Mark Christopher (born July 8, 1963, in
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city in and the county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. F ...
) is a
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
and
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
best known for directing and writing ''
54'' (1998).
Within the film community, he is even better known for the success of the director's cut of the film that premiered at the 2015
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
. With over 40 minutes of original footage restored to the film that had been cut out of the 1998 version by Miramax's notorious Harvey Weinstein, the director's cut was universally lauded by critics and hailed as a "jubilant resurrection" and "a lost gay classic." The story of the films destruction and resurrection was featured on
''New York'' magazine's
Vulture.com website. and ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and
Elvis Mitchell's interview with Mark Christopher on KCRW's ''The Treatment''.
Christopher has also written and directed television, theatre, the IFC indie comedy hit "Pizza," and several short films, three of which have been theatrically distributed: ''The Dead Boys Club'' (1992), an influential short of the
New Queer Cinema
"New queer cinema" is a term first coined by the academic B. Ruby Rich in '' Sight & Sound'' magazine in 1992 to define and describe a movement in queer-themed independent filmmaking in the early 1990s.
It is also referred to as the "queer new ...
wave as cited by B. Ruby Rich in her ''Sight & Sound'' article that defined the genre; ''Alkali, Iowa'' (1995), winner of the Teddy at the Berlin International Film Festival (1996); and ''Heartland,'' Strand Releasing (2007). He is also known for his television writing and creation of musical programming, including ''Real Life: The Musical'' that premiered on OWN.
Filmography
* ''Mid-Century Moderns'' live stage juke box musical, the Coachella Valley's longest running musical comedy (2022 - present, Revolution Stage Company, Desert Rose Playhouse, Oscars,Palm Springs) (Writer/Director)
* ''Berlin'' TV series (current, Stampede Ventures and Leonine Studios, American/German co-production)(Writer/Creator)
* ''Mark Christopher Shorts Retrospective'' collection of short films (2021, Here TV) (Writer/Director)
* ''Sara'' feature (2018, Bionaut) (Writer)
* ''Berlin'' pilot (2016, Warner Bros) (Writer)
* ''Cleopatra VII'' series (2015) (Writer/Creator)
* ''8.3'' short (2014) (Executive Producer)
* ''Real Life: The Musical'' series (2013, OWN/ITV)(Creator, Executive Producer)
* ''Heartland'' pilot (2007, Strand Releasing) (Writer/Director)
* ''
Pizza
Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...
'' feature (2005, IFC) (Writer/Director)
* ''
54'' feature (1998, Miramax) (Writer/Director)
* ''Boys Life 6'' featured short ''Heartland'' (2007, Strand Releasing/2021 Frameline)
* ''
Boys Life 2'' featured short film ''Alkali Iowa'' (1997, Strand Releasing/2021 Frameline) (writer, director)
* ''Boys' Shorts: The New Queer Cinema'' featured short film ''The Dead Boys' Club'' (1993, Frameline/2021 Frameline) (Writer/Director)
* ''The Dead Boys' Club'' (1992, Frameline) (Writer/Director)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, Mark
Film directors from Iowa
1963 births
American male screenwriters
Living people
American LGBTQ film directors