photographer and multimedia designer. Today, he spends his time between the Empty Mind production studio in the USA and travelling throughout Asia.

Jon is also an experienced Martial Artist, gaining his black belt in Shotokan Karate at twenty two years of age. During his training over the last thirty years, he has met many great martial arts masters. Jon ran his own Karate dojo for twelve years and still finds time to practice karate today. He also has a wide range of knowledge of Tai Chi Chuan and Aikido, having trained in both arts at a young age. Jon was filming at the Shaolin Temple, China, where a Shaolin monk was painting a very large calligraphy on parchment laid on the floor. The calligraphy depicted ‘empty mind’ – or no-mind. It was at this moment Jon knew he had just found the name of the film company.

Today, Empty Mind Films have expanded to include philosophy and spirituality, which are such an important part of everyday life in Asia. We have slowly been building an impressive library on Buddhism and will continue to explore this fascinating subject in China, Japan, India, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. In 2009 we will be on location at the roof of the world - Tibet, surely one of the most important regions in the world for Buddhism and also visit Dharamsala, home of Tibet in exile to interview His Holiness the 17th Karmapa. This will finalize our location filming for the new movie, Talking With Buddha for 2010 release. We are also in post production on a documentary on Traditional Chinese Medicine – no hocus pocus, but a realistic exploration of the modern methods of healing using non-western or alternative ideas. Jon is assisted by Betty Yuan from Beijing on most of his films. She is a journalist and writer and fluent English speaker with a great enthusiasm for filmmaking and story telling. In 2010, we start filming in Japan on the movie of the classic book, Zen in the Art of Archery by Herrigel, which we optioned from Random House. This will not be so much a movie on Kyudo or Japanese Archery but a fascinating journey into Zen and how Zen practice can benefit your everyday life. We are also starting post-production in early 2010 on The Art of the Japanese Sword featuring some of Japan’s top sword craftsmen and sword practitioners. It will certainly be a very exciting year.

Our films are made to a very high creative and technical standard and have won international film festivals, awards and national film critic reviews. Advances in the technology of filming have been rapid, and a large part of our investment goes to equipment and the latest post production methods. In 2007, we converted to High Definition using Sony tapeless HD cameras. This year we added the Canon 7D and will be moving to the RED camera and RED workflow by the end of 2010. All of our movies are filmed in High Definition. Of course, we will still release all titles in Standard DVD format. We distribute to over 30 countries in Europe, the Far East, South America and North America and Australia.