Mary Phillipa Sledge - Tumblr Blog

With decades of experience working in the film production industry, Mary Phillipa Sledge heads Memphis-based SledgePro Media LLC., which invests in and produces documentary films and other projects. Dedicated to helping others, Mary Phillipa Sledge regularly donates her time and finances to several charitable endeavors, including Bridge2Rwanda (B2R). Formed in 2007, B2R encourages foreign investment and creates opportunities for students who live in Rwanda to study abroad. It identifies Rwanda’s most promising students and provides them a chance to study in another country. In 2015, B2R awarded 34 international scholarships from a pool of more than 2,000 applications. One of the ways B2R assists students is through is B2R Scholars Program. This program supports students by providing them with host families, who offer guidance and a home away from home when school is out. B2R also offers academic and personal counseling as well as career coaching to locate job opportunities in Africa. In addition, it seeks out African internships that offer practical work experiences to students.                            

Mary Phillipa Sledge is a former managing editor of The Saddle Horse Report and current president of SledgePro Media LLC in Memphis, Tennessee. Also active within the community, Mary Phillipa Sledge has served on the board of directors for the Shelby Humane Society. Founded in 1977, the Shelby Humane Society assists approximately 5,000 animals annually. In addition to finding homes for animals, the society provides medical attention and a shelter to neglected and abused animals. Because it is a nonprofit organization, the humane society relies heavily on financial donations and volunteers. Its volunteers can walk and bathe dogs, clean up after the animals, transport animals, and participate in off-site adoption events. They can also foster a cat or dog and receive all the needed supplies from the humane society. Additionally, individuals can donate funds through fundraising events, secure employer-match donations, or the society’s monthly giving community. Further, people can join the organization’s volunteer fundraising board, which meets the first Tuesday of the month and plans special events and fundraisers.

A film producer, Mary Phillipa Sledge leverages her more-than-two-decade experience to create documentaries for SledgePro Media Enterprises. In her spare time, Mary Phillipa Sledge contributes to various animal organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in Memphis, Tennessee. The first humane society ever established in North America, the ASPCA offers services, programs, and events that work toward improving the welfare of animals. To support its mission, the nonprofit organization supports Team ASPCA, an athletic team open to the public and aimed at raising critical funding throughout the year. In September of 2015, Team ASPCA will take part in the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend in California. The event kicks off September 5th with a Disneyland 10K run and finishes with a Disneyland Half Marathon the following day. Each team member receives entry into the race or races from the ASPCA, as well as a theme park pass, personal training, and access to a personal online fundraising page. All donations directly support the ASPCA and the animals it serves.

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, and a decorated equestrian, Mary Phillipa Sledge has won a number of world championships in the ASB Three-Gaited division. Currently, Mary Phillipa Sledge is a producer with SledgePro Media Enterprises, a joint media venture. SledgePro Media Enterprises participates in the production of albums and music documentaries, among other projects. One notable project is Hendrix Unplugged: Acoustic Generations, featuring cover songs by top artists from across the world, including Grace Potter. Scheduled for release in late 2015, the album will be distributed by Sony/Legacy Records. Songs being covered include “Wind Cries Mary” and “Angel.”The project has the support of several people who worked with Hendrix, including his original engineer and mixer, Eddie Kramer. Working with the blessing of Experience Hendrix and his sister Janie Hendrix, the company is dedicated to releasing an album that truly represents how timeless his music is and how relevant it continues to be.                            

In 2011, Mary Phillipa Sledge founded SledgePro, a media production and investment firm located in Memphis, Tennessee. Away from the office, Mary Phillipa Sledge supports a number of charity organizations, including the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Memphis. Multiple sclerosis is a disease that interferes with the communication between the brain and the body and results in variable and hard-to-predict symptoms. As part of their efforts to combat MS, the Multiple Sclerosis Society has held its annual Walk MS in cities throughout the United States for more than 20 years. Since the inaugural walk in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which raised $216,000, the event has developed into a nationwide fundraising force that gathers more than $50 million each year. These funds aid research efforts toward relieving symptoms and finding a cure. This April, Walk MS Memphis 2015 will take place at Overton Park in the Rainbow Lake Pavilion, and organizers have set a goal to raise $75,000 with the event. For team and volunteer information, or to find a Walk MS near you, please visit www.nationalmssociety.org.

A veteran Hollywood film consultant who resides in Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Phillipa Sledge has worked in production for films including Vanilla Sky, Just Cause, and Secretariat. Mary Phillipa Sledge is also a world-champion equestrian. She maintains an interest in animal rights as a member of the Shelby County Humane Society Board of Directors. Each year, nearly 4 million animals are killed in shelters, 2.7 million of which are considered healthy and adoptable. The Shelby County Humane Society is part of a growing nationwide No Kill movement, which means the shelter only euthanizes animals who pose an immediate threat to the public, or who are terminally ill and suffering greatly. No Kill shelters utilize non-lethal programs and services to save tens of thousands of animals each year. Such measures include allowing rescue groups to save animals slated for death and organizing offsite adoption events to place animals in loving, permanent homes.

