By Farah Qureshi
Welcome to NYWIFT, Anna Bick Rowe!
Anna is an Emmy Award-winning producer and Head of Production at Smartypants Pictures, an Academy Award-winning production company based in Brooklyn. She thrives on being “multilingual” within the industry, seamlessly navigating between commercial, nonprofit, and documentary projects.
Anna has worked on a wide range of high-profile projects, including serving as Executive Producer alongside Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai on Stranger at the Gate, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2023.
In addition to her documentary work, Anna has produced content for brands such as Adidas, Delta Air Lines, The Lincoln Motor Company, Macy’s, Snapchat, Cadillac, Indeed, Cooper Tires, and Ford Motor Company, as well as films for dozens for nonprofits.
In our interview, Anna shared her journey into producing, what working on the Oscar-winning documentary All the Empty Rooms meant to her, and her approach to social impact storytelling.
NYWIFT Member Anna Bick Rowe
Welcome to NYWIFT! Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?
I’m a producer currently working as Executive Producer and Head of Production at [the] Brooklyn-based production company, Smartypants. We produce branded content, documentaries, and social impact [and] nonprofit films.
I live in Long Island with my husband, daughter, and 85 lb golden retriever.
Anna Bick Rowe at the Hospital for Special Surgery, a creative partner of Smartypants Pictures.
What brought you to NYWIFT?
I’ve been a part of several women-led groups on Facebook and have found so many wonderful colleagues there, so I’m thrilled to join a larger community and connect with other great talent to collaborate with!
Anna Bick Rowe on the set of The Steepest Climb: How Delta Air Lines Navigated the Global Pandemic
How did your path in the industry lead you to producing?
I originally was on track to be a documentary film editor—I love the process of finding the best way to tell a compelling story that makes film subjects shine. I quickly realized that I wanted to be out in the field and involved much earlier in the process, but those editing skills gave me my early foundation for story producing.
In college, I directed, produced, and edited my first short documentary about a local nonprofit in Boston. When it was done and they started using my film to spread the word about their efforts, I was hooked and knew this was what I wanted to do with my career. It was incredible to see the immediate impact it had.
Anna Bick Rowe at the 98th Academy Awards
Congratulations on All the Empty Rooms winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film! What did this project mean to you personally and professionally?
I could write an essay on what this project means to me, but I will try to be brief! We first started working on this project when my daughter was 6 months old. The weekend after we premiered the film at Telluride, I sent my daughter off to preschool for the first time. When she’s older, I want to be able to tell her that I did everything I could to protect her and all the other kids in the USA from these senseless tragedies.
Politics aside, we should all agree on keeping our kids safe. Winning the Oscar is an amazing stepping stone to getting this film in front of as many people as [possible, and] we are hopeful that it will change hearts and minds.
Anna Bick Rowe at the 98th Academy Awards
Your work often bridges storytelling and social impact, collaborating with organizations, universities, and nonprofits. What responsibility do you feel filmmakers have when telling stories that intersect with real-world issues?
In today’s digital age of non-stop news and notifications, it’s so easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless about our ability to make a change. With the films that I’ve worked on, our goal has always been to approach complex issues, such as school shootings, by digging down and finding real stories that you can relate to on an emotional level.
We aim to make films that don’t preach to the choir and invite people to join the conversation without intimidation. We often receive notes from people saying they changed their views on an issue after viewing our films because the issue was humanized for them in a way that it hadn’t been before.
Anna Bick Rowe at the premiere of The Steepest Climb: How Delta Air Lines Navigated the Global Pandemic
Looking ahead, what kinds of projects are you most excited to explore next?
We have a few projects in the pipeline! In addition to all of the great branded content and nonprofit work we do, we’re excited to jump into the world of feature documentaries for a bit.
Learn more about Anna Bick Rowe’s work at Smartypants Pictures by visiting www.smartypants.nyc and on Instagram at @smartypantspictures.
(All images courtesy of Anna Bick Rowe)
Farah Qureshi
Farah Qureshi is an intern at NYWIFT with a background in public relations, event coordination, and journalism. She holds a Master’s degree in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University, where she also served as Co-Director and Head of Programming at the Fusion Film Festival. She is passionate about advancing diversity and inclusivity in media and leveraging innovative storytelling to drive meaningful cultural and social impact across the industry.
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