Maryann's Biography

Maryann Garger started by attended Woodland Heights Elementary School, then Memorial Middle School (now Laconia Middle School), and graduated from Laconia High School in 1987. After graduation, she attended Syracuse University and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and International Relations. With no original desire or even thoughts of working in film, her plan was to eventually become a lawyer. Shorlty after graduating from Syracuse, she moved to Los Angeles, finding some various small jobs there. Inspired by the story-telling and other components of the movie Aladdin, she found a job as an entry-level production assistant at Walt Disney Studios on the Disney movie Pocahontas. When the production of Pocahontas concluded, the President of Disney left and formed his own studio right next door, calling it “DreamWorks”. Through a contact of hers, Maryann was able to become one of the first employees at DreamWorks and helped build the studio from the ground up. She worked on many of the first major movies to come out of the studio and learned to work in various departments. Maryann worked mostly in the Story and Editorial departments, learning from Jeffrey Katzenberg, Stephen Spielberg, and many other incredible film makers. 

When Maryann married and had kids, she decided to produce an independent movie in an attempt to balance her work and home life, as the life of a producer is very demanding. She produced Astro Boy, and then returned to DreamWorks to help develop movies as an executive. After a few more movies, including one at Warner Bros, Maryann decided to take time off to be with her kids and family, deciding to work on some of her own projects. She began to develop another big project with two other writers. It is called If Anything Happens, I Love You, an animated short film about gun violence in American schools. It was a two-year project made mostly around her dining room table, with the help of some local recent graduates from Cal Arts. After a few tries, Netflix distributed the movie, and it became the number one movie on Netflix in over 75 countries. Additionally, it went viral on Tik Tok, with over 83 million hashtags and shares. The movie won the Oscar for “Best Animated Short Film”. 

Maryann is currently working on her own feature film with Jamie Foxx and Michael Becker, which will likely be concluded in a year. She has also signed a deal at Paramount Pictures, working on a project for them that will be released in the fall. She loves making short films and plans to continue to do so. In addition to her films, Maryann has also started writing books and will be launching a book company very soon. Although she lives in Los Angeles, she says her heart has never left New Hampshire. She has recently bought a home in Franconia and she looks forward to returning and visiting as much as she can.