Sompote Saengduenchai (Thai: สมโพธิ แสงเดือนฉาย) dies aged 80, his family has said.
The Thai director was best known for his directing several Thai films especially tokusatsu (special effects-based) genre or monster films such as The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army, Jumborg Ace & Giant, Hanuman and the Five Riders, the 1980 cult classic Crocodile, Phra Rod Meree and the 1985 children’s film Magic Lizard. He is the founder of Chaiyo Productions.
Sompote died peacefully in his sleep in Bangkok, having been cancer on August 25.
He was born in a Thai Chinese family. His father was a Chinese immigrant from Guangdong. Sompote have dream to filmmaker as a child, at the age of seven years old, he left his family to live in the temple (Wat) as a temple boy (Dek Wat) for follow his dreams. He started learning film production from being an employee in a photo studio first. While he was studying at grade three, he became a freelance photographer, his work was to take photos of King Bhumibol in boy scout uniform. This photo was published on the cover of Chaiyaphruek, which was a popular youth magazine at that time. In addition, he was also a private photographer for Jim Thompson as well. Later, at the age of 15 years, he was a photographer for Siam Rath, a newspaper with M.R. Kukrit Pramoj was the owner and editor, he was considered an youngest personnel.
In 1996, Sompote Sands presented Tsuburaya Productions a document claiming that he had ownership over the international rights of Ultraman, the Ultra Series before 1974, and Jumborg Ace. These are all the properties used by Sands to direct the films The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army and Jumborg Ace & Giant. He claimed they were turned over to him a whole twenty years beforehand in 1976 by the patriarch of the Tsuburaya brand, Noboru Tsuburaya, who died the year before. In November 20, 2017 a Los Angeles Federal Court ruled that he doesn’t have ownership to the brand after the 1976 document in question was classified by a jury as not authentic. The final judgement on April 18, 2018 forbids him and his companies to use the Ultra Franchise and all of its related characters, forcing him and the company to pay infringement damages.
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Source: https://www.isranews.org/article/isranews-other-news/101929-Sompottte.html