MARION MACKENZIE PYLE, M.A.
AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER, WRITER, TV HOST, ACTRESS, AND SPEAKER
Growing up in Buenos Aires and Mexico City, Marion MacKenzie Pyle was immersed in the British, American and Latin American media world through her father’s role as President of NBC International. Spending afternoons in his screening room ignited a lifelong passion for storytelling that would take her across continents and industries.
A bilingual Scottish-American creative force, Marion is an award-winning writer, producer, director, actor, and speaker. Her artistic journey led her to study at the renowned Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles under Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. She gained early recognition in theater, starring in musicals such as Celebration and Company, before transitioning into film and television.
In Australia, she performed alongside Meryl Streep, Sam Neill (A Cry in the Dark), Colin Friels (Ground Zero), and starred in popular TV shows like Flying Doctors and Chances. She earned a Green Room Award nomination and co-founded The P&M Drama Studios, training Australian actors in the Method Acting tradition.
Marion’s creative impact extended to advertising, winning a Clio Award for the bilingual Find Yourself in Mexico campaign. She also hosted, wrote, and produced Straight from the Tap, a six-time Telly Award-winning environmental television series. Her passion for social impact led to The California Mental Health Initiative, a web series educating professionals on mental health and homelessness, earning two Telly Awards.
In the faith and family-friendly space, Marion created Winning at Love, a heartwarming docuseries on Christian singles seeking true love, distributed in over 200 countries. She is also the author of the best-selling Healed, Healthy, and Whole, chronicling her journey to save her husband’s life using non-toxic therapies, leading to national media appearances and currently book #2 debuting in summer of 2025 about the latest groundbreaking integrative cancer therapies.
As co-founder of Highlander Studios with her husband, Russell, Marion produces edifying and values-driven film, television and theater. Recent projects include the launch of her own talk show “The UP Side with Marion MacKenzie, Conversations That Light Up the World” and development of two feature films.
Recognized by the Tennessee State Legislature and She Leads Tennessee for her faith-based leadership, Marion continues to influence entertainment, advocacy, and community engagement. Whether crafting compelling stories, mentoring creatives, or championing important causes, she remains a Renaissance woman dedicated to inspiring change through the power of media and storytelling.
From Loss to Faith: A Journey Home
MARION MACKENZIE PYLE, M.A.
Born in Buenos Aires to a Scottish father and American mother, I lived a charmed childhood devoid of any religious influence. My early years were spent between our city apartment and my grandmother's magnificent estate, Greystone, where monarch butterflies danced in the gardens and life seemed perfect.
Everything changed when I was twelve. The morning my parents were to fly to Acapulco for a business event, I had a terrible premonition. In tears, I begged my mother not to go. She tried to comfort me, despite her own fear of flying. That was our final goodbye. That afternoon, through a crackling phone line, I learned their plane had crashed. My mother was gone, and my father was critically injured.
In the chaos that followed, I became numb, and the questions that would shape my life began to surface: Where had my mother gone? If she could, wouldn't she find a way to communicate with me? What happens when we die? In a family and community devoid of religious influence, I had no framework for these questions. The cold, ritualistic Catholic churches of Latin America offered no comfort.
Thus began a fifteen-year spiritual quest. I explored transcendental meditation, Silva Mind Control, EST, and esoteric teachings. I dabbled in astrology, numerology, and Ouija boards, not realizing then that these seemingly innocent practices could open doors to spiritual darkness. Despite their promise of enlightenment, they left me feeling spiritually bankrupt.
Life moved forward. My father remarried, and I pursued an acting career in Los Angeles. The work was therapeutic and helped me reconnect with my heart and feelings again before marrying a fellow actor and moving to Australia. While professionally successful, running an acting studio in Melbourne, my marriage suffered under my husband's undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Once again, the connection I longed for eluded me.
It was during this time that my Christian step-mother suggested I consider the claims of Jesus. On a quiet Melbourne beach, with nothing to lose, I prayed, expressing willingness to explore if what people said was true. Though nothing supernatural happened, two weeks later I discovered a Bible college near my home.
Over the next two years, I studied Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. My spiritual appetite grew powerfully, and I found myself devouring the Bible with fascination. Slowly, I began to see creation, humanity, and my own life as part of His-story. Through the mentorship of a pastor's wife who took me under her wing, I finally found the connection and belonging I'd sought for so long.
When the clear call came to return to Los Angeles, I followed. My first marriage ended peacefully, and while volunteering at a Thanksgiving event for the homeless, I met Russell, a talented set and lighting designer and fellow producer whose shared faith formed the foundation of what has now become a happy 27-year marriage and vibrant media partnership.
(https://www.highanderstudios.org)
What began as a child’s desperate search to understand where her mother had gone when she left this life has led to finding the ultimate source of rest which is found in belonging to God and the family of faith.