Mark Borchardt
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Mark Borchardt (born August 20, 1966) is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film '' American Movie'', which documented three years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short ''
Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of Witchcraft, witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English lan ...
'' (1997).


Early life

Borchardt was born and raised in
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 38,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most-populous village in Wisconsin. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. ...
. His mother, Monica, is Swedish. He started making films at the age of fourteen with a
super-8 Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The formal name for Super 8 is 8-mm Type S, distinguishing it from the ...
camera that was given to him by a neighbor. After serving three years in the military, he continued his cinematic endeavors at the local university. In the mid-nineties, he wrote and produced Halloween radio dramas which were broadcast annually and won a fellowship from the Milwaukee Art Futures Board.


Career

Filmmakers Chris Smith and Sarah Price began filming Borchardt while he was attempting to put together funding for his unfinished feature ''Northwestern''. After the project collapsed, Borchardt decided instead to finish ''
Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of Witchcraft, witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English lan ...
'', which he had started years earlier. After ''Coven'' was completed, Smith and Price compiled their footage into ''American Movie'', which was picked up by Sony Classics and won the
Grand Jury Prize A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent date and depe ...
at the 1999
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
. Since then Borchardt has been active appearing on television and in movies. Borchardt made five appearances on ''
Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
'', including serving as Letterman's 2000 election correspondent. He made several TV appearances on The Show with No Name, a show in
Austin, TX Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, between 2000 and 2003. In 2004, he played himself in a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
on the television cartoon series ''
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'', along with friend and ''American Movie'' co-star Mike Schank. He and Mike also had their own series on Zero TV,
Mark and Mike
' and, in 2006, Mark and Mike hosted a national television special called ''Night of the Living Dead: LIVE from Wisconsin'' on
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
night. Borchardt has appeared in several movies, including '' The One'' (2001), ''The Tunnel'' (2001), '' Abby Singer'', & '' The Godfather of Green Bay'' (2005). Borchardt also starred in ''
Modus Operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...
'' (2009), played a gravedigger in the partially animated comedy '' Hamlet A.D.D.'' (2014), had a leading role in the horror feature '' The Hagstone Demon'' (2011), and played Mr. Englan in the directorial debut of fellow
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
filmmaker Jozef K. Richards, ''The Amateur Monster Movie'' (2011). In addition, Borchardt also made a cameo in the music video for the Leslie and the Ly's song "Zombie Killer" featuring Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on guest vocals. He has contributed to Kevin Lindenmuth's 2001 book, ''The Independent Film Experience'' ( ) and had his short stories published in magazines. Borchardt is one of a trio of hosts on "Cinema Fireside," a weekly film discussion show on WXRW 104.1 in Milwaukee. In 2004, he announced he would direct ''Scare Me'' and sent out casting calls. In 2008, he announced a 2009 release date, which was originally slated for a 2005 release. As of Summer 2010 the movie was still in production and as of 2023, it still has not been released. In April 2012, Borchardt stated that about 65% of the film had been shot, and that he was happy with the first forty pages of the script. However, he maintained parts of the script needed to be revised and while he had rough-cut some of the footage, there was no completion date in place for the project. In a March 2013 update for the ''Scare Me''
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page, the release date was set for April 1, 2014. In 2018 he directed a
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
called ''The Dundee Project'', which focused on attendees of a UFO festival in Wisconsin. The film premiered at
Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival is held in Los Angeles in late February and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization. The organization ...
(Park City), then played at
Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...
(Austin), Nitehawk Cinema (Brooklyn), and the Chicago Critics Film Festival.


Personal life

Borchardt has three children.


Filmography


As writer/director


As actor/subject


Music videos


References


External links

*
Northwestproductions.com
Borchardt's former production website : (At the
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, 2003 and earlier; extensive use of
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s for navigation.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Borchardt, Mark 1966 births Living people American male screenwriters American male film actors Filmmakers from Milwaukee People from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin American people of Swedish descent Male actors from Wisconsin Film directors from Wisconsin Screenwriters from Wisconsin