Modern Day Warrior Movie Poster
Modern Day Warrior is an inspirational MMA feature film documentary that is being produced by the Hollywood production company Black Atlas Films. The film follows the lives of professional combat athletes with strong underdog stories who have specifically overcome major life obstacles/adversities, including poverty, trauma, homelessness, abuse, and addiction. It takes you on an up-close action-packed cinematic journey into the lives of these fighters. Modern Day Warrior is filmed in the beautiful landscapes and fight venues of Abu Dhabi, Fight Island, Dubai, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Calgary, and Canada.
“This film is about rising from the ashes of life in the midst of adversity and is a tribute to all warriors everywhere,” as quoted from director Paul Black.
As the filmmakers showcase to the audience in an up-close, intimate way exactly what it takes for a professional fighter to prepare for a fight, overcome injuries, cut weight, grind through months of grueling fight training camps, overcome mental health obstacles and withstand the bloodied battles inside the cage. The film parallels in a subtle inspirational way how the common person can apply these same principles, hard work and warrior mentality to their own lives in whatever circumstances or goals they might be battling through in their own life.
Photo Credit: Black Atlas Films
Anytime you see a fighter in the ring or the octagon, this is just one percent of their story.
Modern Day Warrior and Black Atlas Films are giving a voice to the other 99% of a fighter’s story. Oftentimes people look at a fighter as a gladiator for entertainment. Although they are respected, get a crowd cheering or often sell out a stadium, people often have no idea the life that some of these individuals have endured just to get there, why they are fighters and what they go through to be prepared for fight night.
“After working intimately with over a dozen fighters from all around the world, often while cutting weight or in the back room before they step out to battle in a 20,000-seat stadium, we have realized that there is much more to it than meets the eye. It’s the love for the sport; it’s the lifestyle and warrior mentality that these warriors were born with that gets activated when they prepare for battle against their opponent. It’s the perseverance to never give up and pure passion to fight with everything they’ve got. It’s really inspiring, and I’m excited to share this with our audience.” -Paul Black(director, producer).
With depression, poor mental health and suicide rates at an all-time high, we are excited to see filmmakers being progressive in raising awareness on these matters in an exciting and interesting way. This film will no doubt have a positive impact on the audience.
The highly anticipated sports film documentary is to be directed by Paul Black(S.W.A.T.-CBS, Star Wars: Kenobi, Masked Singer-FOX, Web of Make Believe-Netflix), who accepted the National Film & TV Award at the Globe Theater, Los Angeles in December 2019. The project is to be co-directed by Paul Black’s brother Jeremiah Black. Jeremiah is a director, cinematographer and lighting master who, at a young age, graduated among the top of his class at the prestigious Capilano University-Vancouver in the Motion Picture Arts Program. He is known for his work on titles such as Bates Motel, Prison Break, Riverdale-CW, Nancy Drew and ABC’s hit series, The Good Doctor, among many others.
“For me, Modern Day Warrior is all about inspiring the world with what some of the world’s top athletes are capable of when their back is against a wall, and also against cage.” -Jeremiah Black(director/producer/cinematographer)
Photo of director Paul Black with UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Belal Muhammad, Marc Goddard(UFC Referee, Javier Mendez(UFC Legendary Coach), Louis Taylor(PFL Champion), Fouad Darwish and His Excellency Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Photo Credit: Black Atlas Films
The cast list features some of the top professional combat athletes in the world, including Jesse “Big Cat” Arnett (UAE Warriors Featherweight Champion of the World), Nate Marquardt(UFC Champion Contender), Belal Muhammad (currently ranked #5 in the UFC), Louis Taylor (PFL World Champion), Xavier Alaoui(UAE Warriors Champion), Curt Demarce(Unified MMA Champion), Jake Peakok (2X WBC Canadian Champion) Ali Charkie (Current Unified MMA Athlete), Bruno Machado (UAE Warriors Champion) who also fought against former UFC champion Anderson Silva earlier this year at a boxing exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Javier Mendez recently signed on to the film; Javier is a former ISKA Kickboxing World Champion known for coaching/mentoring many world champions, including the undefeated UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The cast list also includes UAE Warriors GM and CEO of Palm Sports Fouad Darwish, who is becoming known as “The Godfather ” of Fight Island.
Modern Day Warrior is currently filming, and production has not yet released where this project will be distributed, however current prospects include HBO, Netflix and or Amazon Prime Original. A percentage of the profits from this film will be going to individuals suffering from poor mental health, including athletes, former professional fighters and or sports-related brain trauma survivors.
