By Emily McAllister, MBA ‘15
@emily_mca
What were you doing before you came to Cornell Tech?
I produced independent documentaries here in New York with CoPilot Pictures.
Emily produced the documentary Maidentrip, which won an audience award at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival.
Why did you choose Cornell Tech?
I wanted to explore digital film distribution and how the film industry is being disrupted.
What’s the most valuable lesson you learned at Cornell Tech?
I learned the value of diverse teams, and that experience isn’t necessarily a good thing. Starting from zero can lead to new perspectives and innovative ideas.
What have you done since graduating from Cornell Tech?
Currently I’m working with the Huffington Post on the release of a lost documentary from the 1970’s, Sandra Hochman’s Year of the Woman. I am also preparing for the upcoming HBO release of The Diplomat, a film I co-produced while at Cornell Tech.
What is something interesting people may be surprised to learn about you?
I’m a graduate of National Outdoor Leadership School, where I’ve spent several month-long treks backpacking in the gorgeous Wyoming mountains. I think it’s so important for us to experience remote wildness and the accompanying solitude. Since living in NYC, I have gotten involved with an amazing non-profit called Washington To Washington, bringing kids that usually don’t have a chance to leave the city on a week-long outdoor adventure. Every year there are kids who have never left their neighborhood, who get to feel what it’s like to climb a mountain for the first time. It’s pretty rad to see their smiles at the summit.
Emily was recently featured in Time and BuzzFeed for her Chrome extension MeowMet, which displays pictures of cats from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection each time you open a new web browser tab.
