Life & Work with Marko Sakren

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marko Sakren.

Hi Marko, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My arrival in California was in 1981, a year out of college when I set out to learn about the business of professional movie-making after years of tinkering with 8mm cameras. My first contacts in the business were Jim Bloom and Phil Tippett at Lucasfilm during the making of Return of the Jedi. I had been mastering the art of stop-motion animation since age twelve and Patti LuPone, a friend of my brother Jared and now a two-time Tony Award-winning actress, referred me to Jim. Met him behind the scenes in San Rafael, California, and he connected me to Phil. They were deep into pre-production. Phil recommended I contact Doug Trumbull in Los Angeles. So, I traveled to L.A., contacted Doug, and set up a meeting with him. He was directing Brainstorm at the time, starring Natalie Wood. Then, Natalie died, production stopped, and Doug cleared his schedule, thereby wiping my meeting off the map. His secretary apologized but I never heard back from him after that, and I was uncertain when I should follow up after such a tragic event.

Never know what’ll happen to change your career trajectory.

Meanwhile, I wasn’t going to hang around waiting. My journey continued. I made the rounds with effects houses, advertising agencies, and top industry professionals. Crossing the paths of Will Vinton from Claymation Studios, and Matt Groenig, creator of The Simpsons. One of my favorite encounters was with the proteges (I forgot their names) of George Pal, the stop-motion animator of Poppin’ Fresh, The Pillsbury Dough Boy from the television commercials we all grew up on. George had just passed away the prior year. Missed him by a year but met the former dough boy himself as he sat aging on a workbench. Then met the all-new, shiny dough boy on his miniature stage under commercial lighting ready to shoot. I watched as these guys went to work on the latest commercial.

While I received a great education from a multitude of experiences like these, covering a year seeking industry work in Hollywood, I went back to my hometown in Connecticut to recalibrate my career path.

One of my best buddies from college was Ed Saxon, now an Oscar-winning producer. He encouraged me to come back out to Los Angeles. So, I did and glad I did. Took any job that would hire me just to stay afloat. After a full year of working three jobs (morning, noon, and night), luck hit. I volunteered as an usher at the Met Theatre, an Equity-waiver space with fifty seats, right around the corner from where I was living on Fuller and Melrose. Got to hang out with the producers after each show and they got to know me. Then, the show ended its run, and one of the producers, Jerry Charlson, asked if I wanted a temporary job for a month stage managing a show at The Groundlings Theatre across the street. The show was “Olympic Trials: A Chick Hazard Mystery” starring Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz.

Of course, I accepted the invitation and ended up working there for three years, rising to Production Manager, working with Tom Maxwell (director), Ray Colcord (musical director), and the talents of not only Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz but also Kathy Griffin, Mindy Stirling, Lynne Stewart, George McGrath (changed to McGraff), Edie McClurg, Pat Morita, Paul Reubens (PeeWee Herman), and scores of other talents. John Corbett (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) was on my crew as a follow-spot operator, trying to get into the business as an actor. I remember the day he announced he got his first agent. Hundreds of celebrities came in and out of that place. It was a hotbed of talent and a hub of Hollywood. Some of the greatest years of my life. Met this amazing woman there named Kim, now my wife of 37 years and mother of our two wonderful daughters, Liana and Tia.

Since then, I became a full-fledged, seasoned producer and director of content for stage and screen in corporate, commercial, industrial, and live entertainment environments. The celebrities in my shows have included Sinbad, Penn & Teller, Danny Glover, Dennis Miller, and more. I found employment in the world of branding, marketing, and advertising (the world my father worked in), working for top corporate clients such as IBM, Intel, Chrysler, Jeep, Mitsubishi Electric, Zamboni, Redkin Fifth Avenue, Dassault, Siebel, Wendy’s, and many more. These clients appreciated my creativity, and I found a home bringing entertainment value to corporate content.

In between raising a family and navigating my career as a producer/director in the real world, I still pursued my original passion of making movies. Feature-length movies. Managed to get seven features into production over the course of 25 or so years (again, in my spare time, in between everything else in my life, including health challenges that manifested in a bunch of physical and psychological disabilities). No matter how many more hurdles I had to clear in my path, no matter the detours and delays, I kept at it when I could and ended up with five finished features, which you can watch on my new content portal at www.MARKO.TV (my own virtual platform I’m using to raise funds for my future projects).

