Albion native’s award-winning documentary now available to public

“Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley” is now available through Vimeo on Demand.

Press Release, Patrick Riviere

Albion native and Niagara University graduate Patrick Riviere’s award-winning short documentary film, Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley, about the life and career of Mary Ellen Ashley (formerly Mary Ellen Glass), has just been released to a worldwide audience on Vimeo on Demand.

Patrick Riviere and Mary Ellen Ashley are shown at a film festival.

The film, which chronicles Mary Ellen’s start on Broadway at the age of five in The Innocent Voyage and her full run in the original Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun starring Ethel Merman, to her work in Las Vegas, radio, early television and more recent theater film and TV, spans 8 decades.

Ms. Ashley, who now resides in California and is still working at the young age of 87, is thrilled to have the film reaching a wider audience.

“We did so well on the film festival circuit winning eight awards and five of those were Best Short Documentary awards from coast to coast! I continue to be amazed at the outpouring and love in support of this film and my story,” Ms. Ashley said.

The film won Best Picture at its World Premiere at The Oregon Documentary Film Festival and then went on to screen all over the country including Dam Short Film Festival, Boston International Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival.

It was also named a semi-finalist at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, an Oscar eligible festival. It also screened at the Upstate New York Film Festival in Buffalo where it took home Best Documentary Short and Audience Favorite Awards.

“I could never have imagined the film would garner such acclaim,” Riviere revealed. “I owe much of the success to Mary Ellen herself because she is a remarkable storyteller

and has lived an incredible life that is inspiring to anyone who hears it. I also have my fellow Albion alum Laird Ogden (who I call my ‘magic man’) to thank for editing the film so brilliantly!”

The film can be rented or purchased through Vimeo on Demand by clicking here.

Riviere’s next film, Artists at the Edge, (which once again Laird Ogden is editor) is currently in post-production and slated to hit film festivals sometime next year.