Thursday, March 15, 2007

Welcome

Welcome to the blog of Mary Mazzio and 50 Eggs Films.

We encourage reviews, thoughts, and comments here on any of our films (A Hero for Daisy, Apple Pie, or Lemonade Stories) - as well as issues relating to our films, being entrepreneurship, athletics, overcoming obstacles, Title IX, parenting, motherhood, politics, social change, the economy, religion, starting a business, starting a car, or any relevant issue of the day.

As an update for what is happening here at 50 Eggs Films, our most recent film, Lemonade Stories, which explores how mothers ignite entrepreneurial spirit in their sons and daughters (featuring Richard Branson (founder of Virgin); Arthur Blank (founder of Home Depot); Russell Simmons (Def Jam); Kay Koplovitz (USA Network); Tom Scott (Nantucket Nectars); Billy Starr (PMC); and Kelly Reinhart), aired nationwide in Israel last week - and will be broadcast in Hong Kong and the Middle East in the Spring of 2007.

Our friends at NFTE (the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship) are including the film in their curriculcum for educators this year - and we are working with NFTE on launching another film project, focusing on teen entrepreneurs.

On other fronts, I had the opportunity to visit both Dana Hall and Miss Porter's School last month with A Hero for Daisy. These all-girls' high schools are doing something very special - the girls I visited were extraordinarily articulate and enthusiastic.

I also visited a small elementary school this month. I don't typically speak to crowds under the age of 12 - but I took clips of Apple Pie (which features Shaquille O'Neal, Drew Bledsoe, Mia Hamm, Grant Hill, Tony/Cammi Granato, Erik Weihenmayer, among others) and we talked about overcoming obstacles. I asked the kids to write down (on a post-it note) something they would like to achieve or be better at - the array of goals was so remarkably honest. One little girl raised her hand and said she would like to be better at reading. Another little boy wanted to improve his spelling. Yet another wanted to become an Olympic speed skater. But the post-it which really moved me was by a little girl who apparently took to heart my instructions to paste the post-it note somewhere where it would be seen every day. She took it home and put it on her bathroom mirror. It said "I will become President."

Another item of note - Marci Alboher, who writes columns for The New York Times, recently penned a book: One Person/Multiple Careers. Marci interviewed me extensively for the book - and our conversation reminded me very much about how a good friend of mine, Joel Reck, once told me: "You can have everything... just not all at once." The challenge with having multiple careers and interests is to make sure you don't have so many that everything becomes mediocre. More on Marci's book can be found at heymarci.com.

Comments, thoughts - all welcome.

Best,
-m