Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Netter.
Hi Mark, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve had a varied career that began when I was hired at a music for TV company in New York because I could type 65 words per minute. That led to being the Music Supervisor on three Olympic broadcasts, working for ABC, NBC and CBS, the last two while getting my MFA at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Upon graduation I moved to Los Angeles and worked as Producer’s and Director’s Assistant on three feature films before being lured to San Francisco to produce The Last Express videogame for legendary Prince of Persia game designer Jordan Mechner, and then as Director of Development on Tetris. After returning to Los Angeles I commenced a two-decade career in entertainment advertising, mainly on the agency side bringing in deals from major movie studios, TV networks, videogame and tech companies ranging from The Walt Disney Company and Sony Pictures to ABC, NBC, CBS, Adobe and Intel. During this time I made the first feature film told entirely from the POV of an artificial intelligence, NIGHTMARE CODE, as Co-Writer, Producer and Director. I went to the client side to help launch DC Universe for Warner Bros and then started teaching in the Entertainment Business Department of The Los Angeles Film School. Around the same time I co-founded ElectraCast Media, a podcast production and distribution company, with partner Peter Rafelson, a successful music industry producer/writer/technologist. Currently ElectraCast has over 100 independently-produced podcasts, a growing work-for-hire business, and a number of in-house series where we control the intellectual property for exploitation in other media. I co-host one of our premium podcasts, FILM GENERATIONS, where we introduce a classic movie to a panel of young film lovers to see if it still plays for their generation.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My career has been eclectic, in live TV and theatrical film production, videogame development, entertainment advertising, education and building a podcasting company, which is still a work-in-progress. The upside is that I’ve enjoyed being on the inside in all those industries during amazing now historical times and projects. The downside is that it has been harder to set a firm foundation in just one area and grow a power base over long period of time in it. But in entertainment things are always changing so quickly – technology, public tastes – that very few people I’ve met have been at the same company for twenty of more years, as opposed to earlier generations of company men and women.
The most exciting struggle I had along the way was making my first feature film, NIGHTMARE CODE, on a shoestring budget while working a very busy day job at a couple entertainment ad agencies, including the seven-weekend production and year-and-a-half of post-production. At times I was getting 3-4 hours sleep, raising two young boys with my wife at the same time, but the rewards of directing and the successful festival screenings afterwards made it all worthwhile.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about ElectraCast Media?
ElectraCast is a podcast media company that produces original content and offers podcasting services for corporate clients.
We distribute over 100 independently produced podcasts, giving podcasters a place to monetize and build an audience.
ElectraCast is the only podcast company with its own synergistic music label, ElectraCast Records, which is distributed through Universal Music Group.
ElectraCast’s mission statement: “To create community and amplify diverse voices through compelling entertainment and story.”
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’ve been very lucky to marry my wife, Stacy, and two have two boys together who have grown into happy and healthy young men.
As a boy from a small upstate New York town outside of Albany, I feel lucky to have been in some of the rooms I’ve been in for work and fun, and the incredibly fascinating, talented, motivated people I’ve met along the way. It’s a thrill to be part of the entertainment business, especially in Los Angeles, the entertainment Mecca of the World.
I got lucky over lunch with my videogame industry friend Craig Allen and his company Spark Unlimited decided to invest inand Executive Produce my movie NIGHTMARE CODE.
I’m also very lucky to have Peter Rafelson as a co-founder and partner in ElectraCast, a guy who grew up in Hollywood, the opposite end of America from me. I’m also lucky to have my college friend and fellow cinephile David Tausik as co-host anbd creative producer on FILM GENERATIONS, and lucky to have interesting, engaged young panelists, some drawn from my students at The Los Angeles Film School.
I think you mainly make your own luck, but you never know when someone is going to change your life by hiring you – or you hiring them.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.electracast.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trinkschiz/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marknetter/
- Twitter: https://x.com/MarkDNetter
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdkEVhQyzDbeXJqRpbMfRzQC0H7_v8gEY&si=d_ALnDzVykwijFnr
