Mark Waters

For other people named Mark Waters, see Mark Waters (disambiguation).

Mark Waters
Born	Mark Stephen Waters (1964-06-30) June 30, 1964 (age 60) Wyandotte, Michigan, U.S.
Alma mater	AFI Conservatory
Occupations	Director producer
Years active	1997–present
Notable work	Freaky Friday Mean Girls Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Mr. Popper's Penguins Vampire Academy
Spouse	Dina Spybey ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	2
Relatives	Daniel Waters (brother)

Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American director.

Early life

Waters was raised in South Bend, Indiana. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania in theatre arts before studying at the American Film Institute. When studying at Penn, he saw The House of Yes and saw things in the play that he felt he could make cinematic. He contacted the author of the play in Wendy MacLeod and got a manuscript copy by saying he was a film producer. ^[1] He worked as a stage actor and director in Philadelphia and San Francisco before his work with AFI, where he graduated in 1994. He made a number of short films. ^[2]

Career

He directed the comedy films Freaky Friday , ^[3] Mean Girls , ^[4] Ghosts of Girlfriends Past , ^[5] Mr. Popper's Penguins , ^[6] and Vampire Academy . ^[7] The first movie he directed was the independent hit The House of Yes starring Parker Posey. Other movies he directed include Head Over Heels, The Spiderwick Chronicles ^[8] , Bad Santa 2, Magic Camp, He's All That ^[9] , and more. He was attached to direct a movie called Minimum Wage written by Scott Atkinson and Tegan West. ^[10]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Executive Producer
1997	The House of Yes [a]	Yes	No
2001	Head over Heels	Yes	No
2003	Freaky Friday	Yes	No
2004	Mean Girls	Yes	No
2005	Sorry, Haters	No	Yes
	Just Like Heaven	Yes	No
2008	The Spiderwick Chronicles	Yes	No
2009	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	Yes	Yes
2011	Mr. Popper's Penguins	Yes	Yes
2014	Vampire Academy	Yes	No
2016	Bad Santa 2	Yes	Yes
2020	Magic Camp	Yes	No
2021	He's All That	Yes	No
2024	Mother of the Bride	Yes	No
2025	La Dolce Villa	Yes	No
2026	Hershey [11] [12]	Yes	TBA
TBA	Harvest Moon	Yes	No

1. Also credited as writer

Producer

• 500 Days of Summer (2009)
• Harvest Moon (TBA)

Television

TV movies

Year	Title	Director	Executive Producer
2002	Warning: Parental Advisory	Yes	No
2009	Eva Adams	Yes	Yes
2015	Salem Rogers	Yes	No
	Cheerleader Death Squad	Yes	No
2018	#'Fashionvictim	Yes	Yes

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Executive producer	Notes
2012	Made in Jersey	Yes	Yes	2 episodes
2013	Witches of East End	Yes	Yes	1 episode
2019	Looking for Alaska	No	Yes	Miniseries

References

1. "Positive Outlook Worked in Taking 'House of Yes' from Stage to Big Screen". January 30, 1998. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022.
2. "FILMMAKER MAGAZINE | Fall 1996: PRODUCTION UPDATE".
3. GradeSaver. "Director's Influence on Mean Girls". GradeSaver. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
4. Multiple sources:
   • Lybarger, Dan (May 21, 2003). "Mean Girls - Interview with Mark Waters - Nitrate Online Feature". nitrateonline.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
   • "Mean Girls Director Mark Waters Spills 10 Juicy Stories, 10 Years Later". Vulture. April 30, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
   • Blair, Olivia (April 30, 2019). "The director of Mean Girls explains what would be different if the movie was made now". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
5. "Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past Mark Waters". exclaim.ca. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
6. "Jim Carrey and Director Mark Waters Confirmed for Mr. Popper's Penguins". /Film. August 20, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
7. Brissey, Breia. "'Vampire Academy': 5 movie photos with director Mark Waters' notes". EW.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
8. Weintraub, Steve (February 12, 2008). "Mark Waters Interview – THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES". Collider. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
9. Bahr, Robyn (August 27, 2021). "'He's All That': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
10. Fletcher, Alex (January 9, 2009). "Waters attached to 'Minimum Wage'". Digital Spy. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
11. "Hershey and Dandelion Media to Unwrap Founder's Story in Upcoming Major Motion Picture HERSHEY, Set for 2026 Release".
12. "Extras needed for Hershey biopic filming in Pittsburgh - CBS Pittsburgh". CBS News .

External links

• Mark Waters at IMDb