The legend once promulgated by Kennedy and her most celebrated collaborator played like a classic Cinderella story. Spielberg hired Kennedy as a secretary but she was a terrible typist who was redeemed by her good ideas. He let her stay around and the rest was history. While Kennedy was no mere escapee from the typing pool, the true story of her rise was only marginally less fantastic.
While still a student at San Diego State University majoring in telecommunications and film, Kennedy found work at a local San Diego TV station, KCST, in various posts including camera operator, video editor, floor director and news production coordinator. She went on to produce a local talk show for the station entitled "You're On" for four years before moving to Los Angeles. Kennedy got her first film job working with John Milius whose A-Team Productions was making Spielberg's "1941" (1979). Her first film credit was as a production assistant on that elephantine period comedy. Kennedy so impressed the hot young director that she became his assistant and nabbed an associate producer credit on the adventure classic "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981). This fateful production also marked her first meeting with Marshall, her future husband and business partner, then making his debut as a full producer.
Kennedy went on to co-produce Spielberg's lavish production of Tobe Hooper's horror outing "Poltergeist" (1982) and earned her first full producer's credit on the erstwhile grosses king "E.T., The Extra- Terrestrial" (1982). Kennedy has since had a hand in most of the company's films, as well as on every subsequent Spielberg-directed feature through 1994. Her first film as executive producer was the popular Joe Dante-directed black comedy "Gremlins" (1984). She has collaborated with an impressive and diverse group of filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis, Barry Levinson and Clint Eastwood. Kennedy also served as an executive producer or production executive on various Amblin TV specials and series.
Realizing that Spielberg was developing interests far beyond the scope of Amblin (e.g., starting his own film studio), Kennedy and Marshall decided to strike out on their own. They left Amblin--Kennedy in 1992, Marshall the year before--and struck a non-exclusive three-year deal to develop and produce films for Paramount Pictures. Thus was The Kennedy/Marshall Company born. However the PA-turned-mogul still had unfinished business to complete before leaving her presidency, namely "Jurassic Park", "Schindler's List", and "The Bridges of Madison County" (1995).
The first film produced under the Kennedy/Marshall banner was the inspirational survival saga "Alive" (1993), directed by Marshall. After that moderate critical and commercial success, they followed up with the underperforming romantic comedy "Milk Money" (1994). Kennedy rolled the dice again and produced "Congo" (1995), a $55 million dollar jungle adventure yarn adapted from the popular Michael Crichton novel, directed by her husband. Shooting in such far-flung locations as Uganda, Tanzania and Costa Rica and utilizing sophisticated FX, robotics and special makeup effects, this project called upon much of the filmmaking know-how Kennedy had acquired working on numerous Amblin blockbusters.
For the remainder of the decade, Kennedy enjoyed success as producer or executive producer on several box-office hits. "Twister" (1996) may have relied more on visual pyrotechnics than story development but it pulled in over $240 million in revenues. The Spielberg-directed sequel "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (1997), as expected, was a summer blockbuster. That same year's "Contact" may not have met expectations but it was prestige fare thanks in part to leading lady Jodie Foster. While the two 1999 literary adaptations, "A Map of the World" and "Snow Falling on Cedars", seemingly got lost in their end of the year bid for Oscar consideration, Kennedy and Marshall hit pay dirt and garnered a Best Picture nod for "The Sixth Sense" (1999), a surprise box-office hit about a young boy gifted with the ability to "see" dead people.