Mark Summers is a British
casting director
In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenplay, ...
, working in both North America and Europe.
Career
Mark Summers began his career as an actor, training at the
Barbara Speake Stage School
The Barbara Speake Stage School was opened on 10 February 1945 as an independent school, and was initially set up as a dancing school, by the founding principal Miss Barbara Speake, MBE, and was located in East Acton, London. The school was fee ...
, before moving into casting for adverts, music videos, film and world tours in both Britain and America.
He won the British Advertising Craft Award for Best Casting Director in 2003, and has been nominated on six other occasions. Additionally, Summers has been the chairman of the awards for Best Performance.
He has over 12,000 casting credits to his name. Performers he has cast can be seen in works such as ''
East is East'', ''
The Boat That Rocked
''The Boat That Rocked'' (titled ''Pirate Radio'' in North America) is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis about pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. The film has an ensemble cast consisting of Phi ...
'' and ''
Queer Eye'', and in adverts for, among others,
Aussie
Aussie is Australian slang for ''Australian'', both the adjective and the noun, and less commonly, Australia.
Pronunciation
In Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, the word is pronounced , hence the alterna ...
,
Boots
A boot is a type of footwear.
Boot or Boots may also refer to:
Businesses
* Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England
* Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom
* The Boot, Cromer Str ...
,
Häagen-Dazs,
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
and
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
.
Summers has also cast music videos and tours for artists including
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...
,
Beyoncé,
Justin Timberlake,
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following th ...
and
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instru ...
.
Summers runs a class teaching the do's and dont's of casting.
Television
Mark Summers and his team (including Associate Director Louise Mason) have also been involved with numerous television shows, most notably joining
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jacks ...
in December 2009 as a judge on the 6-part BBC show ''
Move Like Michael Jackson''. The show also went into production in Belgium and The Netherlands, aired on SBS 6, where Summers also served as a judge.
He is a regular media commentator on dance, media and casting, with a column in ''
Campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
* Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* B ...
'', and has hosted/appeared on many TV shows, including:
*''
Britain's Missing Top Model
''Britain's Missing Top Model'' is a British Reality TV modelling show for disabled women, aired on BBC Three. The premiere episode aired on 1 July 2008. The show courted controversy, with many arguing that the show made disability a spectat ...
''
*"
Move Like Michael Jackson'', BBC (UK) and SBS6 (Benelux)
*''Bump and Grind'' (Trouble TV)
*''
Make Me a Supermodel'' (UK TV series)
*''
The Boss is Coming to Dinner'' (C5)
*''The Model Agent Ireland'' (
The Model Scouts
''The Model Scouts'', formerly ''The Model Agent'' during its first season in 2009, was an Irish reality documentary on RTÉ Two that followed twelve girls competing for a lucrative modelling contract with IMG.
In 2008 the series follow ...
)
*''Bust a Move'' (MTV Networks UK)
Other media
In 2009 Summers and his team were chosen to be the UK Casting Directors on Michael Jackson's
''This Is It'' concerts.
Awards
Mark Summers has received many nominations and awards for his work. Having won the British Advertising Craft Award for Best Casting Director in 2003, he set a new record by being nominated on 6 additional occasions.
In 2008 he was a Craft Finalist for the Casting category at the British Arrow Awards, an honour which he also won in 2003.
In 2010, Summers was honored by Sir Paul McCartney at the
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA ( Hons) degrees in a ra ...
(LIPA), made a ‘Friend of LIPA’, and was awarded a 'Companionship', one of the highest honors ever bestowed by the University. In 2011 Summers was also made mentor and patron of The Royal Academy of Dance. For the past number of years he has also been on the jury panel for Best Performance by an Actor/Actress at the
British Television Advertising Awards (BTAA).
Mark Summers (agency)
Mark Summers, located in
Kensington, London, UK, consists of three separate divisions: casting, dance, and management. They have worked on over 10,000 productions across the world for film, TV, voice-overs, commercials, dance, print, world tours and fashion, representing some of the best choreographers and directors in the world.
Mark Summers Dance & Choreography
In addition to retaining a large number of trained dancers, the dance division represents choreographers such as
Wade Robson
Wade, WADE, or Wades may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Wade, California, a former settlement
* Wade, Maine, a town
* Wade, Mississippi, a census-designated place
* Wade, North Carolina, a town
* Wade, Ohio, an unincorporated communi ...
,
Natricia Bernard,
Litza Bixler,
Travis Payne and
Brian Friedman.
The dance division's choreographers and dancers have worked with artists including
Madonna,
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
,
P!nk
Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential ...
,
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
and
Jennifer Lopez.
Mark Summers Casting
Mark Summers is the Casting Director to
David LaChappelle,
Alek Keshishian
Alek Keshishian ( hy, Ալեք Գևորգի Քեշիշեան, born 30 July 1964) is an Armenian-born American film and commercial director, writer, producer and music video director. His 1991 documentary, '' Madonna: Truth or Dare'' was the high ...
,
Tony Kaye,
Sam Bayer and
Paul Hunter.
Mark Summers Studios
Located next to the West Kensington Underground, Mark Summers Studios has one of the biggest casting studios in London. The state of the art studio features beauty lighting, the photographer's choice of back drops, a client meeting room, and the fastest web upload in London, making live casting available. The design is modern, and the staff is friendly and experienced. The Studio currently accepts bookings.
Mark Summers Management
The management division represents actors, dancers, and choreographers, as well as other performers.
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Mark
Living people
British casting directors
British talent agents
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)