Meet Lance Pimentel, an entrepreneur and stunt choreographer with big, bold dreams
At 26, Lance Pimentel is building two careers at the same time—one in business, the other in action filmmaking. He helps manage his family’s food ventures as Chief Technology Officer of Binondo Food Group, while also working behind the scenes as a stunt choreographer for TV shows and films.
Lance’s recent work includes designing fight scenes for the ABS-CBN series Incognito, one of local television’s most action-packed productions.
“I’m focusing on the business. We’ll see where it goes,” he said when asked if he plans to focus more on creative work.
Manila Standard Life recently sat down with Lance Pimentel for an interview at Dean & Deluca in Quezon City. The soft-spoken actor is part of the family behind the upscale café chain, which currently has three branches, including a new location opening soon in Tanay.
Their family’s business ventures also include the distribution of Singapore’s Udders Ice Cream and popular local franchises like Wangfu, Kyukyu Ramen, and Rice in a Box. In the family business, Lance handles technology operations, overseeing systems integration and digital marketing efforts.
A graduate of Business Technology Management from Canada’s University of British Columbia, Lance acknowledges that his academic background doesn’t directly align with his work as a stunt choreographer. However, he finds that the structured thinking from his business education enhances both his entrepreneurial and creative pursuits.
His entry into stunts began early. Lance, the son of seasoned action director Lester Pimentel Ong, was already training in wushu at a young age and eventually joined the Philippine National Junior Wushu Team. He later trained in MMA, boxing, and Muay Thai, and began teaching wushu before moving into full-time stunt work.
Lance now designs action sequences under tight deadlines, often planning fight choreography overnight for next-day shoots. He described the fast-paced environment as both a creative challenge and a logistical constraint, especially compared to productions abroad.
“I appreciate when people recognize when we’re doing something different, and I know there’s something more that we could do. Right now we’re competing with teams that have a month to rehearse and a week to shoot,” he said. “Here, our three-hour shoot includes the rehearsal. There’s so much more we could do with just one more day.”
He singled out Incognito cast members Daniel Padilla, Anthony Jennings, Maris Racal, and Kaila Estrada for their commitment to training, particularly since some had no martial arts background. While he adapted his coaching to suit different actors—focusing on technique and grace for female leads—Lance also gained acting insights from colleagues such as Ian Veneracion and Malou de Guzman, who helped him prepare for his own scenes as Kenji Lee.
His work continues in the upcoming Netflix film The Delivery Rider, where he served as both action director and stunt choreographer and appears in a key fight scene. The film stars Baron Geisler and was produced by Studio 360.
Though Lance’s early roles were small—on ABS-CBN series like La Luna Sangre and Bagani—he sees action storytelling as his long-term path. His dream: to lead or direct a film that meets Hollywood standards, drawing inspiration from action stars like Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan.
Quietly ambitious, he continues to work toward a future that merges both sides of his career: choreography that tells stories and ventures that expand beyond the screen.
“I see myself doing this for a long time. As an artist, it gives me ultimate satisfaction. Action scenes and fight choreography—that’s my art, my creative expression. When the actors execute them well, and we move to editing, add the musical scoring… it’s like completing a painting, a finished artwork,” he concludes.