Steven Ho was born in Indonesia, where his father taught at the University in Jakarta. At age four, his family immigrated to Los Angeles as political refugees. Ho began his formal martial arts training in Orange County as an adolescent, and excelled in Southern California’s very competitive karate circuit. Shortly out of high school and at his first National tournament, Ho was spotted by Jet Li and recruited into the stunt business.
Known as one of the first martial arts tricksters in open competitions (NASKA), Ho helped to popularize the 540 kick and the Hawkeye Kick in the mid-eighties and first gained worldwide recognition for his stunt work as “Donatello” in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (1991) and III (1993), and his role as “Chan” in Mortal Kombat (1995).
As a well regarded martial artist, action director, stuntman, and fight trainer in Hollywood, Ho works on a large number of high-profile film, television, commercial, and music video projects. He has privately trained many notable clients including Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Franco, Pierce Brosnan, Tobey Maguire, Pink, Method Man, Rachel Weisz, Gisele Bündchen, Josh Charles, Peter Krause, and Bar Refaeli.
Ho co-founded Plush Home, Inc., an all-encompassing interior design firm and furniture line, in 2003 with his wife, Nina Petronzio, an American Interior Designer and Furniture Designer known for her high end Transitional Style designs.
Whether you have to learn a specific skill for a film role (martial arts, boxing, weapons, etc…), get toned for a modeling campaign, or would like to simply stay in shape, Ho and his team of elite trainers specialize in developing personal fitness regimes to best suit your needs.
Well experienced on both sides of the camera, Ho has a strong, functional understanding on how to deconstruct action, and has had decades of successful results working one-on-one with some of the biggest and most discerning names in Hollywood.
Ho works with among the top commercial directors, ad agencies, clients, and producers in the world. With a strong background in product marketing, Ho has a solid understanding on how to effectively translate action into a short visual story that will best represents a client’s product image.
Among others, Ho’s collaboration with acclaimed director, Tarsem Singh has generated successful commercial campaigns for Gatorade, World of Warcraft, and Motorola, and his music video partnerships with Joe Hahn and Linkin’ Park garnered an VMA award for 2008 Best Rock Video for “Shadow of the Day”.
Stunt work remains one of the hidden mysteries behind filmed entertainment. Despite it being the only major department that is not recognized by the Motion Picture Academy, it is one of the most integral elements of film making.
When a script calls for “big fight”, “car chase”, “shootout”, or “comedy action”, there are countless ways to create, block, and shoot what the writer and director had envisioned for the scene. Ho and his associates of stunt professionals stick to one, simple philosophy when making these crucial decisions: Create seamless action that compliments the story.
“It’s important for the action to be organic to what’s going on around the characters…so that the audience can get lost in the scene.” Ho says.
Renowned for their expertise in bringing memorable action moments to the screen, their decades of experience on A-level project in many capacities have enabled Ho and his teammates the versatility required to fulfill any action needs. Whether the project is a stylized period piece, a slapstick comedy, or a gritty drama that requires a realistic touch, Ho and his team can fully oversee projects from conception, to prep, to production.”