Actress, filmmaker and martial artist Maria Tran completes a blazing Aussie-shot action trilogy with the upcoming release of Five By Five and Echo 8 Beyond.
With more than fifteen years of experience spanning film, television, and theatre, US-based, Vietnamese-Australian actor, filmmaker, educator, and martial artist Maria Tran has carved out quite the niche for herself. As an actress, Tran has appeared in everything from the Aussie crime drama Last King Of The Cross and the rom-com The Gift That Gives through to the small screen comedy classic Fat Pizza and the acclaimed drama Love Child.
It is as a filmmaker, however, that Maria Tran has made her greatest inroads. She was appointed a Sundance Collab Community Leader for 2025–2026, joining a select group of creatives entrusted with shaping the global Sundance Collab community, and has a long list of short film credits to her name, most of them firmly located in the action and martial arts genres. In 2024, Tran made her feature directorial debut with Echo 8 (made on just $10,000, shot over a staggering fourteen days, and now streaming on Amazon Prime and SBS On Demand), in which she also stars as the eponymous underworld assassin, whose latest assignment prompts a crushing crisis of identity.
With her reputation as a dynamic storyteller and local cinema trailblazer fully intact, Maria Tran has now ambitiously opened up the Echo 8 world, with not one, but two new big screen projects. Tran’s female-led, micro-budget, community-driven action film series continues with Five By Five and Echo 8 Beyond. Written by Elizabeth H. Vu and directed by Maria Tran and her regular collaborator Takashi Hara, the films serve as the prequel and sequel to Echo 8.
Shot back-to-back across Western Sydney, Five By Five and Echo 8 Beyond bring together an extensive ensemble through a filmmaking model built around community participation and shared resources. Completing the two films required sustaining a connected production across 50 shooting days, with more than 200 people contributing across cast, crew and collaborating roles. Now a complete trilogy, the Echo 8 series is a hard-rumbling, guns-blazing testament to Maria Tran’s love of and commitment to the action genre, and to her own tenacity in getting it made with a very dedicated team running alongside her.
Check out the trailers for the films below.
Five By Five and Echo 8 Beyond will screen at Reading Cinemas Auburn on 10 and 11 December 2026, respectively, with filmmaker Q&As following each screening.
For more information on The Echo 8 Trilogy, head to the official website.
