Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American director.

Early life

Waters was raised in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. He studied at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in theatre arts before studying at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

. When studying at Penn, he saw '' The House of Yes'' and saw things in the play that he felt he could make cinematic. He contacted the author of the play in

Wendy MacLeod Wendy MacLeod (born August 6, 1959) is an American playwright. Life and career MacLeod received a BA from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where she now teaches and is a playwright-in-residence. She earned a MFA from the Yale School of Drama. ...

and got a manuscript copy by saying he was a film producer. He worked as a stage actor and director in Philadelphia and San Francisco before his work with AFI, where he graduated in 1994. He made a number of short films.

Career

He directed the comedy films '' Freaky Friday'', ''

Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. It stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, and Fey. The film follows Cady Heron (Lohan), a naïve t ...

'', ''

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past ''Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'' is a 2009 American Fantasy film, fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Mark Waters. The script was written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (screenwriter), Scott Moore, based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Chr ...

'', '' Mr. Popper's Penguins'', and ''

Vampire Academy ''Vampire Academy'' is a series of six young adult fiction, young adult paranormal romance novels by American author Richelle Mead. It tells the story of Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway, a dhampir girl, who is training to be a guardian of her moroi be ...

''. The first movie he directed was the independent hit '' The House of Yes'' starring

Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress. Known for playing eccentric characters in independent films, she was named "Queen of the Indies" by ''Time'' in 1997. She has received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Awa ...

. Other movies he directed include ''Head Over Heels'', ''

The Spiderwick Chronicles ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' is a series of children's fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spider ...

', Bad Santa 2, Magic Camp, He's All That','' and more. He was attached to direct a movie called ''Minimum Wage'' written by Scott Atkinson and Tegan West.

Filmography

Film

Producer * ''

500 Days of Summer ''(500) Days of Summer'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Marc Webb, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and produced by Mark Waters. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel as Tom and Summer re ...

'' (2009) * ''Harvest Moon'' (TBA)

Television

TV movies TV series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Mark 1964 births AFI Conservatory alumni Living people American male screenwriters Film producers from Michigan People from Wyandotte, Michigan English-language film directors Film directors from Michigan Screenwriters from Michigan