Mark Borchardt

Last updated
Mark Borchardt
Mark Borchardt Sandwich.jpg
Borchardt speaks at a preview screening of The Hagstone Demon at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis on May 8, 2008.
Born (1966-08-20) August 20, 1966 (age 57)
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • actor
Children3

Mark Borchardt (born August 20, 1966) is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film American Movie , which documented three years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short, Coven (1997).

Contents

Early life

Borchardt was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His mother, Monica, is Swedish. [1] He started making films at the age of fourteen with a super-8 camera that was given to him by a neighbor. [1] After serving three years in the military, he continued his cinematic endeavors at the local university. In the mid-nineties, he wrote and produced Halloween radio dramas which were broadcast annually and won a fellowship from the Milwaukee Art Futures Board. [2]

Career

Filmmakers Chris Smith and Sarah Price began filming Borchardt while he was attempting to put together funding for his unfinished feature Northwestern. [2] After the project collapsed, Borchardt decided instead to finish Coven , which he had started years earlier. [3] After Coven was completed, Smith and Price compiled their footage into American Movie, which was picked up by Sony Classics and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. [3]

Since then Borchardt has been active appearing on television and in movies. Borchardt made five appearances on Late Show with David Letterman , [4] including serving as Letterman's 2000 election correspondent. [5] He made several TV appearances on The Show with No Name, a show in Austin, TX, between 2000 and 2003. In 2004, he played himself in a cameo appearance on the television cartoon series Family Guy , [6] along with friend and American Movie co-star Mike Schank. He and Mike also had their own series on Zero TV, Mark and Mike and, in 2006, Mark and Mike hosted a national television special called Night of the Living Dead: LIVE from Wisconsin on Halloween night.

Borchardt has appeared in several movies, including The One (2001), The Tunnel (2001), Abby Singer , & The Godfather of Green Bay (2005). Borchardt also starred in Modus Operandi (2009), played a gravedigger in the partially animated comedy Hamlet A.D.D. (2014), had a leading role in the horror feature The Hagstone Demon (2011), [7] and played Mr. Englan in the directorial debut of fellow Milwaukee filmmaker Jozef K. Richards, The Amateur Monster Movie (2011). [8] In addition, Borchardt also made a cameo in the music video for the Leslie and the Ly's song "Zombie Killer" featuring Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on guest vocals.

He has contributed to Kevin Lindenmuth's 2001 book, The Independent Film Experience ( ISBN   0786410752 ) and had his short stories published in magazines. Borchardt is one of a trio of hosts on "Cinema Fireside," [9] a weekly film discussion show on WXRW 104.1 in Milwaukee.

In 2004, he announced he would direct Scare Me and sent out casting calls. [10] In 2008, he announced a 2009 release date, which was originally slated for a 2005 release. As of Summer 2010 the movie was still in production and as of 2023, it still has not been released. [11] In April 2012, Borchardt stated that about 65% of the film had been shot, and that he was happy with the first forty pages of the script. However, he maintained parts of the script needed to be revised and while he had rough-cut some of the footage, there was no completion date in place for the project. [12] In a March 2013 update for the Scare Me IMDb page, the release date was set for April 1, 2014. [13]

In 2018 he directed a documentary called The Dundee Project, which focused on attendees of a UFO festival in Wisconsin. The film premiered at Slamdance Film Festival (Park City), then played at Fantastic Fest (Austin), Nighthawk Cinema (Brooklyn), and the Chicago Critics Film Festival. [14]

Personal life

Borchardt has three children. [15] [16]

Filmography

As writer/director

YearFilmRole
1997 Coven Writer/director/producer
2000-presentNorthwestern (In-production)Writer/director
2018The Dundee ProjectWriter/director/producer
2004–presentScare Me (In-production)Writer/director