Along with leading production company SledgePro Media, Mary Phillipa Sledge of Memphis has provided set and art coordination and assistance on a number of films, including Secretariat and Vanilla Sky. Outside of her professional responsibilities, Mary Phillipa Sledge supports nonprofit organizations like Plan International USA. Plan International USA recently announced its membership in a global coalition called Solutions for Youth Employment, which will see several partner organizations work toward the shared goals of increasing private sector job creation, inspiring entrepreneurship, and enhancing the skill bases of young people. To achieve these objectives, the alliance will link international leaders and share relevant information to implement evidence-based programs. It will also make greater investments in efficient and sustainable employment solutions. Along with Plan International USA, the coalition was founded by the World Bank Group, RAND Corporation, Youth Business International, Accenture, and the International Youth Foundation. These organizations together hope to achieve improved youth employment results by 2030.

A resident of Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Phillipa Sledge has a background in film and media. In addition, Mary Phillipa Sledge has a passion for conversation and nature. She contributes to the National Geographic Society and is a part of the organization’s Grosvenor Council. The Grosvenor Council is comprised of individuals from around the world who make a donation of $1,000 or more annually to the National Geographic Society. Members make it possible for the organization to continue its mission of promoting conservation; scientific fieldwork; and public engagement through live events and media, which aim to educate the community about preserving the environment. In addition, their contributions help continue geographic fluency among youth. Depending on the amount donated, members of the council are grouped in one of five membership tiers and are eligible to receive a variety of exclusive benefits. The tiers are voyager, discoverer, geographer, trekker, and adventurers circle, and they range from the minimum contribution of $1,000 to more than $25,000 respectively. Benefits include special discounts on National Geographic expeditions, subscription to the organization’s magazine, and private entry into events. For more information, visit NationalGeographic.com.

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Phillipa Sledge works as an executive producer at SledgePro Media, LLC, a company that specializes in funding and producing films, Broadway shows, and music projects. Outside of work, Mary Phillipa Sledge is an avid reader; she especially enjoys the writing of the French-Algerian author Albert Camus.  Born November 7, 1913, in Mondavi, French Algeria, Albert Camus was a journalist, essayist, playwright, and novelist perhaps best known for his absurdist novels The Stranger and The Plague. Although he rejected the label throughout his lifetime, Camus was also a philosopher, whose ideas and writing influenced absurdist, moralist, and existentialist thought. Camus’ work often presents philosophical ideas that reject the very notion of philosophy itself. This paradox is very present in The Myth of Sisyphus, in which he explores man’s futile search for meaning in a world where it does not exist.  In 1957, the Nobel Committee awarded Camus its prize for literature, citing his efforts to “illuminate the problem of the human conscience in our time” as one of the main reasons for giving him the prize. Three years later, at the height of his career, Camus was killed in a car accident in Burgundy, France. He left behind much unfinished work, including an autobiographical novel and several theater, film, and television projects.

Known as the founders and operators of Magnolia Farms in East Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Phillipa Sledge and her family have been respected horse breeders and show winners for more than five generations. In addition to her interest in horses, Mary Phillipa Sledge is co-founder of joint venture SledgePro Media Enterprises and a contributor to nonprofits like Bridge2Rwanda. Formed in 2007, Bridge2Rwanda is a nonprofit organization working to help the African country by expanding its network of global friends, encouraging foreign investment in its economy, and fostering opportunities for its citizens to study abroad. Students especially benefit from the nonprofit’s B2R Scholars Program. Ange Uwimana is one such student. When she joined the program in 2012, her English skills were poorer those of most others, but with the help of the program and through her own hard work and dedication, she quickly caught up and became one of the highest scorers on the standardized test. These accomplishments helped her win a scholarship to Marist College in New York , where she now studies as a freshman. Learn more about this inspiring organization by visiting www.bridge2rwanda.org.

Mary Phillipa Sledge of Memphis, Tennessee, made her name in horse shows, taking home multiple championships in the three gaited division. Also committed to philanthropy and the preservation of endangered languages, Mary Phillipa Sledge supports the Enduring Voices Project sponsored by The National Geographic Society. The disappearance of lesser known languages is not a new phenomenon. However, some languages and the ancient wisdom held within these oral traditions,  are fading at a rapid rate. The younger generations tend to use the more recent languages in their society. For this reason, Nat Geo started the Enduring Voices project, a movement that aims to document the planet’s most endangered languages and thereby preserving valuable information available previously in only oral tradition. The Enduring Voices team achieves its goals by going on expeditions into language hotspots. The team’s experts identify these hotspots as places that have the most vulnerable indigenous languages. The team then documents the languages, making use of both audio and video recording devices, including computerization with protected access codes for each group. The data is not only archived but also studied, as these languages contain both cultural and historical information.                            

One of the most prominent educational and scientific institutions in the world, The National Geographic Society has been making leaps and bounds when it comes to the conservation of the world’s environment and also its history. The most committed members of the society belong to the Grosvenor Council, named after Dr. Gilbert H. Grosvenor, former president of the National Geographic Society. One of the members of this council is Mary Phillipa Sledge from Memphis, Tennessee. Possessing a wealth of experience in the film industry, having worked on movies such as The Rainmaker, The Horse Whisperer, Secretariat, and Vanilla Sky, Mary Phillipa Sledge is well positioned to lend her experience and skill when it comes to filmmaking to the society. The Grosvenor Council has several levels of membership. The highest level of membership belongs to the Adventurers Circle. The second most prominent members are called the Trekkers, followed in rank by the Geographers, Discoverers, and Voyagers. Members at all levels enjoy a subscription to National Geographic and two free passes to the National Geographic Museum exhibits in Washington, DC.