OWC RADiO – Filmmaker Carolyn McDonald on Producing Legends and Shaping Futures
Carolyn McDonald, interviewed on OWC RADiO by EP and host, Cirina Catania, is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, writer, and instructor who partnered with Danny Glover at Carrie Productions, where she executive produced the Emmy & Image Award-nominated Freedom Song, the critically acclaimed Buffalo Soldiers, and HBO’s America’s Dream trilogy.
Beyond her tenure at Carrie Productions, Carolyn’s diverse career includes executive producing, co-writing, and directing the short film P.N.O.K., featuring Irma P. Hall, Danny Glover, Robert Richard, and Elle Fanning.
She was also the executive producer of Bearing Light: A Journey to Sudan, a documentary following American country artist Big Kenny and his wife traveling to the Darfur region of Sudan. In addition, she directed the Shannon Sanders music video “Run,” and co-wrote the comedy Return of the Sweetbirds for 20th Century Fox. Even earlier in her career, Carolyn worked as a Creative Executive at Cinecom Entertainment Group, contributing to films such as Mississippi Masala and the 1990 feature adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale directed by Volker Schlöndorff.
Cirina said she deeply resonated with Carolyn, not just because of the mutual Carrie Productions connection, but because of Carolyn’s dedication to empowering and teaching the younger generation. Carolyn has taught in Nashville at the Watkins Film School, in New York at the Independent Film Project, and in LA with the Black TV and Film Collective. She is currently a screenwriting instructor at the New York Film Academy.
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ABOUT OUR HOST: Filmmaker Cirina Catania, the Co-Founder and prior Executive Director of the Sundance Film Festival, and Founder and Lead Creative at The Catania Group Global, has been involved as a writer, director, producer, cinematographer or marketing exec on over 150 film, television and new media projects for the big screen as well as for networks such as National Geographic, Discovery, etc. She was a senior executive at MGM-UA and United Artists and is a member of the WGA-West, the PGA, IATSE Local 600, NPPA, the National Press Club, and more. Cirina lives in San Diego, D.C. and Berlin when she is not on the road filming for her projects or for clients, or speaking as a tech evangelist for companies such as Blackmagic Design and Lumberjack System. Cirina is the Founder and Executive Director of the High Media Collective (HSMC) a national nonprofit with top industry mentors bringing media literacy and new career pathways to classrooms across the country.