Maggie Mahrt
Directing
Maggie Mahrt is a natural born director, one with a deep passion for storytelling and world building. With her unique POV, she has had the privilege to work as a freelance filmmaker for the last nine years, creating original award-winning shorts, commercials, web series and branded content. She is slated to direct the feature film "Say it in German" in 2020. Inspired by such luminaries as Chaplin ( for his comedic timing genius) and Felini ( for his singular POV), at a young age Maggie began to write and direct her very own theatrical works. She "cast" her siblings and neighborhood friends in these whimsical productions, which were often melodramatic musicals, her favorite childhood genre. After studying acting in college, Maggie spend the next four years starring in a one-woman drama, performing the world over. She then turned to the study of iconography, painting and commissioning numerous original works. Her exposure to that ancient art form trained her eye to understand the power of one frame and the language of color. These artistic experiences ultimately inspired Maggie to see her place behind the camera. So off to film school she went! And it was there that her artistic loves converged, allowing her to discover her true calling - directing. Maggie then went to work on NBC's GRIMM as the assistant to creator David Greenwalt. Immediately falling in love with the pace and world of television, her goal to direct in that space as well as film. Chosen as one of eight women to participate in AFI's prestigious Directing Workshop for Women in 2017, Maggie created the ambitious short film UNBOUND. It was selected for numerous Academy Award qualifying festivals, such as LA shorts and HollyShorts, where it won Best Director, Sci-Fi/Fantasy and an audience choice award. UNBOUND was also awarded the coveted Emerging Cinematographers Award from ICG and screened at the illustrious Camerimage International Film Festival in Poland. Maggie was then selected to participate in the Fox Filmmakers Lab. There she had the opportunity to pitch a short film in the world of existing FOX franchises to head studio executives. As part of the inaugural year of the Ryan Murphy HALF TV Director program, Maggie shadowed on a LIfetime Movie of the Week. As a recipient of a screenwriting grant from The Moving Picture Institute, Maggie wrote an award winning short set in the High School Skater culture of the 1990s. She is also writing the pilot episode of a historical original series based on an intriguing and misunderstood female American west icon. Maggie is originally from the Peoria, IL. area. She has representation at The Gersh Agency.
