Tony Melanson
Producer, Director & Editor
Tony Melanson has been the driving force behind “Iron Maidens – Wrestling for Glory”. The role women’s sports plays in our society and in his own family propelled him to follow the story of the first girl’s wrestling championship in PA. Self-funded, working solo most of the time and wearing multiple hats meant working early mornings, nights and weekends for over a year and in tandem with his career as a VP of Marketing and Strategy.
Not a stranger to his place behind the lens, Tony has been captivated by visual storytelling since he was a youth. He is drawn to stories whose characters do things that others might dream of doing, or couldn’t imagine doing themselves. Through trust, awareness and relationship building he tells stories of resilience, grit, connection and beauty. Early works include “Long Beach Proud”, a story about a girls water polo team who comes together from all corners of the country to take on the toughest teams in the nation as they vie for a national championship.
Nigel Levy
Executive Producer
Nigel Levy is a writer/director/producer of multiple Emmy and RTS award nominated documentaries and docu-drama. As Series Editor on season one of Formula One: Drive to Survive, Nigel helped deliver Netflix’s highest profile, biggest budget, unscripted series, leading to its commission for a second season. His work on sports documentaries (including the acclaimed Netflix soccer series Sunderland ’Til I Die) follows his successes as series producer, writer and director of numerous documentaries (science, history, arts, observational and presenter-led) and high-end drama-docs for many U.K. channels and global broadcasters. Nigel is known for possessing great technical and narrative skill, creating productions with spectacular visuals combined with intimate, emotional storytelling. “Iron Maidens – Wrestling for Glory” was developed using his DocFix story program.
Jocko Willink
Narrator
Jocko Willink is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer, co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win and Dichotomy of Leadership, and host of the top-rated Jocko Podcast. Jocko spent 20 years in the SEAL Teams, eventually becoming a SEAL officer. As commander of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he led SEAL operations to bring stability to the war-torn city. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit of the Iraq War. Jocko is the recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and numerous other personal and unit awards.
Upon retiring from the Navy, Jocko co-founded Echelon Front, a premier leadership consulting company. Jocko also authored the Discipline Equals Freedom Field Manual, a New York Times bestseller, and the bestselling Way of the Warrior Kid children’s book series that is being adapted into a movie starring Chris Pratt.
Jocko’s daughters wrestled through high school in California and have gone on to further their combat sports career in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
In Collaboration With
