Courtney Pledger’s love for the arts began in middle school. Living in Charlotte, North Carolina, she volunteered at a professional theater where she soaked in every performance of the summer musicals.
When her family moved back to Jackson, Mississippi, she eagerly joined the summer crew in Millsaps’ theater department as a high schooler. That production of Damn Yankees, in which she swept stages, painted sets and ran errands, was also her speaking role debut, where she chanted “Boston Red Sox!” as a member of the chorus.
There was no question: she was hooked.
Pledger performing with the Millsaps Players
But theater wasn’t the only thing she fell in love with. “I decided there was absolutely no place I would rather be than Millsaps College,” she said. Originally a music major, she quickly switched to theater after spending a summer in New York City and seeing her first Broadway play. “My pal and fellow Millsaps peer Jolyne Wise and I saw Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, and after the curtain came down, we literally stood in Schubert Alley and cried over it!” she said.
Back at Millsaps, her college experience was marked by the performing arts. “I was a member of the choir, joined the Troubadours – a song and dance ensemble – and entered the world of the Millsaps Players,” she recalled. “I believe experiences in the performing arts help make us comfortable in our own skin and able to walk with greater ease through the world – my time at Millsaps gave me that.”
Graduating from Millsaps marked the beginning of Pledger’s incredible career in theater, television and film. Initially moving back to the bright lights and Broadway stages of NYC, she eventually relocated to Los Angeles, joined the Screen Actors Guild and worked on several television shows.
Pledger with her family while living in Los Angeles
Over the years, her focus shifted from acting to production: on-camera to behind-the-camera. “I worked for a time in LA creating visual novels with Hollywood directors and writers and then adapting them into films like Oblivion with Tom Cruise and Hercules with Dwayne Johnson,” she said.
She also worked in London doing similar work, developing films adapted from children’s books. In the midst of it all, she became a devoted mother to three amazing children.
Pledger at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
In 2012, after years in the world’s busiest cities, Pledger and her family settled in Little Rock, Arkansas and she took the helm of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. “With a terrific group of volunteers, I took it from financially challenged to becoming a top North American festival and qualifier for the Academy Awards in Documentary Short Subject,” she said.
That success opened the door to her next chapter. “When the position of CEO of the statewide public media network came open, as a longtime lover of PBS, I jumped at the chance.”
Under her leadership, Arkansas PBS expanded to reach 96 percent of Arkansas households. She helped launch new TV shows, like Mystery League, a national series for PBS kids, and Southern Storytellers, a program following some of the South’s most compelling and influential contemporary creatives.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Arkansas PBS worked with teachers to create ‘school on the air’ programs for remote learning. The station even welcomed esteemed guests like YoYo Ma and Dolly Parton for live broadcasts.
Through all of this, it’s clear to Pledger that Millsaps planted seeds that still grow in her life. “I think I became ‘me’ at Millsaps. I made strong friendships and was able to hone my passion for theater, music and film. I learned the joy of accomplishing through hard work and developed confidence that became part of me,” she said.
“I would say at Millsaps, experiences for me had great depth. Relationships with professors were meaningful and relaxed,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade my years there for anything.”
This past spring, Pledger stepped away from leading Arkansas PBS after eight years. She returns to full‑time producing, this time on a national PBS project pending announcement.
Just like the many shows and movies she’s helped bring to life, some stories stay with you forever. For her, Millsaps is one of them. “There’s no question, Millsaps has had a lasting impact on my life,” she said. It was a defining chapter, one that continues to shape the script of her life.