As actor/subject

YearFilmRole
1999 American Movie Self
2000 Coven Mike
2001 The One Cesar
2001The TunnelLincoln
2002Britney Baby, One More TimeDude Schmitz
2003Living Dead GirlJesus
2005 The Godfather of Green Bay Skeeter
2005Zombie IslandAl the drunk at the bar
2006 Family Guy (TV)Himself
2007Confession StandTheatre Manager
2007The Devil's MuseFloyd
2008First BassPrincipal Papalschmeck
2009Living ArrangementsPaul
2009Unholy ReunionDouglas - Interviewee
2009TapiocaHarve
2009DozersGawker
2009 Modus Operandi Dallas Deacon
2009 Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever Herman
2011The Amateur Monster MovieMr. Englan
2011 The Hagstone Demon Douglas Elmore
2012Heavy HandsThe Mechanic
2014 Hamlet A.D.D. Gravedigger
2014Two RiversDirke
2016Here Comes RustyOren
2016I Am an AlienMark
2019Black LicoriceMartin Milo
2020 Faith Based Mark
2020 Small Town Wisconsin Store Clerk
2004–presentScare MeJeff Lavelle
2018–present Joe Pera Talks with You Gordy/Guy at Bar

Music videos

VideoBand
"Dead Pan" Big D and the Kids Table
"Garden of Secrecy" Tenement
"Semantics"Tapebenders
“Band Practice/ Uptowner Girl” SOUP MOAT

Related Research Articles

<i>American Movie</i> 1999 documentary directed by Chris Smith

American Movie is a 1999 American documentary film directed by Chris Smith, produced by Smith and Sarah Price, and edited by Jun Diaz and Barry Poltermann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Savini</span> American actor, stuntman, director and makeup artist

Thomas Vincent Savini is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Creepshow, and Monkey Shines; he also created the special effects and makeup for many cult classics like Friday the 13th, Maniac, The Burning, The Prowler, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Bettinelli-Olpin</span> American film director (born 1978)

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin is an American director, writer, actor, and musician. He is a founding member of the punk band Link 80 and co-creator of the filmmaking collectives Chad, Matt & Rob and Radio Silence. He is best known for his work in horror films, including V/H/S, Southbound, Ready or Not, Scream and Scream VI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Rebane</span> American politician and film director

Bill Rebane is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for low budget movies such as Monster a Go-Go and The Giant Spider Invasion. Rebane also ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 1979 and 2002 as the American Reform Party candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sion Sono</span> Japanese filmmaker, author, and poet (born 1961)

Sion Sono is a Japanese filmmaker, author, and poet. Best known on the festival circuit for the film Love Exposure (2008), he has been called "the most subversive filmmaker working in Japanese cinema today", a "stakhanovist filmmaker" with an "idiosyncratic" career.

<i>Coven</i> (1997 film) 1997 American short horror film

Coven is a 1997 American short independent horror film written, directed by and starring Mark Borchardt. The making of the film was chronicled in the 1999 documentary film American Movie. Coven was shot in black-and-white with local talent around Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Midwest Film Festival is the USA's only film festival solely dedicated to Midwest films. Only films from the eight-state Midwest region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin are considered for screening.

<i>Modus Operandi</i> (film) 2009 American film

Modus Operandi, directed by Frankie Latina, is an independent feature film shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Tokyo, Japan. Latina examines the exploitation film genre through a revenge tale about a desperate C.I.A. agent on a mission to find the man who murdered his wife.

Mumblecore is a subgenre of independent film characterized by naturalistic acting and dialogue, low budgets, an emphasis on dialogue over plot, and a focus on the personal relationships of young adults. Filmmakers associated with the genre include Andrew Bujalski, Lynn Shelton, the Duplass brothers Mark and Jay, Greta Gerwig, Aaron Katz, Joe Swanberg, and Ry Russo-Young. In many cases, though, these directors reject the term. The genre is a mostly American phenomenon. The related term mumblegore has been used for films mixing the mumblecore and horror genres.

<i>Abby Singer</i> (film) 2003 American film

Abby Singer is a 2003 dark comedy film that chronicles the life of Curtis Clemins, who is torn between the love of his life and accomplishing his dream. It had some film festival screenings in 2003 and again in 2006. The film also has several celebrity cameo appearances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Springer</span> American independent filmmaker (born 1966)

Jon Springer is an American independent filmmaker whose science fiction and horror films combine explicit imagery with religious subtext.

