Mari was born and raised on New York City’s Upper West Side. Her father is a civil rights attorney who represented the trans activists at The Stonewall Riots and her mother was a Broadway and television actor, teacher, and playwright, best known for the iconic 1970s Calgon commercial, “Ancient Chinese Secret”. Mari studied at The School of American Ballet at the Juilliard School and performed in The Nutcracker with Mikhail Baryshnikov at Lincoln Center. She was a champion equestrian who attended The High School of Music and Art and later went on to study medicine at The University of Pittsburgh. In the early 90s, she wrote, directed and edited the experimental short films: The Love Thang Trilogy, Target, and X-Girl, which focused on identity and sexuality. They screened at film festivals worldwide.
Mari went on to become an award-winning editor and worked at Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video and at Sony Music Studios until their doors closed in 2007. She continued to focus on music, live performances, and documentaries for many artists including: Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, Parliament Funkadelic, Ziggy Marley, Willie Nelson, Jay-Z, Rihanna,The Weeknd, Carrie Underwood, The Judds, and Alicia Keys.
In 2015 she edited the documentary, Live From New York!, which was the opening night film at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. During the period of 2015-2019, Mari edited the Nina Simone, Stevie Nicks, Chicago, Lou Reed, Joan Jett, NWA, Tupac, Janet Jackson and The Cure’s induction films for HBO’s The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. She was the editor of Jimmy Carter Rock and Roll President, which was the opening night film for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and Tom Petty Somewhere You Feel Free, that won the audience award at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, and the PGA Award for Outstanding Televised or Streamed Motion Picture.
Mari produced, directed and edited Mambo Legends: The Music Never Ends about The Mambo Legends Orchestra, formerly members of The Tito Puente Orchestra that aired on PBS in 2024. She was the editor, co-writer, and executive producer of the 4-part docuseries, James Brown: Say It Loud, produced by Peter Afterman, Mick Jagger and Questlove. She produced the 2025 film, Left Behind, with Larry Mullen, Jr. of U2 and Executive Producer, Juju Chang of ABC News. Mari is the editor and producer of The Makings of Curtis Mayfield and is directing and editing a documentary about the first female emcee, MC SHA-ROCK.
She is an active member of American Cinema Editors (ACE).
Please List the Title of Your Film at BIFF 2025
The Makings of Curtis Mayfield
What was your first experience with film and how did it influence your first project?
In 1992, I was the front desk receptionist at Women Make Movies in NYC, the largest independent distributor of films by and about women. After hours, I watched most of the titles in our library and, inspired by the video artist Sadie Benning, I began to create experimental videos about identity, sexuality, and race. WMM was a transformative period in my life. It was from and because of my time there that I met many women changemakers in the form of filmmakers, distributors, programmers, educators and executives. Some were Debbie Zimmerman, Terry Lawler, Amy Harrison, Sande Zeig, Shari Frilot, Lisa Cholodenko, Maria Maggenti, Cara Mertes, Kimberly Pierce, Rose Troche, Dorothy Thigpen, and Nancy Altidor.
Who is (are) your favorite filmmakers?
Some of my favorite filmmakers are John Singleton, Garrett Bradley, Chloe Zhao, Kasi Lemmons, Spike Lee, Sophia Coppola, and Martin Scorsese.
What are you working on that no one knows about?
I am producing, directing and editing She’s The Joint: The Story of MC SHA-ROCK about the first female emcee MC SHA-ROCK from the Funky Four + 1. In development for a documentary (producing, directing and editing) about the trailblazing streetwear designer April Walker, founder of Walker Wear, entitled April Walker: Threads of Revolution.
Who would play you in a movie? What’s your go to movie snack? What’s the film title that best describes your life?
Jenny Shimizu would play me at my current age. I would have an unknown, up and coming actual teenage actor play me as a teenager.
Go to movie snack is popcorn with Raisinets. The film that best describes my life hasn’t been made yet but it’s a cross between Juice, Belly, and Lost in Translation.
