Lights, Camera, Vegas: ‘Action! Action!’ Heats Up Sin City On The Big Screen

High action Las Vegasheist film, “Action! Action!,” entirely filmed in Sin City with all local cast and crew, celebrates the city’s unique energy while delivering a captivating storyline with Downtown Las Vegas as the backdrop. 

Vegas local Adam Kilbourn not only produced and directed the full-length film but also starred in it. The movie follows a group of thieves hired to steal an Al Capone painting from The Mob Museum, but during the journey, there’s betrayal, lies, a fast-paced car chase, and explosions. 

Kilbourn sat down with The Blast to talk exclusively about the process of filming the movie in Downtown Las Vegas, how the Vegas-style premiere went at Circa last week, where people can view the film, and more. 

‘Action! Action!’ features an all-Las Vegas cast and crew, with many UNLV alumni. Directed, produced, and headlined by Vegas local Adam Kilbourn, with co-director Danny Shepherd, the high-energy heist film brings Sin City to the big screen in an explosive way. Iconic spots such as The Mob Museum, Fremont Street Experience, World Market Center, and other Downtown Las Vegas spots, were featured in the action film. 

It all started back in 2010 with a short action film that was shared in 2012. 

"So 'Action! Action!' starts back in 2010. I'm sitting on my back patio with my very dear friend, Will Adamson, we went to college together in the theater department at UNLV, and at this moment in time, I'm selling insurance and investments for a living. Since I was 16, I wanted to make movies," Kilbourn told The Blast exclusively.

"I started moonlighting at UNLV with some of the film department. I was talking to Will and I said I would love to do a kung fu fight and I'd love to do a gun battle, car chase, and blow up a car. I don't even have a script."

Will told him to "just do that," meaning, "just do scenes like that - a gun battle, a car chase, a kung fu fight, blow up a car."

The short film was released in 2012, and it became a "running joke" that the film was released without a script.  But Kilbourn said there actually was script but, "no one looked at it."

"There was definitely a script. We went up on Blue Diamond Hill in the caves and we filmed kung fu fights and a gun battle and did a car chase underground. We didn't blow up a car, but we launched one off a 100-foot cliff which was way scarier," he explained. "We had a blast. That was our first kind of introduction into this world and things take time to germinate."

The short film then turned into the idea of a full-length feature film with a script. Once the script was completed, which took years, Kilbourn had to make a decision on whether they keep on going or stop there.

"When you get to that point, you gotta make a decision on do you keep going or you put it on the side and say it's a nice idea," he explained. "Because from script to where I'm at today is the journey of a lifetime. I'm amazing at the last five years how far we've come. It is like eating an elephant - it just never ends. It's so much more work than you can ever imagine."

"Action! Action!" features an all-Vegas cast and crew led by Kilbourn, Shepherd, and cinematographer Jeremy Lee. Production took 35 days, with the bulk of that done in the first three months, and then it took about a year to finish the rest of the scenes before going into post-production.

The first scene was filmed on November 8, 2021, and the first private showing was on November 9, 2024.

The film includes Shana Dahan from "Storage Wars" and "Thrifters Anonymous," Mari Takahashi of "Survivor" and "Smosh," David Valenzuela of "Margaret the Brave," Lundon Boyd of "Dealers and Liars" and "Fires and Bears," Marcus Weiss of Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man Group, London Mace of "The Second City" and many others.

Local pyrotechnician, whose credits include Marvel, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Michael Bay productions, handled the film's explosive effects, and Comrie-Picard, known for "Atomic Blonde" and "Deadpool 2" directed the exciting car chases.

According to a press release on the film, "Fight directors Aaron and Ezechiel Ortega, along with the Arhat Orphan Brotherhood Stunt Team, unleashed dynamic kung fu sequences that give the fast-paced heist a razor-sharp physical edge. The brothers also take the spotlight, delivering on-screen performances as forceful and precise as their choreography."

The film marks the final screen performance of the late Clarence Gilyard, an actor and longtime UNLV film professor known for his roles in "Die Hard," "Walker, Texas Ranger," and "Top Gun."

On Friday, April 25, 2025, the film premiered at Stadium Swim at Circa in front of a large, excited audience.

"Doing the premiere at Circa was a dream come true," Kilbourn said. "We were on Fremont Street Experience for three days. I never thought that my ugly mug would be up on the canopy. It's mind blowing. We were on the side of Circa's building."

The film made its explosive debut on Stadium Swim's massive 143-foot screen as part of The Neon Museum's Duck Duck Shed event series that celebrates the city's culture.

Chuck Muth of Nevada News & Views praised the film saying, "'Action! Action! plunges you headfirst into the pulsing heart of REAL Vegas - the gritty, electric, neon-drenched downtown that locals recognize, and most tourists never see." He also called the film, "an absolute blast from start to finish."

If you missed the premiere at Circa, you can watch "Action! Action!" this weekend at the Brenden Theater at Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas. The film will be shown from May 2-4, 2025.

After that, the film will travel to Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Fairbanks, Alaska, Kilbourn's hometown, before hitting some film festivals.

"My hope is that this energy and everything, we're going to package all this stuff and send it off to Netflix and to Lionsgate and a few other places that we're hoping pay attention to it," Kilbourn said. "We already have a deal to put it on Amazon and Apple TV, so that will happen."

For more information on "Action! Action!," visit their website.