Mary Aloe – Proud Mary Entertainment
It’s around 6 p.m., and film producer Mary Aloe and I are sitting on a leather couch in the dimly lit bar at Toronto’s Sutton Place Hotel. It’s hard to ignore the cacophonous sound of over 60 people crowded into this narrow establishment all talking at once, but the noise only adds to the excitement of this particular week during September’s Toronto International Film Festival. And while journalists and movie fanatics alike can sit back and immerse themselves in the temporarily transplanted Hollywood magic, producers like Mary Aloe have a lot resting on the reception of their films, many of which will have their world premieres at the festival.
Aside from around-the-clock meetings with distributors and parties with guest lists tighter than Mariah Carey’s tube tops, Mary Aloe’s main reason for being here was to attend the gala premiere of her latest project, Battle in Seattle. The film, about the late-’90s riots in the West Coast city, stars Charlize Theron and is also the directorial debut of Theron’s husband, Stuart Townsend. Such a gala can make or break a film’s eventual release depending on how it’s received by the crowd and the critics. Fortunately, when the credits rolled the film was met with a 15-minute standing ovation at the famous Elgin Theatre, and Mary Aloe, first thing the next day, was met with a flood of phone calls from distributors making offers. As I peruse the wine menu, Mary Aloe orders herself a glass of sparkling water. She has a business dinner to go to after this and prefers to start the evening off on a light note. I ask her what a film producer’s job entails and why it’s such a boys’ club. “Here’s the thing…” says Mary Aloe, and we begin to really talk.
How come I don’t know any producers or know what a producer does?
It’s funny, even if you’re Kennedy/Marshall, a lot of people don’t know who any of these producers are – unless you go up to win that Oscar. And they still don’t remember your name! Like, do you remember the name of the producer who produced Crash? We’re the unsung heroes.
