Former Olympian Mary Mazzio on How Her New Documentary ‘Mighty Mary’ Connects to Past Triumphs

Mary Mazzio is a person who really has done it all. She’s a former Olympian (she was a rower for the United States in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona), lawyer and a documentary filmmaker. She’s the founder and CEO of 50 Eggs, described as “an independent film production company dedicated to making socially impactful films.” Her latest film is one that is close to her heart – “Mighty Mary,” which charts the effort of the first all-women’s sailing team to compete for the America’s Cup (back in 1995), led by Dawn Riley. Narrated by Elizabeth Banks and Hugh Jackman, produced by Skydance Sports and featuring interviews with many of the original crew members (and those around them), it’s one of the most thrilling sports documentaries you’re likely to see, particularly because the story of a group of ragtag, highly skilled underdogs seems like the kind of thing Hollywood probably should make into a narrative feature. (It’s easy to imagine every major Hollywood actress jockeying to play one of these real-life heroes – you are almost casting it as you watch.) “Mighty Mary” is at AMC theaters now and Mazzio spoke to Office With a View about the journey of the film, it’s starry narrators and whether or not she’d be interested in a narrative version of the movie. The following is our conversation, slightly edited for clarity and brevity. This column is called Office with a View. What does your daily routine look like these days? It’s like dealing with QC. “Oh God, shit! We need Italian subtitles. What Italian subtitles? Did we get them right? Oh shit! They’re three frames off.” Like anything that, from a production standpoint, that will go wrong does go wrong. What I’m really good at, though, is assembling people around me that are spectacular. My lead editor on this movie, unbelievable. My composer, he’s worked with Whitney Houston and Boyz II Men, and he will allow me to say, “You know what, I really didn’t like where that octave went.” He’s like invited me into his genius. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s equal parts joy, equal parts holy shit, equal parts tearing your hair out. Because I am writing, directing, producing and I do write a very, very tight edit, on how the story’s going to lay out. I make it really hard on myself because how I do my process is backwards. I’ll start with the interviews because I need to know the story, and then when I get the transcripts back, I’ll highlight the most compelling things people say. And okay, go! It’s a giant jigsaw puzzle how they all fit together, and I feel like that’s what will keep people on the edge of their seats, as opposed to starting with a narrative. Were you surprised that people didn’t know this story? I mean, they got some press in the New York Times, a lot in San Diego, but you know, this was the ’90s. There was a lot going on in the ’90s, right? In addition to this thing happening, you think about like there was a spectacle in the ’70s with Billie Jean King. That was arresting. That was a moment. And you fast forward 20 years, and these women took Billie Jean King and raised her twice because she played a 46-year-old hack. They went toe-to-toe with the finest men on the planet, and yet the corresponding press … it wasn’t like stop the presses at the time. There are so many layers too. One of the Koch brothers was responsible for this? It’s just insane. My favorite phrase for it is it’s a little bit like a murder mystery. Who’s going pop out of the closet. Who’s going show the knife? Who’s going to show up with the cookies? You have it all. How did you land on this as the subject? Because it so nicely complements your career as an Olympian. I feel like there are a couple things that do that I do well. One of them is surround myself with really good people and then go for the ride. The second thing is trying to figure out a pulse. You’re feeling the railroad tracks, what’s coming down the pike. And several pieces of our work have just been so timely, where it’s motivated legislative change, or a Supreme Court case. How do we think about the end game here? And for whatever reason, I just felt like we need this story now, not just because it’s so empowering for women, but for what the men had to say, and I feel like as a country we’re fraying at the seams. They are fierce adversaries, you layer gender on top, but here we are where they all come together to celebrate this shared experience, and for the men to add the nuance and perspective that they add — it’s so beautiful. But I can’t tell you, the timing has just been instinctive. How did you get Hugh Jackman and Elizabeth Banks involved? And you know, Hugh was funny because our lead editor, Kyle Farmer, cut this sizzle that and Hugh saw it and was like, “I’m in.” And what I had said to his team was, “By the way, you know he’s a rowing machine fanatic. I don’t know if you’ve seen but he posts scores online.” Of course, I’m a rower, and my daughter went to the Olympic Games herself as well. And I said, “P.S. We will do a Zoom session with Hugh. We’ll work on his biomechanics, and we’ll help him get his erg score down.” And apparently he just saw that and he laughed, and then in studio he was on fire. And then I sit with Elizabeth, and she was these moments of joy. And having worked with other just really extraordinary actors before, what has been really fun has been like the energy of them both. Both are dropping the trailer. Elizabeth’s going to do a podcast. You don’t often see talent of this magnitude really be this invested, especially in documentary. And honestly, I’m so appreciative and indebted to both of them. I’m so lucky they agreed to do this. What’s the next mountain to climb? Not a clue yet. Maybe it will be a feature adaptation of “Mighty Mary.” It would be extraordinary. Nothing would make me happier. You’ve got the doc and what that’s going to do, and then a feature, the fact that it’s such a unifying story and notwithstanding all the challenges and troubles and that’s the power of sport, you can get people who vote differently and pray differently and look differently right to come together in conversation like we need more of that. “Mighty Mary” is at AMC theaters now.