John Medlen

Growing up John Medlen had four loves: karate, stunts, music, and directing. Much of his early work was based on his vast martial arts background, which opened doors for him to become a stunt player and a small production company that he co-owned in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which provided plenty of trial and error learning as a director and editor. Medlen had an enormous appetite for learning and would take any position from extra to production assistant just to be on a production set. In 1994, Medlen's tenacity began to pay off. He worked as a stunt player/actor for a Universal Studio's live show and as a stunt player under stunt coordinator Pat Johnson on "WMAC Master's: Quest for the Dragon Star" (4Kids Productions 1995-96). This became the first turning point in his career as he went on to be Johnson's Assistant Stunt Coordinator and the character "Ermac" in "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" (NewLine 1997), which had a #1 box office debut. The #1 new syndicated show of 1997, "The New Adventures of Robin Hood", (13 episodes, Warner Bros. International 1997) and the #1 new syndicated show of 1998, "Mortal Kombat Conquest", (22 episodes, NewLine / Threshold Entertainment / Warner Bros. 1998-99) featured Medlen as a 2nd unit director, stunt coordinator, and fight choreographer. Medlen credits these two shows, especially the latter, for giving him the opportunity to showcase his unique style that he is known for today. In between these two projects, Medlen worked in Europe as the 2nd unit director, stunt coordinator, and fight choreographer for "Beowulf" (Miramax 1998). Set in a "time out of time" Medlen loved the challenge of creating new weapons and fights for the star Christopher Lambert. Then Medlen was off to Hawaii to stunt coordinate and fight choreograph military combat for "To End All Wars: A True World War II Story" starring Keffer Sutherland (Argyll Film 2000). Medlen returned from Hawaii to join the crew of the much acclaimed and awarded "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (44 episodes, 20th Century Fox) as the 2nd unit director, stunt coordinator, and fight choreographer. He is currently on his third season. While working on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Medlen has had the wonderful opportunity to do other shows and features that continue to establish him as a trendsetter in fight choreography. J.J. Abrams, executive producer/creator of the "Best New Television Drama" (People's Choice Awards), "Alias", hired John Medlen as the fight choreographer for the "Alias" pilot, "Truth Be Told" (Touchtone 2001). Medlen has received high recognition for his work on this episode, including a 2002 an American Choreography Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Fight Choreography" for film and television. Medlen's second nomination for an American Choreography Award came from his work on the box office action sensation "Spiderman" (Sony Pictures 2000). As the fight choreographer under stunt coordinator Jeff Habberstad, Medlen was thrilled to develop such high action fights for the well-known Marvel Comic characters. Medlen just completed work on "In the Houze"(Touchstone) starring Steve Martin and Queen Lativa. As 2nd unit director, stunt coordinator, and fight choreographer, Medlen enjoyed creating the comedic fights for this soon to be released feature. John Medlen is a proud member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He is married and considers his greatest accomplishment in life his precious daughter.