Mission Statement
I’m a storyteller with a passion for making documentaries that move and motivate the world. I love being behind the camera. The camera is like a paint brush that transforms a story into art, both visually and through the intimacy that sincerely listening generates in an interview.
Human connection is the most important element of the work I do. Wherever I meet someone – whether in a mountain village in Nepal or on rough neighborhood streets of Baltimore – I seek to capture the human spirit behind the action that’s taking place. I have a deep commitment to telling stories with social impact, especially in the areas of global health, women’s issues, and the climate crisis.
I also thrive on travel and adventure – loving the mountains, trees and cultures that abound this Earth. I’ve had the privilege of filming in 25 countries and have traveled to more than 40. Creative collaboration brings me deep satisfaction and purpose – leading and being part of a team that is trying to shed light on stories and issues that matter through the art of filmmaking.
Mary Olive Smith is an Emmy-award-winning director and producer of documentary and non-fiction content. For the past decade she has been executive producing and directing documentaries for a variety of organizations. She was the director and cinematographer for a story on violence interrupters in Baltimore for the Emmy-nominated NOVA science series special,“The Violence Paradox” (PBS). She was the showrunner for a series of short docs produced for The Climate Reality Project’s globally broadcast and streamed “24 Hours of Reality,” hosted by Al Gore. She oversaw a team producers in NYC and crews in countries throughout the world. Other highlights include short documentaries on development achievements in southwest Ethiopia for the NGO WEEMA International, a GSK (pharma) Global Health Programme collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on neglected diseases (Nepal, Indonesia, Malawi and Ghana), and uplifting stories from NYC-based Fountain House and the Howard Center, VT, serving people with mental health challenges and substance use disorder.
The first feature-length documentary Mary Olive directed, “A Walk to Beautiful,” won an Emmy Award and the IDA Award for Best Feature-length Documentary. She also co-directed and was the Director of Photographer for the feature-length documentary, “Fixing the Future,” hosted by public radio’s David Brancaccio. She was the cinematographer and field producer for Emmy-nominated “Child Brides” (PBS), which won the Overseas Press Club Award for Best International Affairs Documentary. She also produced the Now on PBS special “Women, Power and Politics” with host Maria Hinajosa. Mary Olive spent the first decade of her career producing primetime television documenraries at NYC-based Engel Entertainment (National Geographic Channels, Discovery Channel, and History Channel), including as Showrunner for 3 Seasons of Nat Geo’s “The Mummy Road Show.” She’s a skilled editor and cinematographer and has filmed in more than 25 countries.
Mary Olive has a BA from Davidson College and a master’s degree from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University (where she received a Departmental Research Fellowship, a NED fellowship to make a human rights documentary in Senegal, and won the Columbia School of Journalism’s Best Documentary Award). She’s the proud mother of a 15-year-old with physical disabilities and moonlights in a roots Americana band with her husband.
