As a teen, Mark spent Summers making his own Super-8, stop-motion animation, which resulted in him catching the filmmaking bug. Exposure to 70’s disaster films cemented his desire to pursue film 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. 

Studying filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago followed soon after and his first short film, Get Happy or The Night Judy Garland Started A Riot, screened in numerous film festivals around the world from Montreal to New York, to Glasgow and Tokyo. 

Since college, Mark taught English in Japan, started a company creating promotional videos for small businesses, and for the last 14 years he has studied screenwriting, where his work has earned him accolades from 2023 WritersXwriters Winner, 2023 Stowe Story Labs Diverse Voices Finalist, 2023 Atlanta Film Festival Semifinalist, ISA's 2022 Fast Track Fellowship Top 50 and Genre Winner, Cinestory TV Retreat 2021 and 2022, 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 and winner of the 2021 ISA Virtual Pitch Challenge.

Mark is constantly finding new stories to tell, be they based on personal experience, inspired by books or emerging from the hidden elements of queer culture. His work focuses on the underdog, the misunderstood, the maligned, heroes who don’t back down, those who refuse to allow others to take away their identity, passion or pride.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Mark is encouraged by the continually emerging visibility of the queer community in the 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 all spectrums of human experience, our world will become a better and more welcoming place." -  Mark