Alumni Profiles
Olivia Milch ’07
“Crossroads made me feel like my voice mattered and should be heard.”
These days, Olivia Milch ’07 is on the rise as a filmmaker. She made her directorial debut with her own script on a rites-of-passage film, “Dude,” which was released on Netflix in 2018, and she also co-wrote “Ocean’s 8” with Gary Ross.
But she sounds even more excited when talking about Crossroads: “It was the best! I am overwhelmingly grateful that I went to Crossroads; I can only imagine how annoying I was then, because I still feel so positive about my experience. I bounced all over the place, was really loud and opinionated and wanted to be involved in all the decision-making. Every one of those instincts was fostered and supported.”
Olivia was a prototypical Crossroads student in that her day-to-day life was incredibly varied. She was involved in Student Council (and became the student body president), wrote for the newspaper and the Academic Journal and played four years of Upper School soccer. “I really liked being on campus,” she says.
When asked about favorite classes, Olivia says, “I was lucky enough to take three years of film with Tom Kemper. I was also lucky enough to take Great Books with Jim Hosney, which afforded me the gift of his film teaching as well.”
Olivia maintains that her Crossroads education has “influenced everything I do in my life and my work. Crossroads instilled in me a belief that I had a role in my own education and, in turn, the world around me. Crossroads made me feel like my voice mattered and should be heard.”
Lately, Olivia’s work has brought her a good deal of attention in the film industry. In 2019, she was named one of Forbes’ Hollywood & Entertainment 30 under 30. “I am really excited about telling stories that authentically represent the female experience in all of its diversity and complexity,” she says. “I am grateful to be able to continue to learn and pay it forward by holding the door open for younger writers and creators whose stories we need to see in the world.”
Olivia certainly left her mark on Crossroads, and it comes as little surprise that she’s doing the same in the film world. With her talent and commitment, she is helping blaze the trail for female filmmakers. And her story, it seems, is just getting started.
