Alexandra Dean is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer. She produced news-magazine documentaries for PBS before becoming a series and documentary producer at Bloomberg television, producing the series “Innovators, Adventures and Pursuits.” She also writes about invention for Businessweek magazine. She is a founding partner at Reframed Pictures.

“Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” will premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival on April 23.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words

AD: “Bombshell” is a film about a girl who wanted to make her mark in the world, but the world could not see past her face. Hedy Lamarr was considered “the most beautiful girl in the world” in the 1940s. She was a screen legend who starred alongside Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable, but she also had a secret hobby. At night, she invented.

She worked on ideas with Howard Hughes, but her most exciting invention was a “secret communication system” she invented for Allied warships to torpedo Nazi submarines with deadly accuracy. That communication system became the basis for our secure Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and even some cell phone technology today.

But Hedy was never recognized for this extraordinary invention because she never told the press what she had done. In fact, in her later years she became a recluse and died alone and penniless. Then, in 2016 we found lost tapes of Hedy talking to a reporter in 1990. Now, for the first time, Hedy explains what happened in her own words.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

AD: Who wouldn’t want to make a story about Hedy?! She was a wild child. Some said she was a spy. She was a movie star and later a drug addict and a recluse. Her life was crazy enough before we discovered she came up with a technology we use in our digital devices every day.

I spent years profiling inventors and innovators for Bloomberg Television and Businessweek, but I never heard a life story that came close to Hedy’s. I suppose it also particularly resonated for me because as a short, quiet woman who always wanted to be a director, I know a little about what it’s like to want to do something that no one expects you to do.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they’re leaving the theater?

AD: I’d like them to wonder how many people who look wrong for the part actually have the capacity to do extraordinary things they dream of achieving. I think every single one of us has some extraordinary spark. We just need Hedy’s balls of steel to make our dreams happen!

W&H: What was your biggest challenge making this film?

AD: Definitely the biggest challenge was finding Hedy’s voice. At first we thought we would have to get an actress to read her autobiography, but then I discovered that Hedy sued the ghostwriter for libel, claiming nothing in the autobiography was true! I started desperately looking for other primary sources, but Hedy gave only a handful of short print interviews about her invention and never spoke about it on radio or television.

I was sitting up in bed at night staring at the walls and thinking there must be some tape of her telling her life story. My team and I started calling every person who ever said on the record they talked to Hedy Lamarr and after several months of searching we finally found a reporter who had recorded her 25 years ago and never published the tapes. The day we found the tapes we ripped up our film and started again, letting Hedy dictate the way we told her story.

W&H: How did you get your film funded?

AD: It was a mix of funds from foundations, individual donors, and investors, as well as funding from “American Masters” on PBS, the program that will air “Bombshell” next fall.

The majority of our funds we raised from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation, which has been an extraordinary supporter of Hedy and her story for many years.

W&H: What does it mean to have your film play at Tribeca?

AD: It’s an absolute dream come true. Truly. It’s blowing my mind!

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

AD: The best and worst advice that I get as a filmmaker tends to be all wrapped up in one piece of mixed advice. People tend to tell you what you should fix about your film by explaining how they would change it. What you need to listen to is that something is “bumping” them and may need improvement. You don’t need to listen to their particular diagnosis of how to improve the film. That distinction is so crucial.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female filmmakers?

AD: Watch out for opinionated people. They may think you need more guidance than you do. Try hard to find your own voice. It’s in there, and all of us have one.

It feels like many young boys are encouraged to speak strongly in their individual voices from birth, and I’m not sure it’s the same for girls. We sometimes have to spend time finding that voice. It’s the one that whispers to you when people try to change your work. Listen to it — it’s trying to tell you something!

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why

AD: My favorite has to be “The Hurt Locker.” Kathryn Bigelow is a legend. I thought she told that story with exquisite timing and suspense as well as a wonderful sense of perspective about the dullness of civilian life after the macabre thrill of wartime.

W&H: There have been significant conversations over the last couple of years about increasing the amount of opportunities for women directors yet the numbers have not increased. Are you optimistic about the possibilities for change? Share any thoughts you might have on this topic.

AD: God, I hope [the numbers improve, but] I have no idea [how optimistic to be]. It seems inevitable that more women will direct because more and more viewers are demanding content that comes from multiple perspectives.

What’s tricky is securing the funding for directors who are female or from minority backgrounds. We just have to wait for more people to have faith in us.