A child actor and tap dancer of no particular talent, Mark nonetheless almost became Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace. Pod-Racing’s loss was Rogue’s gain though, as those days have given him a great affinity with actors (not the ones with floppy ears) and an ability to infuse all his work with a warmth and emotion that most directors would take years to acquire.
Mark has quickly developed his craft not just as a gifted director but as a master of the technical. He started off as a performance director but maybe because he spent so many hours up to his elbows in grease, fixing up his Dad’s motorbikes, has always had a thing about engines. In 2013, he proved it by taking the back off a V10 Audi R8 and getting the driver to take it up to 200mph and back down again as quickly as possible which went from a small thing for the internet into a very big thing on TV and Cinema -and awards shows. The brand still regards it as their benchmark film in the performance category and overnight, it made him the go-to guy for cars. And that was before he even got his own driving licence. He’s since shot award-winning films in amazing locations for Mercedes, Lexus, AMG, Renault, Nissan, BMW and Porsche – and always makes sure he leaves at least three car-lengths for braking – particularly if he’s eating a burger and ‘slaw at the same time.
Mark still loves shooting fast things – collaborating with BBH on the latest R8 model for which he developed a new way of having the car take a moving selfie, whilst doing multiple doughnuts at the same time. The shot and the car worked just as he’d planned but the Russian Arm is still being rebuilt. He ’s happy he didn’t get blamed for that – and also that his success at dreaming up new ways to shoot cars has led him back into more performance work with real people which is what he likes doing more than anything.
