A longtime fan of TV film, Alex McAtee ‘01 always watched the Emmys, an annual awards show that recognizes excellence in television, growing up. In September, she landed her own Emmy as executive producer of “The Studio.” The series was named Outstanding Comedy Series.
“It’s been almost a month, and it still kind of feels surreal,” McAtee said. “It really felt like the work was honored and seen in a way that our work isn’t always.”
“The Studio,” a television show created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, picked up 40 nominations and 23 wins in its two-season run. On the night of the awards ceremony, three of her Hockaday friends were sending McAtee their support.
“We’re still very close. We’ve known each other 35 years at this point,” McAtee said. “It was and is surreal, but it’s really lovely and it’s cool to look at the [Emmy statuette] every now and then and go, ‘my God, I won that thing.’ Maybe it’ll be the only one, maybe it’ll be joined by others, but it’s enough just as it is.”
McAtee attended Hockaday from 1989 to 2001. She said her passion for TV film was born in the strong fine arts program as well as the robust arts community in Dallas. She participated in ceramics and student-run plays and attended movies and shows at theaters around town.
“I tried all sorts of stuff out; a few different things that sort of showed me what I was interested in and helped me figure out what it was I liked about this thing,” McAtee said. “I think there’s also an amount of producing that is kind of just organizing and staying on task and process and timeline, which, of course, schoolwork can help teach some of those skills.”
Currently, McAtee is executive vice president for Point Grey Pictures, an independent film production company. However, her journey into the entertainment industry was anything but easy.
“I took jobs that I didn’t want to take time and again, and that’s not about devaluing yourself,” McAtee said. “I was working jobs where I didn’t like the show, but it was a job. I stayed employed. I was able to pay rent, all of the things that sometimes having a job is good for when it isn’t everything you wanted it to be. Because that can be just a piece of the ladder, it doesn’t have to be the end of it. Sometimes it’s just about staying in the mix and continuing to work.”
Every day at her job is different. Her main responsibility is helping the artists complete the production process, such as by giving notes on scripts or on set, and keeping the projects at the highest level possible.
“I was shooting a pilot for a TV show a few weeks ago, and I was on set for 14 hours a day for 10 days, so that’s sometimes part of the job, too,” McAtee said. “But how exciting is it to reach the most amount of people possible and maybe impact their lives with TV film the way it did for me?”
McAtee emphasizes the importance of pushing forward in the entertainment industry.
“When you see some sort of opportunity, whether or not it’s in any way close to what you want to do or you think it’ll work, just be like, ‘I’m going to try’,” McAtee said. “‘I may not know what this show is, and it may not work, and I may not get the job’, all sorts of things, but just be willing to put yourself out there.”
