Mark Thomas Ciardi (pronounced ''CHAR-dee''; born August 19, 1961) is an American film producer and former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He is currently the Founder and President of Select Films. Ciardi has a rich breadth of experience as a Film Executive, and Producer. Select Films is an independent content production firm that also serves as a financier for media properties. Prior to Select Films, Ciardi was the co-founder of Mayhem Pictures that had an overall first look deal with Walt Disney Studios for twelve years. At Mayhem, Ciardi produced several sports films for

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

including '' The Rookie'', ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

'', '' Invincible'', ''The Game Plan'', ''

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

'', ''

Million Dollar Arm ''Million Dollar Arm'' is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Ri ...

'', ''

McFarland, USA ''McFarland, USA'' (also known as ''McFarland'') is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Niki Caro, produced by Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, written by Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson with music composed by An ...

'', and ''

Safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

''. Recently, Mark produced A Million Miles Away for Amazon Studios, as well as Chappaquiddick,

The Miracle Season ''The Miracle Season'' is a 2018 American biographical sports drama film directed by Sean McNamara and starring Erin Moriarty, Helen Hunt, William Hurt, and Danika Yarosh. The film is based on the true story of the Iowa City West High School ...

, and the Lionsgate film American Underdog. He also produced the Emmy Award winning ESPN 30-For-30 documentary entitled Big Shot and the 30-For-30 entitled 42 to 1. A native of

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway ( ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley. As of the 2020 United ...

, Ciardi was an All-State high school pitcher, graduating from Piscataway Township High School as part of the class of 1979.O'Donnell, Chuck
"Mark Ciardi: A life worthy of a Hollywood script"
''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presi ...

'', July 22, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2016. "Mark Ciardi pitching for Piscataway High School. After graduating in 1979, he went on to pitch at the University of Maryland.... Ciardi, who turns 55 in August, grew up on Mitchell Avenue in Piscataway." He continued his baseball career at the University of Maryland, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He was drafted in 1983 by the Milwaukee Brewers organization and was called up to the major leagues in 1987. He retired the following year due to an injury. Ciardi is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

and serves on the board of trustees at the University of Maryland. Mark is married with two children and resides in Los Angeles.

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

;As an actor

Television

Major League Baseball career

Ciardi played for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in 1987. He opened the season on the

roster in which they started the season with 13 consecutive wins, winning the eighth game in that streak against the Orioles, but losing the 14th game of the season. The opening 13–game winning streak is a record that still stands today. Ciardi remained in the big leagues for one month that year then retired the following year due to a shoulder injury. In 2023, the record was tied by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who were the subject of the first film that Ciardi produced.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciardi, Mark 1961 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from New Brunswick, New Jersey Beloit Brewers players Denver Zephyrs players El Paso Diablos players Film producers from New Jersey Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Paintsville Brewers players Sportspeople from Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway High School alumni Stockton Ports players Vancouver Canadians players Maryland Terrapins baseball players