Director, Director of Photography
Mark Vicente was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1965. With a father in Radio and a mother in the Diplomatic Service, he rarely stayed in one place for very long. As a child he traveled the world and lived in such diverse places as Portugal, Brazil, Canada, and the US. When it came to his life’s passion, he took his cue from his Grandfather who owned an advertising agency. Taking his first photograph at age 4 he soon developed a keen eye for visual storytelling. This led to his “professional” decision at age 13 that he wanted to make movies.
After finishing high school in South Africa (where he learnt that white men discovered Africa) he enrolled in Wits Drama School. There he studied Cinematography, Stage and Set design, Theater Lighting Design, Radio, Television Production and Music. But much to his horror he found himself also having to Dance, Act, and make strange primal noises in Voice Class. At the time, he stalwartly announced, “I just want to be a cinematographer!” (He was wearing tights at the time) Little did he realize that all this diverse training would serve him well in the future, as a director.
After mastering the Steadicam and working as a news-cameraman in Apartheid South Africa, he went on to shoot music videos and commercials. He got his first big break as Director of Photography on the musical, “SARAFINA ” starring Whoopi Goldberg. In 1992 he got the opportunity to go to Hollywood and shoot a picture for Disney entitled, “FATHERHOOD” starring Patrick Swayze. Excited and nervous, he found himself at the age of 26 as one of the youngest Cinematographers to shoot a big budget studio picture.
He never left the United States and over the next 8 years, amassed experience shooting another 14 feature films. As exciting as it was to visually interpret stories presented to him by other directors, he found that the subject matter was sorely lacking. Driven by the conviction that tales of greatness could be as exciting and financially successful as the subjects of rape, pillage, plunder and scandal so beloved by the industry, he decided that no one else was telling the stories that he deeply cared about.
In 2000, driven by creative desperation, he decided it was time to embrace his inevitable destiny as a director. He began directing and shooting commercials and documentaries that gave voice to his rebelliousness and politically incorrect sense of humor. The Rockumentary, “WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD”, produced by Linda Evans, takes to task organized religion and the lengths to which human beings will go to abuse minorities and specifically woman, in the name of God.
“What the Bleep do we Know” is his most recent project and it’s success has been astounding. The audience, which Hollywood never said existed, seems to have come out in their droves in support of the film. And his dream of creating cinema to uplift and inspire, is finally coming to fruition.
