By Samantha Rodriguez
1-22-2025
This story originally appeared in The Miami Hurricane

Margaret Cardillo, an award-winning author, filmmaker and University of Miami professor, earned the top $50,000 prize from the Miami Film Festival’s The Louies competition, to create her upcoming documentary.

The contest awards documentary filmmakers funding grants and a premier spot in this year’s upcoming festival.

Cardillo will continue her lifelong work of documenting powerful women in history by telling the story of Jane Chastain, the nation’s first female sports broadcaster.

With exclusive interviews and clips from the Lynn & Louis Wolfson archive, the film will cover her rise from making football game predictions in an Atlanta newscast to being hired at CBS and covering the Orange Bowl. Cardillo is aiming to show all the hidden ways Chastain carved a new path for women in the male-dominated industry.

Chastain’s career, while historic, has struggled to make its way into the limelight. Cardillo stumbled upon the story when researching the 1972 Miami Dolphins’ perfect season.

The documentary was first going to be about the undefeated season, until she found a sentence about Chastain’s legendary career.

“It was, ‘Larry Csonka [past Miami Dolphins running back] being interviewed by Jane Chastain, the first female sportscaster in America,’” Cardillo said. “And I was like, ‘Wait, what?’”

Cardillo then became fascinated with Chastain’s story.

At the start of the 1970s, sports television was an exclusively male space. When viewers turned on their TVs on game day and saw a woman holding the microphone, there was an immediate backlash.

Chastain’s station was flooded with phone calls demanding she be removed from the air and even bomb threats were made on her home.

“Why didn’t you quit?” Cardillo asked her.

Chastain said she liked her job and saw no reason to step away.

“She could care less about being the first [woman],” Cardillo said. “She just wanted to do a good job, and I really appreciate that about her.”

Cardillo felt it was her duty to memorialize the legacy Chastain left on the media industry.

“Jane was not allowed to go back to the station without a story, and I feel that way with this [film],” Cardillo said. “I’m not allowed to stop until I finish this documentary.”

Cardillo has experience about courageous women who beat the odds. Her “Just Being” series of acclaimed children’s books highlights inspirational female figures from all walks of life.

She depicted several figures, from Audrey Hepburn’s rise to fame while facing adversity in “Just Being Audrey” to Jackie Kennedy’s relentless ambition and grace in dealing with her husband’s assassination in “Just Being Jackie.”

Cardillo will bring her same award-winning writing techniques to document another ground-breaking female figure. Like in her previous work, she uses post-it notes to keep track of the most poignant facts and organize them into an unforgettable three act structure.

The project holds sentimental value for Cardillo, who sees herself in Chastain. Cardillo grew up in Naples, Fla., not far from where Chastain worked in Miami for Channel 6 WTVJ-TV in 1969.

An avid Miami sports fan, Cardillo needed to see the woman who helped put some of her favorite teams on the map on the big screen.

With her $50,000 grant, the price tag can’t stop her now. Cardillo frequently travels across the nation to speak with Chastain’s colleagues and her master’s students from the University of Miami’s filmmaking program tag along.

“This is very much a homegrown Miami project,” Cardillo said. “It’s supported by Miami, going to be made with Miami people and about Miami.”

Cardillo sees independent films buckling down with inventive stories as major studios pour millions into generational franchises. In the swarming wave of high-budget flicks, Cardillo knows an indie will break into the mainstream.

“I think that you have to have hope,” Cardillo said. “They’re gonna still always be looking for [great movies], and hopefully [executives] put some more money behind it and I think that’s coming.”

Cardillo’s documentary will premiere at the 42nd Miami Film Festival and will show viewers what happens when a rising star gets a hint of an A-list budget.

Support independent films by watching Jane Chastain’s incredible journey in April 2026 at next year’s Miami Film Festival. Keep your eye on Cardillo’s website to never miss her next big picture.