In this Film Courage video interview, Actor/Writer/Director/Photographer Mark Gantt on when nothing is happening here is how to get a movie project off the ground. He shares how he got the Sony Crackle show The Bannen Way off the ground with collaborator/co-creator Jesse Warren.
Today’s guest is Mark Gantt. He’s a man of many talents, actor, director, writer, and producer. He’s best known for co-creating, producing and starring in the award-winning The Bannen Way for Sony Pictures Television. Financed by Sony’s Crackle distribution arm, this unique web series/feature film had a compelling cast which included Michael Ironside, Academy Award nominees Robert Forster and Michael Lerner, and Emmy winner Vanessa Marcil.
HI PRESENTS: JOURNEYS – featuring stories of artists in different stages of their careers. Adam Rotenberg chats with our friends Mark Gantt (who teaches the Immersive career administration class) and his wife and business partner, Brianne Davis (currently starring in The History Channel’s original series “SIX”). From their first meeting in acting class to becoming forces in the industry, these multi-hyphentates talk about their determination, their drive, and how their support for one another makes them a true power couple!
It’s true; I hate waiting for sh*t to happen. I’ve sort of made a name for myself for being the guy that doesn’t wait for things to happen and creating my own career. I was fortunate enough to have some success with a unique (at the time) web series/feature film called The Bannen Way, which I co-created and starred in for Sony’s Crackle.com. I developed the project with Jesse Warren, writing every day for six months and producing two five-minute episodes. Three years later we had produced and launched the show on Crackle and it was distributed worldwide via VOD, Amazon, iTunes and DVD. So far… so good right?
But the journey has only just begun really. That project took up three years of my life, we worked tirelessly, 24/7 and put our hearts and souls into it. When we were finished, the age-old question kept popping up from everyone, “What’s next?” — What’s next??? We just finished this insane project, under budget, on time and with pretty good success. Wasn’t that enough? I was really thinking that, I was taking it so personal that people wanted to know what I was doing next. I was burnt out and excited at the same time.
What happened — What happened is I slipped back into the old thinking. The idea that someday, someone with some clout in Tinsel Town would ‘discover me.’ I really thought that with the success of Bannen I’d have no problem getting that lead role in a TV series or great role in an indie feature that goes to Sundance or Tribeca. I completely forgot why I was creating the show in the first place — I HATE WAITING.
Luckily my friend and producer on Bannen, Bailey Williams was there to wake me up. We went back to the grind, developing our own ideas, optioning others, putting together pitch documents and began the pitching process. We were so close on several projects but, for one reason or another just didn’t happen. During that time, amazing collaborations came my way. I hooked up with web series creators like Wilson Cleveland (LEAP YEAR, THE TEMP LIFE), Yuri Baranovsky (BREAK A LEG, LEAP YEAR) and Taryn O’Neill (AFTER JUDGEMENT, BLACK BOX TV). I also hooked up with indie feature team of Steve Peros (FOOTPRINTS, THE UNDYING) and Sybil Temtchine (AUDREY, THE CAVERN) on a comedy series called ANNIE TAKES OFF and Scott Richter on another called WHOA! — we’re in post on sizzle reels for both of these projects.
I currently have eight projects “at Various Stages of Development,” as Dov S-S Simens would say, yes I’ve taken his two day course and he’s a character. I’ve got projects in all phases from idea stage, script, pre-production and three in post-production. I’m currently pitching a TV series, THE PROGRAM, created by Matt Lutz. We shot a ten minute pilot presentation and now we’re producing it with Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner (GRIMM, HOT IN CLEVELAND) and showrunner David Simkins (WAREHOUSE 13, GRIMM) It’s been a huge learning experience and I love all the guys on this project.