Courtesy of Maggie Ballard
Maggie Ballard
Maggie Ballard is a Hoover resident who has worked in assistant director roles on a number of feature films.
Hoover may not have the same silver screen credentials as Los Angeles or New York, but Maggie Ballard has managed to make a name for herself in the film industry while still living in her hometown.
One of her most recent projects was “Get Out,” a thriller where Ballard worked as second assistant director. “Get Out” is nominated for four Academy Awards – Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor.
Ballard, 28, is a lifelong Hoover resident and graduated Hoover High School in 2008. She has a family history of acting, both on stage and on the screen, and at first she thought she wanted to follow the same path.
“All my life I knew I wanted to be in the entertainment industry in some shape, form or fashion,” Ballard said. “It kind of runs in my blood.”
Her work as a casting director’s intern changed the course of Ballard’s career aspirations, and she began working as a production assistant on various films and commercials around Alabama. Since 2012, she has mostly worked as a second assistant director or second second assistant director. She has worked on 22 feature films so far.
“All of the cards just kind of fell into place for me,” Ballard said. “I love making it, and [being] in front of the camera is just not my thing.”
As second AD, Ballard said her role is to create the call sheet, or schedule, for filming each day on set and to coordinate the cast members. The second second AD helps to run the set, supervise the cast and delegate work to production assistants. Plus, a lot of paperwork.
“The call sheet is like the bible, if you will, for the next day,” Ballard said.
Ballard joined the crew of “Get Out” because she had previously worked with the film’s unit production manager on two other projects shot in Mobile.
“I am the biggest chicken on the planet but half of my resume is horror movies,” Ballard said.
The movie also prompted her induction into the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
They shot the movie in Fairhope and Mobile from January to February 2016.
“When we were all working on it … I don’t think any of us expected this movie to be as gigantic as it is now,” Ballard said. “It was incredible. [Director] Jordan Peele is an amazing guy and incredible to work with.”
“Get Out” has grossed more than $175 million at the box office so far, as well as garnering nominations for the Oscars, Golden Globes and other award programs. Ballard is going to Los Angeles in February because Peele and the assistant directors on the movie are nominated for a joint Best Directorial Work award from the DGA.
“It made me feel really ecstatic for the state of Alabama,” Ballard said.
She is hopeful that the success of “Get Out” will encourage other filmmakers to come to Alabama. While she has worked in LA, Atlanta, New Orleans and other cities, she said it’s nice to go to her own home at the end of a day on set, not to a hotel. Ballard is working on a film, “Into the Ashes,” that is being shot in Birmingham now, and she said more films are coming to the city and other areas of the state in 2018.
The Academy Awards air Sunday, March 4 and will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
