Mariska Hargitay, best known for her leading role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” is launching Mighty Entertainment, a production company with both scripted and unscripted divisions. Her feature film directorial debut, “My Mom Jayne,” is the first project of the company.
“My Mom Jayne” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and will also be debuting next month at the Tribeca Film Festival. It will debut on HBO June 27.
Moving forward, Hargitay, who also serves as an executive producer on “SVU,” will use Mighty Entertainment to “tell stories that connect us to our courage, curiosity and compassion.”
The Mighty team includes Lauran Bromley as vice president, Trish Adlesic as head of documentary, Melissa Robyn Glassman as head of scripted, Sophia Erensel as director of operations, and Peter Hermann will serve as creative director. Hargitay, Bromley and Adlesic first worked together in 2017 on the Emmy-winning HBO doc “I Am Evidence.”
“At Mighty Entertainment, we aim to tell stories that connect us to our courage, curiosity, and compassion,” Hargitay said in a statement on Wednesday. “We will challenge perspectives and shed light, all in the service of exploring our shared humanity. Launching this production company feels like a natural extension of my long and deeply rewarding creative journey, which has taught me that storytelling is both a mandate and an invitation. It has been a privilege to amplify underrepresented voices, and that personal mission will extend to this company. My experience making ‘My Mom Jayne,’ my feature directorial debut, has underlined for me how the universal can grow out of the personal, and the gifts that come from re-examining accepted narratives. I’m thrilled to build this company with a powerful team dedicated to telling urgent, compelling, important stories.”
Hargitay founded the Joyful Heart foundation and for the last 20 years, has worked to change the conversation around sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and to support survivors.
The name of the company, Mighty Entertainment, and the logo with the girl on a bike, are personal for Hargitay. When searching through the archives for “My Mom Jayne,” she found a photo of herself on a bicycle at age 3. “I’m leaning forward, so determined and so clear, ‘I’ve got this. I’m handling it. I’m navigating it. I’m good.’ I saw this picture and it’s already me. It’s 3-year-old Olivia Benson,” she tells Variety. “She’s not fucking around.”
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And as for the name, well, it was actually given to her decades ago: “I was dating somebody in my 20s, and he was friends with Jack Nicholson. Jack Nicholson said, ‘How’s Mighty?’ It was my favorite nickname, because I was like, ‘That’s right, Jack,’ and I met him maybe twice. I’ll take it, I’ll own it, and I’ll run with that.”
Starting a production company now “feels like such a natural progression,” Hargitay says, after years of having the privilege of telling stories about sexual assault and domestic violence on “SVU.” She’ll work on both scripted and unscripted films and TV series — multiple of which are already in development.
“There are so many stories to tell — so many stories that are so basic to our humanity, like ‘My Mom Jayne.’ I want to tell stories that make the world feel a little safer, cozier and give hope, while at the same time elevating different voices that have been marginalized or people who aren’t ready to come forward,” she says. “There’s a safety in getting immersed in somebody else’s story.”
She continues, “It’s a really beautiful way to balance what I do with ‘SVU,’ and scratch that itch of doing something completely different, and now I feel like I have the capacity and it won’t take anything away.”
Adlesic adds that Hargitay is “not only one of television’s most iconic actresses but also a powerful storyteller and driver for social change whose creative vision has guided her for decades.” She continues, “Documentaries are powerful catalysts for change and we are eager to further our work together. Our goal is to champion stories that celebrate authenticity and vulnerability as strengths—echoing the visionary, heartfelt approach Mariska brings to all her work.”
Glassman notes, “We aim to amplify voices that mine the power of story to explore essential perspectives and spark meaningful conversations. Mariska’s passion for advocacy has always been inspiring, and it’s extraordinary to see her channel that same energy into bold, creative projects with the power to have real impact.”
From Variety US