Did you choose film and drama or did it choose you?
Mark:
Good question. I think it chose me. If I could find something else in life, some other form of expression that allowed me to be myself more fully, then I know I would switch to that new form. But, for now film/drama/theatre/writing - this is what allows me to get up every morning and face a new day, knowing that some time during this day I will most likely have a glorious experience of discovery and self-expression that makes everything else in life worthwhile.
About Mark Travis
Mark Travis did his graduate work in directing at the Yale School of Drama and he is the former creative consultant to film director Mark
Rydell. His television directing credits include: The Facts of Life; Family Ties; Capitol; and the Emmy Awardwinning PBS dramatic special, Blind Tom: The Thomas Bethune
Story. In 1990 he completed his first film, Going Under, for Warner Bros., which starred Bill Pullman and Ned Beatty. In 1999 he directed the documentary, Earlet;
and in 2001, he wrote and directed The Baritones, a 30-minute spoof of the hit television show, The Sopranos. Since 1992, Mark has been sharing his techniques on writing,
acting, and directing at USA: The Directors Guild, The American Film Institute, UCLA Extension, Pixar, Disney Animation, Hollywood Film Institute; Japan: Film & Media Lab; London:
Raindance Institute, Metropolitan Film School, London Film Academy, Lionhead Studios; Germany: HFF Munich,ActionConcept, Ukaine: Hollywood School in Ukraine, Russia: International
Film Actors Workshop, Amsterdam: Mauris Binger Institute and The Film Farm in Kotla, Poland. Over the past 20 years Mark has directed over 60 theatre productions in Los Angeles and
New York and received over 20 theater directing awards from Los Angeles Theatre, LA Weekly, and Dramalogue, to mention a few. In 1989 he initiated a process of developing and
directing one person shows that has generated numerous notable productions including, Time Flies When You're Alive, and A Bronx Tale. Mark is the author of
The Director's Journey:
the Creative Collaboration between Directors, Writers and Actors, a Los Angeles Times #1 Best Seller, also available in German and Japanese translations. His second book,
Directing Feature Films, was published April 2002. Mark is currently writing The Director's Bag of Tricks, and Word of Mouth:
the Art and Craft of Autobiographical Storytelling.
If you could accomplish anything, what would it be and why?
Mark:
I would like to reach a level of creative comfort. This means that I would be able to spend my time comfortably in the nurturing of other talent as well as in nurturing my own. A balanced life between self-expression and service would be the key.
Read a chapter from Directing Feature Films
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