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Jo Light interviews documentary and commercial director Brendan Young live from Aspen Shortsfest about his short documentary The Meloneers, which follows the Rocky Ford High School wrestling program in rural Colorado. They discuss how Brendan found the story through a newspaper article, why he spent extensive time in the community before filming, how he balanced planned interviews with vérité moments, and how commercial work helps fund and shape his documentary practice. The episode also covers documentary ethics, collaboration with subjects, building trust before rolling, and Brendan’s advice for first-time documentary filmmakers.
In this episode, No Film School's Jo Light and guest Brendan Young discuss...
Finding a rural Colorado story through a Denver Post article about Rocky Ford wrestling
Why Brendan visited Rocky Ford repeatedly without a camera before filming
Treating documentary subjects as collaborators, not just subjects
How The Meloneers explores wrestling, family legacy, fatherhood, and small-town change
Balancing core interviews, planned scenes, and vérité moments
Shooting with a small documentary crew and keeping a minimal footprint
Using commercial work to support short documentary projects
Partnerships with Futuristic Films, Voyager, Project Play, and executive producer Lindsey Hagan
Why the process of documentary filmmaking matters as much as the finished film
Brendan’s upcoming documentary about a violin once played by a German Nazi soldier
Memorable Quotes:
“I view the people in my films in these stories as collaborators.” — Brendan Young, 03:44
“It’s not just building trust, but like having buy-in from these people, making sure that we’re telling this story together and in a way that they want it told is really, really important to me.” — Brendan Young, 04:05
“I think when you can find it, it makes a specific story more universal and that's a more impactful film.” — Brendan Young, 08:05
“Commercial sets were kind of my film school.” — Brendan Young, 21:49
Guests:
Brendan Young
Resources:
The Meloneers on IMDb
Brendan Young’s Website
Brendan Young at Futuristic Films
Voyager
Project Play
Aspen Shortsfest
Futuristic Films
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