KNOCKOUT
GIRLS
currently in
post-production//
Emily "The Mantis Shrimp" Corso and Robin "Honey Badger" Woods star in this documentary about a duo of up-and-coming MMA fighters in Portland, OR.
director | editor: JANIQUE L. ROBILLARD
director of photography: PAULIUS KONTIJEVAS
website: https://www.facebook.com/wmmadoc/
follow the fighters: EMILY "MANTIS SHRIMP" CORSO
and ROBIN "HONEY-BADGER" WOODS on Facebook
*2014 WIF "VISION GRANT" recipient:
thank you to the Women-In-Film, Portland chapter for supporting 1000 Times fund post-production with the 2014 Vision Grant!
Initially drawn to the balance of physicality and femininity encapsulated in the gym -- a sweaty sea of blues and reds -- Emily and Robin instantly stood out as women I needed to know.
Beginning in 2013, Paulius Kontijevas and I have followed Emily from her breakthrough professional fight where she made women's MMA history on Montana's first all female card; through intense weight-cuts and transitions with her team; to being signed to Invicta Fighting Championships in 2015. While Emily had said, "that would be the dream," two years earlier she surprises everyone when a compound fracture to her toe spurs a major life change.
As Emily racked up professional wins in rapid succession, teammate and friend, Robin battles continuous set-backs. After injury forces her to forfeit the chance to debut side-by-side with Emily in Montana, Robin still refuses to choose between rugby or MMA despite the physical impact. Relentless in her determination to carve out her place in the MMA community, she launches her own gym. The audience will see if she's able to manage it all or if the allure of fighting will make her settle on MMA, not rugby.