About

Mary Robertson is an Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and founder of Maxine Productions, the acclaimed nonfiction film and television studio she launched in 2022 in partnership with Sony Pictures Television. Her work sits at the intersection of ambitious journalism and cinematic storytelling, with a particular interest in stories that illuminate the forces shaping culture and the lives of people caught inside them.

At Maxine, Robertson has established the company as a leading creator of premium nonfiction storytelling, developing and executive producing a portfolio of nonfiction projects spanning documentary, investigative journalism, culture, and entertainment. She directed and executive produced Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which became one of the biggest documentary television successes in recent years, reaching more than 30 million viewers across Investigation Discovery, Max, and discovery+ and generating 1.3 billion minutes viewed on Max. The series received two Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, and won the Television Critics Association (TCA) Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information. Robertson also executive produced The Fall of Diddy, produced by Maxine Productions in partnership with Rolling Stone Films, which reached No. 1 on ID and HBO Max in its first week. Other Maxine projects include the Grammy-nominated feature documentary JUNE, Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story, Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story, and the Peabody- and Emmy-nominated South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning.

Prior to founding Maxine, Robertson was the showrunner of The New York Times Presents, where she executive produced Framing Britney Spears and Controlling Britney Spears. Framing Britney Spears became a global ratings phenomenon, breaking records in markets around the world and earning two Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. The film also won the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information and helped reshape the public conversation surrounding Spears and the conservatorship system. 

Before The New York Times Presents, Robertson helped develop and executive produce FX’s The Weekly, executive produced the inaugural season of Showtime’s The Circus, and created, directed, and executive produced CNN’s archival series Tricky Dick. She has also directed, produced, and written documentary films for PBS’s FRONTLINE, including two Emmy-nominated films.

Mary is a member of the Directors Guild of America, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. A lifelong New Yorker, she graduated from Wesleyan and today she proudly calls Brooklyn home. Mary and Maxine are represented by CAA and Maxine is part of Sony Pictures Television’s nonfiction group.