Z: Made for This

Documentary Series

With great admiration for Boston sports legend came a four-part docu-series, directed and produced entirely by Shadow Lion.

Z: Made For This follows Zdeno Chara’s time with the Boston Bruins during the 2019 season, Stanley Cup finals, offseason and subsequent 2020 season.

Committed to telling Z's story in an authentic way that does justice to who he is and what he stands for, we poured our heart and soul into the project and developed a close relationship with him from the start. From inviting us into his hospital room immediately following his jaw surgery, to welcoming us to his hometown in Slovakia with his family after a crushing Stanley Cup Finals loss, Chara opened up about his life in countless quiet moments, road trips and exclusive interviews with our team throughout the year and a half period we shot him.

3
Years in the making
4
Episodes
90
Minutes Total
#33
Raised to the Rafters

Our interviews and time spent gaining Chara’s trust allowed for some of the most raw, emotional and authentic content to come to life during a pivotal time in Zee’s life. For the first time ever, he was the voice of his own story.

There are emotional and physical challenges in professional sports storytelling. Working with Shadow Lion was about working with the right people. Their ability to work around my personal life and professional routine was always very efficient and caring. I enjoyed all of it!

— Zdeno CharaBoston Bruins Legend

Z: Made For This is now streaming on NBC's Peacock.

Original
Branded
Social
Passion

Services

We are a creative studio. We live at the intersection of strategy, production and post.

Strategy
- Creative
- Campaigns
- Measurement
- Influencer Marketing
Production
- Unscripted
- Commercial
- Social Media
- Audio
Post
- Editing
- VFX
- Animation
- Delivery

Our Clients

Shadow Lion was founded in 2017 with the goal of supporting Tom Brady’s off-field media efforts. Leaning on insights from those experiences, we quickly began providing creative services to other athletes, influencers and organizations as well.

Our creative philosophy is simple: move people.

No matter the medium, better storytelling and better content will always lead to higher and more quality engagement. We are the creators and the audience, which gives us a unique perspective on how to create impactful content that people actually want. We develop and execute, which allows us to cut out expensive "middlemen" by developing original creative and then executing with top-notch production. Ultimately, we’re always looking to create visceral reactions. From the heart, to the heart.