– Mary Cate Mannion, award-winning video producer.
It can get cold in Bismarck, ND. According to one source, it rarely goes below -16 degrees. Whew.
You have to be good to develop compelling stories when it is rarely that cold. Not-so-good things happen at low temps – equipment malfunctions, people being interviewed stop talking and your feet get really, really cold. Mary Cate Mannion was so good at it though, that she won a Broadcaster’s Award for her work and was nominated for two Emmys.
Her reporting career took her through a variety of climates, cities, and stories. After leaving the Midwest, she spent time in the Holyoke-Springfield DMA working as an anchor/reporter for an ABC News affiliate before leaving for Portland, ME, for a similar position for an ABC News affiliate there.
Ferris Bueller once observed that “Life moves pretty fast.” News happens even faster. Digital PR happens even faster than that. Mary Cate has mastered the art of helping humans explain what is important to them and others and then using technology to enhance those stories and bring them to market quickly. Legend has it, she once edited a news package on the hood of a car. There are also unconfirmed reports that she edited another story on top of a frozen buffalo carcass just north of Bismarck. Mastering the interview process as well as the art of video production is impressive, as they are two skills that rarely are embodied in the same person.
A resident of Suffield, CT, Mary Cate earned a Bachelor of Science degree in broadcast journalism from Emerson College. She and Darcy crossed paths during her time at Western Mass News when she emceed the Springfield Colleen Contest for which Darcy is a long-time volunteer. Mary Cate tested her singing skills during an American Idol audition in Boston and was successful for six rounds. Her progress ended when Simon Cowell told her, “You only get one song Mary” and he apparently didn’t like the one she sang.
Mary Cate achieved considerable success as a competitive Irish dancer, something that she still is enthusiastic about today as a member of Springfield’s Claddagh School. She is a proud board member at Willie Ross School for the Deaf, as well as a member of Women in Film and Video of New England.
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