I walked onto set of my son’s first feature film unsure of what to expect. He was cast as CJ in a film titled Playdate, opposite Alan Ritchson (Reacher), Kevin James (Paul Blart: Mall Cop, King of Queens) and Benjamin Pajak. One of the first people I saw was a striking woman with such a unique outfit. I thought for sure she’d just come off a Star Wars set!
As it turns out, it was Maja Aro, the movie’s stunt coordinator. And man, was she incredibly warm and inviting, especially as my kid had to do a ton of stunts he’d never done before.
Maja quickly made friends with my son and explained all of the stunts he’d be doing. She was gauging how willing he was to go on this adventure, and even more important, how willing I was to let
him try all of this. Needless to say, we were stoked, he did a ton of fun stunt work, and we quickly made friends with Maja and her family.
Chatting with Maja for this episode, I learned so much more about what she does as a stunt coordinator. Planning budgets, taking the writer’s vision for the various action sequences and creating the visuals to match, hiring and training the right stunt performers, dealing with insurance, schedules, weather, and on and on and on….all while maintaining a really special home life with her husband and two young sons.
About Maja Aro
Maja Aro is a serial entrepreneur in the world of stunts and content creation. She is Co-Founder of Kunoichi Ventures, a stunt coordination consulting business, Sea to Sky Stunts, a stunt equipment rental company, and 321GO! Productions, which produces hit Youtube show Abby & the Muffins. Maja is also an award winning stunt coordinator, stunt performer, filmmaker and content creator from Britannia Beach, BC. With over 20 years in the industry, she has worked on many
major Hollywood blockbusters and hit TV shows.
She has been nominated for 6 UBCP Awards for Best Stunt, 4 Leo Awards for Best Stunt Coordination (winning twice), and a Taurus World Stunt Award. She was honored with the Stunt Warrior Award (Artemis Film Festival) and the Artistic Innovation Spotlight Award (WIFTV).
Beyond stunts, Maja won the MPPIA Short Film Award for her film Hoods, which she wrote and directed, earning multiple festival awards. She also received a director shadow with Amazon on Man in the High Castle.
As a mother of two, Maja’s passion for storytelling, adventure, and education led her to create Abby and the Muffins—a fun, high-energy kids’ brand that inspires curiosity, movement, and learning through music and adventure.
