Mary Mazzio returned to her law career after competing on the 1992 Olympic Rowing team. Mary was trying to decide her next steps. She knew she wanted to make a difference and thought to herself there are two ways to do that – politics or documentary films. Since she was a writer first and had scripts floating around Hollywood that caught the eye of Paramount studios, she chose documentary filmmaking with the goal – to help bring awareness and change. In this interview, learn how Mary launched her inspiring career as a documentary film producer to start 50 Egg Productions.

The New York Times hailed your first film “A Hero for Daisy” a landmark film. The documentary tells the story of two-time Olympian Chris Ernst who protested the lack of athletic facilities for women. Chris is still an inspiration to all women. Why did you choose to tell her story?

For my thesis in film school I decided not to go the route of a lot of film school students that make films that include their friends. I decided to make a short documentary film and that is how “A Hero for Daisy” came about. The film was invited to be screened at the Smithsonian. ESPN even aired the film even though it wasn’t the sort of film normally watched by their demographic which is typically men. ESPN had such a great response that they requested another film this time with athletes. “Apple Pie” tells the story of athletes and the role their mothers had in their success. The movie includes such athletes as Mia Hamm and NFL Super Bowl quarterback Drew Bledsoe along with their mothers. ESPN reported 400,000 viewers for “Apple Pie” which doubled that of “A Hero for Daisy”.

Your movie “Lemonade Stories” also tells the story of some of the greatest entrepreneurs out there today and the part that their mothers played in their success. The film includes such greats as Richard Branson and Russell Simmons. Was it hard to convince them to participate in the film?

When I called Russell Simons I had five minutes to convince him to do my project. I didn’t know that his mother had passed away two years earlier. I asked him he would like to honor his mother. He said would and to call his office.

You show the power of entrepreneurship in your movie “Ten9Eight” which tells the stories of several kids from low-income communities that compete in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) yearly business plan competition. What made you decide to tell the amazing stories of these kids?

Steve Mariotti had actually approached me about five years earlier about telling the story of the kids that participate in the yearly NFTE business plan competition. Steve is the founder of NFTE, an organization that teaches entrepreneurship skills to inner-city kids. After hearing about the competition I knew I had to do a film about it. I partnered with the John Templeton Foundation and the Kaufman Foundation. I also landed an exclusive deal with AMC theaters where the movie was screened at eight locations, including Magic Johnson’s.

Through your work, students will see that they have options they may have never thought was possible. How does it feel to know that your work is inspiring changes in the lives of many kids?

Wow, I’m not sure how to answer that. 1.3 million Kids drop out of high school each year. We will never know how many great minds will be lost. If this movie inspires a single kid to stay in school, then I’m happy. I heard back from a teacher who took her class to the Magic Johnson AMC Theater to watch “Ten9Eight”. She said on the way home the school bus was abuzz with the kids excited and talking about their business ideas.

In this photo released by Starpix, Hip Hop pioneer Russell Simmons, right, director Mary Mazzio and Rahfael Gordon stop for a photo at the arrival of the premiere of Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon.

Is there anything you would like to add?

“Ten9Eight” www.1098.com will be screened during the White House Summit on Entrepreneurship www.entrepreneurship.gov/summit/ on April 27th.

For more information about Mary and all of her amazing films visit www.50eggs.com. You can also order the films from her site.

For more information about NFTE visit www.nfte.com

For more information on the Kaufman Foundation visit www.kauffman.org

For more information on the John Templeton Foundation visit http://templeton.org/

Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” (Available on Amazon) in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at http://www.onewhowrites.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at onewhowrites.