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Dyllan McGee '85 Filmmaker and Producer Congratulations on MAKERS! Can you tell us about the series? I went to Gloria Steinem to ask her to do a story about her life, but she said, "No! You can't tell the story of the women's movement through the story of one person." at "no" turned into the best "yes" I have ever received and, together with AOL, we have the built it into the women's leadership platform it is today. How and why did you decide to focus on women? My partner at the time, Peter Kunhardt, and I had done many films on the American presidents and on African American history, but we had never really done any large-scale project about women—and here I am, a woman! It just seemed as if it was time. Video was just beginning to become mainstream online and as a filmmaker I was very interested in exploring television in that new medium. When Gloria said "no," at first I thought that surely someone had already done a comprehensive media project about the modern American women's movement—I was amazed to find out that no one had. You have worked with some amazing women in producing this series. Do you have any favorite moments? I got into television because I wanted to be the next Katie Couric, so meeting her was an all-time career high. In addition to being a phenomenal groundbreaking journalist, she is so smart and funny—in person she makes you feel like you are her best friend. e other person who has had an unexpected impact on my life is Megan Smith, United States Chief Technology Officer, in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. I met her when she was moderating a panel while she was at Google and her first question to me was, "How many women do you have in tech?" I answered, "Well, we have Meg Whitman, Sheryl Sandberg, etc." to which she replied, "ose are amazing women in business in Silicon Valley, but what about technical women?!" anks to Megan, team MAKERS is now very focused on women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). How did you become interested in producing? When I first started out, I wanted to go for the big lights—NBC's Today show— but right out of college I ended up as an intern for veteran filmmaker Peter Kunhardt, who took me under his wing. I worked with him for 20 years learning all aspects of the industry. Truth be told, I always thought I'd be an actress or an on-camera journalist—I became a filmmaker by accident. I ended up loving what I did from day one and have never wanted to change. What does a typical day or week look like for you? I usually wake up around 6 am (or 7 am on a good day!), get ready, and then get my boys ready for school. I have one son who takes the bus and the other I usually drive. en I race to the train and head into the city. What I love about my job is that every day is so different—some days I'm screening cuts of the various films in production, some days I'm speaking about MAKERS, some days I'm budgeting or fundraising, some days I'm booking talent, and some days I'm just answering emails. e more variety for me, the better! What is your proudest achievement? I'm most proud of the integrated life I've been able to lead between family and work. I have a very close family and we are all supportive of our passions inside and outside of the family. My husband is the CFO of my company, a musician, a farmer, and a very active member of our community in Westchester. My older son, Max, is an actor, a tennis player, an animal lover, and a Mindcraft expert! My younger son, Henry, is a gymnast, a drummer, a very cool dancer, and

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