Andrew Swant is an American filmmaker best known for William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet, The Jeffrey Dahmer Files, and What What in the Butt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Smith (filmmaker)</span> American filmmaker

Chris Smith is an American filmmaker. He directed American Movie, which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.

<i>Lake Mungo</i> (film) 2008 Australian horror film

Lake Mungo is a 2008 Australian mockumentary psychological horror film written and directed by Joel Anderson and starring Talia Zucker and Martin Sharpe. It employs mockumentary-style storytelling with found footage and docufiction elements, using actor "interviewees" to present the narrative of a family trying to come to terms with the drowning death of their daughter, and the potentially supernatural events they experience after it.

<i>The Lords of Salem</i> (film) 2012 film

The Lords of Salem is a 2012 supernatural horror film written, produced, and directed by Rob Zombie. It stars Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ken Foree, Patricia Quinn, Dee Wallace, María Conchita Alonso, Judy Geeson, and Meg Foster. The plot focuses on a troubled female disc jockey in Salem, Massachusetts, whose life becomes entangled with a coven of ancient Satan-worshipping women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Davies</span> American actor

Daniel Joseph "Dan" Davies is an American actor, screenplay writer and producer. Davies wrote, co-produced and starred in the comedy film Ed Gein, the Musical (2010), about the cannibalistic murderer and graverobber, Ed Gein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Schank</span> American musician and filmmaker (1969–2022)

Mikel Joseph Schank was an American actor and musician. He was close friends with independent filmmaker Mark Borchardt and helped Borchardt make the 1997 short horror film Coven. He appeared with Borchardt in the 1999 documentary film American Movie, for which Schank also provided music.

<i>The Witch</i> (2015 film) Film by Robert Eggers

The Witch is a 2015 folk horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers in his feature directorial debut. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy in her film debut, alongside Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson. Set in 1630s New England, its plot follows a Puritan family who encounter forces of evil in the woods beyond their farm.

Jozef K. Richards is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, children's author, and illustrator. He founded Kintou Media Company, which controls numerous other entertainment-based companies, including King's Tower Productions, and has distributed media through YouTube, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other international retailers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art horror</span> Film genre

Art horror or arthouse horror is a sub-genre of both horror films and art-films. It explores and experiments with the artistic uses of horror.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Screens, Limelight: A Brush With Mark Borchardt". Austin Chronicle. November 26, 1999. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  2. 1 2 "Cutting to the chase as a filmmaker Falls man focuses on his dream". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Feb 1, 1996. Retrieved 2009-09-15.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. 1 2 Morrow, Fiona (Jun 23, 2000). "The loser who made Milwaukee famous". The Independent . London. Archived from the original on January 1, 2010. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  4. Season 7: episodes 49, 83 and 132. Season 8: episodes 44 and 193.
  5. "Milwaukee Talks: Mark Borchardt, 2000". OnMilwaukee.com. Sep 12, 2000. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  6. "Borchardt and Shank make cameo on "Family Guy"". OnMilwaukee.com. Jan 8, 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  7. Smith, Zack. "Nevermore curates the latest in cinematic horror, along with a few classics" . Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  8. The Amateur Monster Movie (2011) , retrieved 2017-02-06
  9. "Cinema Fireside". Riverwest Radio WXRW 104.1. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  10. "Casting call, Milwaukee style". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jan 25, 2004. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  11. "Vanishing Act: Mark Borchardt". Nerve. Feb 2, 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-09-24. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  12. "Movie Geeks United Interview: Mark Borchardt (YouTube video)". Movie Geeks United. April 30, 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
  13. "Scare Me". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  14. "From Mark Borchardt to Bon Iver, Wisconsin Film Festival achieves peak Wisconsin". madison.com. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  15. Alesia, Tom (November 12, 1999). "'American Movie' making a splash". Wisconsin State Journal . Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved October 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  16. "American Movie". Sight & Sound . Vol. 10, no. 7–12. British Film Institute. 2000. p. 38. He still lives with his mother while working a paper round and trying to scrape together money for his films. Among his debts is child support for his three children from a relationship with an ex-girlfriend.
(At the Internet Archive, 2003 and earlier; extensive use of Java applets for navigation.)