myissue
bigbrushfilms
Occupation
Filmmaker
Industry
Films!
Website
http://www.bigbrushfilms.co.uk
About Me
The ‘multi-award winning’ director Mark Withers is a life long cineaste. Fascinated by the medium since his first cinema visit in 1978 (Superman), Mark began writing scripts and planning out the best ways to make video films with friends, age 11. Age 16 this ambition finally became reality with self-taught stop motion shorts and non-narrative studies of local wildlife and structures, set to music.
Successfully completing a one year art and design foundation course in 1991, this proved Mark’s commitment to progress onto a further two year B/Tec audiovisual course at Batley film school, which he graduated top of his class. During these three years of college Mark also participated in a voluntary film studies and theory class; passed with a ‘distinction’ grade.
Initially struggling to find film, television & media work in Yorkshire besides direction, camera and editing duties on a handful of music promos, commercials and shorts, Mark decided to relocate to Dorset in 1997 with the sole intention of putting his money where his mouth was and write, produce and direct his own feature-length film.
Gathering a voluntary cast and crew of over sixty willing individuals; ‘darktaile’, one of the lowest budgeted motion pictures of all-time, would eventually run into censorship difficulties on completion three years later.
In 2002 Mark experimented with digital video; directing his second feature ‘Money Shot’. Deemed a successful test of the DV medium, it went on to play at several worldwide film festivals but with a budget of just £500 was not pushed any further.
The short comedy ‘Schnibber’ was written and directed by Mark in 2003, finding an international distribution deal instantly before he spent almost a year in Vancouver where ‘Strangers in the Light’, another short directorial effort for Mark, was chosen to represent Canada as part of a worldwide film project.
At this time Mark also co-developed a 12 part Television series tilted ‘Beverly Hills Realtors’. Almost instantly green-lit by Twentieth Century Fox, it was later dropped after finding its way into development hell!
Back in the UK Mark made his Big Brush Films production company legitimate, producing commercials, documentaries, corporates, travelogues, shorts and Mark’s biggest feature film project, the HDV mockumentary ‘Hardcore: A Poke into the Adult Film Orifice’. Shot in 4 weeks around London, Dorset and Hastings with a cast of 35, it has to date played at many worldwide festivals, proving comedically successful in a variety of territories and languages.
Relocating near Manchester in 2006, Mark has once again needed to re-establish himself amongst the North-West media industry, freelancing for projects by councils, National Grid and the NHS.
2007 sees his short film ‘My Mum the Wrestler’ do incredibly well at worldwide festivals and on-line, whilst gathering 16 local filmmakers and actors to produce the 21 minute film ‘Meat Market’ over the weekend of June 11th. The Onward Film Company offer to place Mark on their books as a commercials director for hire and he pitches and wins the chance to direct a Christmas commercial for Manchester United. Additionally, development of feature film number four ‘Baby Swipes’ begins.
Mark Withers has ‘employed’ over 350 extremely talented and often professional cast and crew members through Big Brush Films, many working for nothing more than expenses.
Additionally he has proven himself an adept film producer, camera operator, self taught video editor and writer of nineteen complete feature length screenplays, alongside lending an un-credited hand to other scripts and productions.
Has the word ‘cineaste’ tattooed on lower back!
My Mum the Wrestler