AEW × Doja Cat

Warner Bros. Discovery | Director | 2023

THE BRIEF

Make them badass. Shoot in an asylum.

That was essentially the brief.

Warner Bros. Discovery approached me to direct a brand film spotlighting the women of All Elite Wrestling, with the ambition of reaching beyond traditional wrestling fans and introducing these formidable athletes to a broader audience.

The network had secured two things: Doja Cat's unapologetic anthem Paint the Town Red and Pennhurst, a former psychiatric and residential institution outside Philadelphia.

The rest was ours to imagine.

Video Direction · Concept Development · Visual Storytelling · Talent Direction · Branded Entertainment

THE PROCESS

An act of rebellion. An ode to the silenced.

The location presented an opportunity to tell a story about something greater than physical strength. I began thinking about the history of women being labeled unruly, hysterical, or unfit for a society that demanded their obedience. Women whose voices, anger, independence, and resistance were too often treated as problems to be contained.

I wanted to dedicate the film to those women. The concept became a story of liberation. The halls of our location were haunting and had stories to tell.

We would meet the wrestlers in different states of confinement, each trapped within the oppressive architecture of the institution. As they lip-synced to Doja Cat's defiant lyrics, something would begin to shift. Their power would build. Their defiance would become impossible to contain. And ultimately, they would break free.

Each wrestler was given her own environment, visual identity, and moment of rebellion. Working closely with our cinematography, production design, wardrobe, lighting, and performance teams, I created a series of stylized tableaux that allowed these extraordinary women to inhabit their characters while revealing a shared spirit of resistance.

THE VISUAL LANGUAGE

Visually, I wanted the spot to feel like an extension of Doja Cat's Paint the Town Red. We drew on its surreal, provocative imagery, incorporating red accents, textured film grain, dramatic lighting, and heightened compositions to create a cohesive visual dialogue between our footage and the original music video.

The edit intercut the two worlds, transforming the song into both a soundtrack and a declaration of independence. The result was an explosive fusion of music, athleticism, performance, and cinematic storytelling.

THE SPOT

THE OUTCOME

Released in November 2023, the film quickly gained traction among wrestling fans and beyond, generating more than 10 million views across Meta, X and YouTube within its first weeks and attracting coverage from wrestling and entertainment media.

The spot was also screened for live wrestling audiences, where its larger-than-life imagery and defiant energy translated naturally to the arena.

What began as an open-ended assignment became something far more personal: an ode to women who have been silenced, told to behave, or made to feel that their power was something to fear.