Mark Dennis (director)

Mark Dennis

Attending the 14th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala with Ben Foster and Olivia Draguicevich
Born San Antonio, Texas, United States
Occupation Film Director, Film Producer, Editor, Composer
Years active 2007–present

Mark Dennis (born May 13) is an American director, editor, producer and composer. His debut feature, Strings, won him Best Director awards at the Tulsa International Film Festival and Long Island International Film Expo (shared with collaborator Ben Foster) and was an Official Selection at the Hollywood Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Gotham Film Festival, and Ventura Film Festival.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Life and career

Dennis was born in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Northwest Vista College and the University of Texas at Austin.[9]

Dennis directed, produced, and edited (along with Ben Foster) the independent film, Strings, which won Audience Awards at the Breckenridge Film Festival, White Sands International Film Festival, and Silver City Film Festival.[1][10][11][12] Based on his own life experiences, Dennis wrote the screenplay for Strings while working at TSTV, the student television station at the University of Texas where he created and acted as show runner for the award-winning sketch comedy program, That's Awesome! starring Zach Anner.[2][9][9][13][14]

Following the release of Strings in May 2012, Dennis embarked on a 282-day cross-continental motorcycle trip on his KLR650 dual-sport motorcycle.[15] He rode from his family's home in Boerne, TX through all of Mexico and Central America before sailing around the Darien Gap and concluding his journey through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Dennis's trip nearly ended in tragedy when he was hit by a drunk driver in the Andes mountains outside of Potosi, Bolivia and left for dead until he was rescued by a local family.[16] He finished the last 56 miles of Bolivia with a broken wrist and sold his motorcycle on the Bolivia/Argentina border, before hitchhiking to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, then catching a boat to Antarctica. Dennis wrote a screenplay based partly on his experiences entitled ENDURO, currently in pre production.[17]

Awards and nominations

Strings (2011)

References

  1. 1 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20111227003403/http://stringsmovie.com/. Archived from the original on December 27, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 1 2 "RTF Alums Debut Thriller at Austin Film Festival | The Alcalde". Alcalde.texasexes.org. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  3. ↑ "Tulsa IFF. - Winners". Tulsafilmfestival.org. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  4. 1 2 "New York film festival Best Director award goes to San Antonio-Austin filmmakers". EnergizedSanantonio.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  5. ↑ "2011 Films | Hollywood Film Festival: Awards, Films, Indies, Hollywood - HollywoodFilmFestival.com". Hollywoodfest.com. 1936-08-18. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120115031229/http://aff.bside.com/2011/films/strings_markdennis_aff2011. Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "STRINGS | GSIFF New York 2011 International Film Festival | New York City | October 13 thru 23, 2011". Gsiff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  8. 1 2 "'Strings' to Debut at Bellmore Movies on Sunday - Bellmore, NY Patch". Bellmore.patch.com. 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  9. 1 2 3 "Jeanne Jakle: Local stars are making presence known in Hollywood - San Antonio Express-News". Mysanantonio.com. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  10. ↑ "The Silver City Film Festival". Silvercityfilmfest.org. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  11. 1 2 Archived December 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. 1 2 "White Sands Film Festival winners announced - Las Cruces Sun-News". Lcsun-news.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  13. ↑ "Zach Anner flattens 'Next Oprah' competition | The Daily Texan". Dailytexanonline.com. 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  14. ↑ "Strings in Austin". Uweeklyaustin.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  15. ↑ "Indie Filmmaker, Mark Dennis, Continues his South American Motorcycle Tour". bezinga. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  16. ↑ "LA Filmmaker Wraps up Seven-Day South American Adventure". mediabistro. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Texas Filmmaker, Mark Dennis, Returns from South". PRweb. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Welcome to the WSIFF Site". Wsiff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  19. ↑ "Route 66 Film Festival this weekend". Sj-r.com. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  20. ↑ "Tulsa International Film Festival winners announced". Tulsa World. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  21. ↑ "Tulsa International Film Festival winners announced". Tulsa World. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
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