During high school and college, Mary Pat worked full-time as a manager at Contempo and Gap in Chicago. She applied to Hot Topic, but alas, they went with someone more goth. She’s been in leadership roles since she was 14, and believe it or not, All She Really Needed to Know About Filmmaking, She Learned in Retail. Not exactly, but surprisingly a lot is applicable! For example: keep your issues off the floor, give positive feedback before negative, and don’t let anyone steal shit.

Despite majoring in Directing at Columbia College Chicago, Mary Pat almost immediately transitioned into the self-preserving role of Producer when she moved to Los Angeles after learning literally everyone wanted to direct.

Right before the pandemic, an accident shattered Mary Pat’s arm and changed her life. She took notes between surgeries as a survival tactic, and the script for her directorial debut, The Cockroach, emerged. Since starting its festival run in summer 2024, the short film has won several awards at Oscar-qualifying festivals including the Audience Award at Austin Film Festival (where it was also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize), Best Drama at LA Shorts, and Best Editing at HollyShorts.

After supporting emerging directors for over a decade, Mary Pat is excited to be in the chair herself. She’s genre-agnostic, but gravitates toward raw stories submerged in the messy layers of womanhood. She loves the funny/sad/sad/funny and hopes to experiment with magical realism and psychological horror in her future work.

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