From the Olympics to directing and writing compelling stories and her most recent film, A Most Beautiful Thing, Mary Mazzio describes her mission to provide underrepresented voices a platform to tell their stories. 

What attracted you to filmmaking? 

” Throughout training camp for the Olympics, I would often daydream and write screenplays during my breaks. I constantly asked myself, ‘where are the fully formed women in film?’ As the mother of a young daughter, I decided I was going to raise her to be unapologetically strong. It needs to be ok for little girls to get dirty and explore their limitations and I wanted to write stories representative of that notion.”

What message do you hope the audience takes away from the film, A Most Beautiful Thing? 

“When we see school shootings on national television, many forget that in places like the West Side, shootings are witnessed on a daily basis. This is just one example of the profound inequality of safety. The untreated trauma in this country is a result of the lack of urgency to act and rectify the profound disparity of basic safety in neighborhoods like the West Side.”

The entertainment industry is historically a male-dominated world. How do you rectify this as a female director?

“The entertainment sector is traditionally made up of white men who bring a perspective to storytelling that is not representative of everyone in America It is my job to break through these barriers. It is humbling to do the kind of work that I do, it is my job to continue amplifying voices that are unrepresented.”

If you are interested in learning more about Mazzio and her film “A Most Beautiful Thing,” you can visit her production website, https://www.50eggs.com/ and https://www.amostbeautifulthing.com/.