As a teen, Mark spent Summers creating Super-8, stop-motion animation, which resulted in him catching the film-making bug. Exposure to 70’s disaster films cemented his desire to pursue cinema as a career.
Mark's interest in the periphery drew him to punk, then performance and a stint in a heavy-metal drag band in San Francisco. There are videos!
Studying film at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago followed soon after and his short, Get Happy or The Night Judy Garland Started A Riot, screened in numerous film festivals around the world, from New York to Montreal, Paris, Glasgow, Melbourne, and even Tokyo.
Since college, Mark lived abroad teaching English in Japan, started a company creating promotional videos for small businesses, and for the last 13 years Mark has studied screenwriting, where his work has earned him accolades from Cinestory TV Retreat, Stowe Story Labs, Final Draft's Big Break, Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship, Stage 32 Diversity Springboard, Series Fest Storytellers Initiative, WeScreenplay's Diverse Voices and Roadmap's Wise Words screenwriting contests. Mark was also a finalist in the 2021 Austin Film Festival Virtual Pitch Competition, winner of the 2021 ISA Virtual Pitch Challenge and genre winner of the 2022 ISA Fast Track Fellowship.
Mark is constantly finding new stories to tell, whether based on personal experience, inspired by books or via overlooked elements of queer culture. His work focuses on the underdog, the misunderstood, the maligned, heroes who don’t back down, who refuse to allow others to take away their identity, passion or pride.
As a member of the LGBTQI+ community, Mark is encouraged by the constantly emerging visibility of the queer community in today’s media.
"Growing up in the 70’s meant searching in vain for those who looked like, acted like or resembled you. I can only hope that by pushing itself to include and celebrate the spectrum of human experience, our world will become a better and more welcoming place."
As a teen, Mark spent Summers creating Super-8, stop-motion animation, which resulted in him catching the film-making bug. Exposure to 70’s disaster films cemented his desire to pursue cinema as a career.
Mark's interest in the periphery drew him to punk, then performance and a stint in a heavy-metal drag band in San Francisco. There are videos!
Studying film at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago followed soon after and his short, Get Happy or The Night Judy Garland Started A Riot, screened in numerous film festivals around the world, from New York to Montreal, Paris, Glasgow, Melbourne, and even Tokyo.
Since college, Mark lived abroad teaching English in Japan, started a company creating promotional videos for small businesses, and for the last 13 years Mark has studied screenwriting, where his work has earned him accolades from Cinestory TV Retreat, Stowe Story Labs, Final Draft's Big Break, Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship, Stage 32 Diversity Springboard, Series Fest Storytellers Initiative, WeScreenplay's Diverse Voices and Roadmap's Wise Words screenwriting contests. Mark was also a finalist in the 2021 Austin Film Festival Virtual Pitch Competition, winner of the 2021 ISA Virtual Pitch Challenge and genre winner of the 2022 ISA Fast Track Fellowship.
Mark is constantly finding new stories to tell, whether based on personal experience, inspired by books or via overlooked elements of queer culture. His work focuses on the underdog, the misunderstood, the maligned, heroes who don’t back down, who refuse to allow others to take away their identity, passion or pride.
As a member of the LGBTQI+ community, Mark is encouraged by the constantly emerging visibility of the queer community in today’s media.
"Growing up in the 70’s meant searching in vain for those who looked like, acted like or resembled you. I can only hope that by pushing itself to include and celebrate the spectrum of human experience, our world will become a better and more welcoming place."
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