Shelton Hull
Words by Shelton Hull
Queen of the Ring is a new film about the late great Mildred Burke (1915-1989), who was the first great female star in professional wrestling. It’s scheduled for official release on March 7, nationally, but local audiences will be among the first in the world to see the finished product when it screens as part of the 15th annual St. Augustine Film Festival on Friday night, January 10. The festival, which features some 40 films from 25 different countries, runs the course of four days from January 9 to 12, with screenings at three different theaters in St. Johns County: the Lewis Auditorium, the Gamache-Koger Theatre at Flagler College, and the Alcazar Room at St. Augustine City Hall. There’s also an online auction and a special discussion with actress Julia Ormond, in addition to after-hours VIP events at places like Asado Life, Casa De Vino 57, Markland House, the Sabrage Catamaran, and the St. Augustine Distillery.
Producer Aimee Schoof is a familiar face to local audiences through her company, Intrinsic Value Films, which has released over 40 films since she and Isen Robbins founded the company, 25 years ago. Two of them screened at the now-departed (for Tampa) Sun-Ray Cinema: Blue Caprice in 2013, and Mighty Ground in 2017. Their work has been recognized on the film festival circuit from coast to coast, earning the company ten selections at the Sundance Film Festival, a Sundance Special Grand Jury prize, two Sloan Sundance awards, six Gotham award nominations, and six Independent Spirit award nomination.
Schoof has worked directly with a number of notable names in Hollywood, including Danny Glover, Walton Goggins, Kevin Hart, Ethan Hawke, Elisabeth Moss, Mark Ruffalo, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana and Peter Sarsgaard. Creativity is a family affair, quite literally: Schoof’s sister Natalie is a teacher and a veteran singer-songwriter in and around the local scene, performing most often as an acoustic duo with guitarist Tommy Bayer.
“As a Jacksonville native now living in Venice Beach, CA, I hold a deep connection to my hometown,” Schoof says. “With my mom, Stevie Schoof, and sister, Natalie Schoof, still residing in the Riverside neighborhood, Jacksonville will always feel like home. I cherish spending time here with family and friends and plan to continue doing so.” Jacksonville’s infamous history with the film industry 100 years ago still follows its brand to this day, but Schoof is part of a growing group of filmmakers working to facilitate continued growth in that industry.
“This year marks the 25th anniversary of Intrinsic Value,” she says, “and I’m excited to announce that we’re entering a new phase of growth. I’m currently raising funds to expand our efforts and would love to collaborate with local filmmakers and investors. My vision includes spending more time in Jacksonville and potentially producing films right here in the community.”
The film is based on Jeff Leen’s 2009 book Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds and the Making of an American Legend, one of the best among many excellent books about the industry. Having also written a fine study on the Medellin Cartel, Leen is ideally-suited to deal with the dazzling array of weirdos who circled the orbit of Mildred Burke, who was born Mildred Bliss in Coffeyville, Kansas. She found fame while rolling on dusty mats on the carnival circuit in the years just before WWII and was there when the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) codified the territory system. Burke reigned as Women’s World Champion for 5,837 days, from April 1937 to April 1953, in the process raising her sport to national prominence and becoming one of the most famous women in the world, at a time when the general public believed it was all real.
Women’s wrestling has been a thing since at least 1906, when Cora Livingston beat Laura Bennett in Kansas City to unify two regional titles in October 1910. She retired as champion 15 years later, in 1925, but her Women’s World Championship remained the industry standard until being deactivated by its fourth champion, June Byers (1922-1998) in 1954. Byers prevailed to win an April 1953 tournament in Baltimore that was apparently real, though on subsequent occasions–like when Buddy Rogers won the original WWWF title in 1963, or Pat Patterson won their inaugural Intercontinental Championship in 1979–it was total bullshit. Burke had vacated the belt earlier that year, ending what had been the longest title reign of any champion, male or female, in any sport in history to that point.
Mildred Burke’s brief first reign as champion began in Chattanooga on January 28, 1937, ending the five-year run of Clara Mortenson, who got her lick back just 13 days later. That win made Mortenson the first ever two-time champ, and Burke became the second after taking the rubber match on April 21. This trilogy of matches all took place in Chattanooga over the course of 52 days, and it ended with Mildred Burke as the undisputed number one star in women’s wrestling, and she remained champion for the next 5,837 days. 16 years. That will NEVER happen again, and for good reason.
The dissolution of Burke’s personal and professional life was one of the landmark scandals in wrestling history, and there have been many, many, many scandals.
After the events of 1953, Burke transitioned to Japan, where the WWWA World Championship was created as an extension of her disputed reign in America. (The National Wrestling Alliance recognized Byers as their champion, and it’s from there that the modern lineage of women’s titles can be traced.)