While I never managed to establish a career as a movie director in Hollywood, per se, due to my health issues, I managed to carve out my own path to accomplish that goal by sheer will, engaging close to 500 people in casts and crews for the seven, very independent feature projects I wrote, produced and directed. These people truly wanted to help me achieve my vision for each project. To them, I am eternally grateful.

Please note that the features that are Now Playing or Coming Soon on MARKO.TV are my practice projects, movies upon which I cut my teeth, explored genres, learned about my limits within my crafts as a writer, producer and director through hands-on experience — the best experience there is. Resorted to some artistic licenses to cover the errors in each film, but that’s what I had to do.

Wearing nearly every hat on set and in post-production was a big mental burden and very exhausting. Keep in mind, being unfunded meant I had to do the lion’s share of the work myself from camera and sound to editing and coloring, and nearly everything in between. Had some extra help on a few occasions but what you see is mostly my work in collaboration with a cast (who happen to be available and would work for free) and some great music contributors. These other hats are credited under my aliases on IMDb. Never had an A.D., but had great co-producers, which was life-saving, or else I would collapse from the entire weight. Thanks to everyone who supported my filmmaking exploits and those yet to come. Funding is my goal so I can hire the help I need and not do it myself again.

Now on the threshold of retirement age (yeah, I’ve been going at it that long), I’m not retiring. I’m sticking to the plan, finally ready to tackle the real deal, a full-fledged SAG signatory film production with a budget of just under $2 million. That’s been the goal all along. Making movies with all bases loaded. Took enough time — and very intense suffering — but I’m well practiced now and ready as ever!

Going to be working with a firm in Hollywood specializing in getting movies funded and made, to get my 8th feature into production, my debut SAG signatory picture, my first fully funded film (no more shoestring budgets). They love the script and see great potential. It’s an absurd, irreverent comedy titled “Vegas Christ” (tagline: Don’t judge a Messiah by his cover). Script is ready and has been well-received on many fronts and in many circles. Seeking distributors and backers. Cast is almost complete and seeking some names for a few remaining prominent roles, including two male characters (an older rich man and his chauffeur). Contact me at www.MARKO.TV if you know anyone to recommend or want to join forces yourself.

Donate at www.MARKO.TV if you can. I’m using my personal namesake portal as a crowdfunding campaign utilizing PayPal and Vimeo OnDemand through my company GLENBROOK STUDIOS LLC. Rent! Buy! Watch! Donate! With funding, I’ll be able to lift the production value of my movies to new heights. Help me get there. It’s been a long time getting to this point. You could be responsible for me achieving my ultimate success: a very commercially rewarding film that can support my future projects and employ lots of people. I’ll be able to create jobs and entertain audiences on the scale I’ve always envisioned. That’s my natural next step. If you can help, please contact me, or Donate. Thank you, and God bless you! Onward!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Above and beyond the usual challenges in pursuing a movie-making career, my additional challenges stem from physical and mental disabilities, which I’ve had to learn to overcome as I followed my path to success. Took decades to even recognize these underlying issues, let alone manage them. Took me until age 52 to be properly diagnosed. My physical disabilities come from crippling arthritis from head to toe. My mental disabilities are ramifications from a traumatic brain injury I experienced at age five, when I fell off a roof onto a field stone patio, causing a gash in my head, a dozen stitches, and psychological issues that affected my development in school, adversely affecting my thought processes related to lists, sequences and time. Math and reading were affected most. When I started screenwriting in my 30s, I discovered how the process of crafting a story into a script helped me restore my traumatized mental faculties. Thank goodness. I’m very grateful for this process. Therapy, art, and commerce.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Not famous. Not known for anything (anything noteworthy, anyway). Not letting that stop me. That time has yet to come. Soon. What can I say? I’m a late bloomer. Thanks for being patient. For now, I’m in the process of raising the stakes from shoe-string practice films to the big league of fully funded movies and, boy, am I ready! Director is the hat I want to wear. I write and produce so I can direct. Been directing on and off since 1975. Stage and screen. I’ve been persistent. Risked my life for this passion. Risked friends. Risked family, too. Thank goodness my friends and family were able to endure my process of achieving my goals. It’s been arduous and treacherous. Determined to climb this mountain once and for all. Been a long time coming and I’m ready. Fund my next project! Hire me! I don’t want to die on the vine. There’s so much yet to do!

Pricing:

• $1,000/day plus travel

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marko.tv