Bitten by the theatre bug at a very young age, Mark continued to be active in performing arts and entertainment until and beyond earning his BFA in Drama from USC and much later, his MFA in Theatre from UCF.
Mark was employed in non-profit arts leadership positions twice in his career. The first of these was as the Performing Arts Director for Spirit Square Center for the Arts (Charlotte, NC) where he promoted and produced hundreds of concerts and theatrical productions in the mid 1980’s. The second position was as the Executive Director for Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (Bainbridge Island, WA) where he shepherded the construction of a custom 25,000 sq. ft. facility with 12 artisan studios, wrote over 120 policies & procedures by which the diverse non-profit organization would operate, and stewarded all activities in the facility each week.
While at Spirit Square, Mark also served as a consultant for the North Carolina Arts Council to mentor small non-profit organizations statewide in proper grant-writing and event promotions. After moving to Florida, he served as a director on several non-profit arts boards including the Central Florida Performing Arts Alliance (incl. Chair), Voci Dance, Inc. (as founding Chair), and the Theatre-UCF Advisory Board.
In for-profit entertainment, Mark has been employed by many design & production companies including the two largest entertainment corporations in the world, Disney and Universal. He worked with Walt Disney Entertainment as their show producer for the ESPN Club, Atlantic Dance Club, "Rock n’ Rockets" and notably Reflections of Earth, Disney’s nighttime spectacular at Epcot. His two “tours of duty” with Universal included being part of the MCA Planning & Development team that designed and built Universal Studios Florida in the late 1980’s and then decades later overseeing both creative and technical aspects with Universal Creative on the design/build of Epic Universe.
Other full-time employment design & production jobs include notable successes as the producer of the global Harry Potter the Exhibition tour while working for Global Experience Specialists, plus numerous projects with ITEC Entertainment and Paramount Parks.
When not employed by someone else, Mark conducted business as MANic Endeavors producing/designing/consulting for the arts, entertainment, & leisure industries. His many clients and projects have included Disney Creative Entertainment, Universal Studios Florida, the NY Metropolitan Opera, the NY Philharmonic, Idletime Network, Signal Perfection Ltd., the 1992 World's Fair in Seville (Spain), a couple of Vegas casinos, and also as the theatrical consultant for RLF Architects assisting with the design & construction of a multi-million performing arts center.
Mark resides in Winter Park, FL with his wife, Blair. They enjoy volunteer activities, traveling, and spending time with their adult "children" wherever they are living.