Queen of the Ring builds on the hype from projects like G.L.O.W. and The Queen of Villains, both of which were hits for Netflix in recent years. Emily Bett Rickards plays Burke, with Josh Lucas as the infamous Billy Wolfe, Burke’s trainer, promoter and eventual husband. Goggins plays Jack Pfefer, whose own insane life story deserves its own film, and the cast also includes Cara Buono, Martin Kove and Deborah Ann Woll. It’s essential viewing for hardcore wrestling fans, not least because a number of real pro wrestling stars appear as legends from that era: Kamille as June Byers, Trinity Fatu (aka WWE’s Naomi) as Ethel Johnson, Toni Storm (Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s 2024 women’s wrestler of the year) as Clara Mortensen, Britt Baker as Debbie Nichols, and the iconic Jim Cornette as NWA president Sam Muchnick, who ran the business with an iron fist from 1948 to 1982.
Wrestling has been a highly lucrative business for over a century by now, selling out almost every notable arena and stadium in the US and Mexico. Aside from the world champions in boxing, and the occasional outlier like Babe Ruth or Arnold Palmer, the top-paid athletes on Earth were pro wrestlers, pretty consistently until the 1980s. Nowadays, the money being made by elite athletes across the board is unmatched outside of Wall Street and Hollywood, with individual salaries well outpacing anyone in wrestling, but the industry at large has seen unprecedented cash-flow. All of that is to say that a big part of WWE’s current business model is women, not just in the ring but in the audience.
Schoof spoke further with Folio, via email.
How would you explain the role of producer for the casual fans? For example, what were your specific tasks in relation to your new movie?
A producer is like the project manager of a film, overseeing all phases. On most projects we see it from the beginning to the end. Help develop the screenplay, cast, hire everyone, help manage the money, oversee all aspects of production and post production, through distribution. For Queen of the Ring, I produced the director Ash Avildsen’s last film, American Satan. At the end of that film he handed me the book The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend by Jeff Leen. He optioned the book, developed and adapted the screenplay. We gave notes on the script, helped cast, and produced it with Ash. We shot the film summer 2023 in Louisville, KY for their tax credit and period architecture. We were one of the first films to get the SAG [Screen Actors Guild] waiver to continue shooting during the strike.
For a production like this, how many cast and crew were involved, and how long did it take to film, edit, etc?
We shot the summer of 2023 for 30 days. Our cast and crew were around 100, and on some days our background actors were upwards of 300 for our wrestling scenes, so on those days we were pretty large. We dedicated significant time and care to the editing process, knowing we had a compelling story filled with real, multifaceted characters. Our goal was to preserve the integrity of their narratives, while carefully balancing the story’s depth with pacing that keeps audiences fully engaged. We finished the film in early fall and premiered at the Newport Film Festival, and we’ve been playing festivals since October.
Will this be the first screening of the movie? What other festivals and events has it been seen at so far, and where will it be going next?
We premiered the film at Newport Beach Film Festival in California in October 2024. We’ve also played Anchorage FF, Ft. Lauderdale FF, St. Louis, Coronado, Tallgrass, Twin Cities, Heartland, Porland, Buffalo. It’s exciting, and it’s important to see the film play with different audiences to gauge what you have and to help the marketing plan.
How did you get the film into the St Augustine festival? What is that process like?
Gregory Von Hausch, the festival’s co-director, was also involved in the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, where we played the opening night, and graciously invited us to play both festivals. This was especially exciting for me, being a Jacksonville native, to be able to invite my family and friends locally.
Were you a fan of professional wrestling before getting into this project? How did you first learn about Mildred Burke?
I’ve always been fascinated by professional wrestling—it’s such a theatrical spectacle, a larger-than-life story brought to life in the ring. I had never heard of Mildred Burke until Ash shared her story with me after we wrapped our last collaboration, American Satan. Her journey captivated me instantly: a determined woman striving for more in an era when opportunities for women, especially single mothers, were so limited.
Mildred’s passion for wrestling and her refusal to take no for an answer propelled her to become the first female athlete to earn a million dollars—an extraordinary achievement in what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. Hers is one of the most inspiring female empowerment stories I’ve encountered. She not only broke barriers in the sports world but also redefined perceptions of women, making muscles and strength a symbol of beauty and power. I love uncovering stories about trailblazers history has overlooked, and Mildred’s journey is a shining example. Her legacy isn’t just a wrestling story; it’s a story of courage, ambition, and rewriting the narrative of what women can achieve.
Have you watched any of the other films about pro wrestling over the years?
To be honest, no. Ash is the real wrestling fan since childhood. This is one of the reasons I’m still so passionate about filmmaking—it allows me to discover and immerse myself in stories and worlds I might never have encountered otherwise.
Some people are already comparing this film to The Iron Claw. What did you think of it?
I thought they did a great job telling that tragic story. You really felt the family dynamics and emotion, while also getting to understand and witness the sport of wrestling.
What other projects are you and your company working on this year?
On the production front, we’re proud to release three films this year: Queen of the Ring, Guns and Moses, and Red Mask. Looking ahead, our pipeline includes three exciting projects: a Gene Wilder biopic, a sci-fi adventure, and a female revenge thriller, all slated for production in 2025.
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