Produced By - Documenting Indigenous Cultures of South America | #39: Marc 0h

Episode Date: January 22, 2024

With over seven years of experience traversing the globe, award-winning creative director Marc 0h is a seasoned navigator of the brand and content landscape. He has steered campaigns for a constellation of A-list celebrities, Oscar-nominated talent and multinational brands, consistently bringing their visions to life with impactful and functional content. Marc's expertise transcends mere direction, he's a brand architect, meticulously translating marketing objectives into engaging narratives that resonate across a diverse spectrum of media, from digital canvases to towering billboards. His secret weapon? An unparalleled ability to envision the "grand narrative," seamlessly orchestrating content journeys from conception to execution, hitting every target and leaving audiences captivated. Dive deep into Marc's remarkable professional odyssey, unveil the magic behind his directorial prowess, and gain early insights into the future of his acclaimed Peru documentary Kausaypaq in this compelling episode. Elevate your online presence with the help of Trailblazed, your (and our) favourite digital marketing agency. ⁠⁠⁠https://trailblazed.digital/⁠⁠⁠ If you enjoy the show, please, consider supporting it on Patreon or by buying a virtual coffee (or chocolate). ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ProducedByPodcast⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/producedby⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Boost your creative career by joining our new Skillshare course and feel free to let us know how you liked it. ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://skl.sh/3Rh7ZtY⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date, get the latest news and much more. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7092551882589528065⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Marc: https://tiktok.com/@m.arc0h   https://www.youtube.com/@marc0multiverse  https://www.instagram.com/m.arc0h/  https://www.marc0h.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-0h-3b6b76b0/  Showreel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGHrQ0fMZz0  Kausaypaq:  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFl5nrSd7LI&ab_channel=Marc0Multiverse Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/album/7aMu5o7S65DixQmdvhEwBc  London screening: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kausaypaq-the-movie-london-screening-tickets-797767061757?aff=efbevent  New York screening: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kausaypaq-the-movie-new-york-screening-tickets-797803731437?aff=efbevent  Connect with the host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow the podcast: Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Web: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://produced-by-podcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/produced_by_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT5LHnM6YCaeVzIr0WatOsw⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/41BiG5YvGIgITz1N14hF2E ⁠⁠ Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/produced-by/id1684669642⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you enjoy listening to the podcast, please, leave a review on your podcast app, subscribe and share it with your friends. You can also send us a message and share any feedback, advice and tips for guests. About Produced By: Produced By unveils captivating stories of courageous people who set out to pursue careers in highly competitive fields, despite often challenging circumstances. Enter the spotlight with our guests and get inspired, whether your interests are in the creative industries, personal growth or you simply want to have fun. Listen to individuals who represent a wide range of professional backgrounds, geographic locations and career stages. So come along to follow their adventures and learn from life's experiences as we kick off on this epic journey. Thanks for listening and see you soon! Connect with Tomas:X: https://x.com/TomasLoucky⁠⁠⁠Stan: https://stan.store/TommenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/⁠⁠Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠Unproduced:Newsletter: https://unproduced.substack.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unproducednotesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033Ddo8ibDlLYoaP7FFLIWMore:Links: https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://producednewsletter.substack.com/⁠The Podcast Club: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/25420030/Tools & gear that support the show:Metricool: https://f.mtr.cool/HRJBZKRiverside: https://riverside.sjv.io/vDnDodFavikon: https://www.favikon.com?fpr=tommenRa Optics: https://ra-optics.myshopify.com/discount/TOMMEN?rfsn=8803777.591d19JamX: https://jamx.ai/podcasters-offer?ref_id=e02d48af-ef66-4e76-b804-c2e8d282a8bfSome links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you find them useful, using these links helps keep the podcast running. Thank you!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Produced Buy. Just quickly before we begin, if we enjoy the show, please consider supporting it by joining our Patreon. You can choose from a list of memberships and we'll receive some exciting rewards. Thank you and back to the episode. Hello Mark, thank you for joining us today and welcome to the show. Hey, thank you so much for having me.

So Mark, can you please introduce yourself? Yes, of course. So I mark a person. I do many different things, but amongst one of them is I'm a creative director. So I do creative direction for various different media products. Is there something you focus on, some specific area? Yes, one of my key areas that I focus on is really working with my clients, understanding what their needs are and helping them shape that so that the media piece that they end up commissioning fits all of their targets, their messaging, and it's fit for their audience. Yeah, so are you a freelancer?

I run my own business and often clients approach me and they go, hey, we have this new product that we're trying to market. What kind of content should we produce? How do we take this idea and shape it? So it actually gets our audiences watching this piece of content. because as you're aware in today's society we've got the attention span is being reduced as we speak and is there a specific type of content or is it like advertisement promotion videos and anything so i've been in the business for about 10 years now and throughout the career that i have i've been very fortunate to have worked on almost every single continent on the planet apart of Antarctica.

And I've been working on features, short films, documentaries, music videos, social media pieces, corporate videos, yeah, everything. Yeah. A very broad range of, yeah. And is there one type of media that you enjoy, most no i really enjoy uh my my clients coming up to me and just being completely led by them whether that's um whether that's a podcast or that's a video or a series of content on ticot or youtube yeah i i love all of it and how does that happen did you had a chance to work on

all the continents did you get the clients just from everywhere do you know people or how come i moved to london when i was 19 and i started studying in middle sex university where i studied b a film after i got my degree i did a year of freelancing and i was trying to land a full-time employment because i thought that would be my security so um after a year of freelancing, I started working for EY in Canary Wharf, where I started running their green screen studio, working with their marketing teams, advertising teams and helping them create content. And that was my first kind of entrance into the world of filmmaking. And yeah, I was 22. I did that for two years. Two years later,

Later, I ended up moving back to Estonia, where I'm from, and I started working in an advertising company that was linked with a video production agency. And all of a sudden, I was working with all Estonia's top A-list celebrities, top brands, traveling around the world, visiting different clients. did that for two years. Two years later, I received an invite to go and work in Australia, working with renewables such as Tesla, Siemens, Asiona, but also the equivalent of Tesco's in South Australia, producing their TV commercials, working with local celebrities. Did that for two years as well,

and ended up moving back to London, where I started working for National Grid. National Grid is a company that provides electricity infrastructure for Britain and America. So I was now in a position where instead of producing the work myself, I sat in a client in a sense. I started working with video agencies and briefing them in, getting a bit of sense and understanding of what kind of pricings are in the industry. And after having doing that for two years,

I realized, hang on, these budgets are quite a bit different. The salary is quite a bit different. Maybe I should do that myself. Or that's when I moved to South America. and I set up my own business and I started working with clients all around the world. And yeah, that was almost three years ago now. And through this international clientele that I developed, I all of a sudden had money. And I realized that I can use this to produce and commission content that fuels me.

So I then moved to South America in Peru and found this community that really inspired me to work with them and create my first feature film that was back in 2022. And now I am kind of in a position where I travel the world. I go where my clients ask me to go. In the past year alone, I've worked and visited every single continent, apart from Antarctica in just this one year. So I'm very, I'm very, oh, sorry, go ahead. I'm just going to say that's rich and excited and journey. I have so many questions, but feel free to finish what you are saying.

Yeah, I'm very fortunate. I'm very blessed because traveling is one of my passions and I'm just very lucky to be able to combine my work with my passion. Do you know what is your next destination? Yes, in a few weeks' time, I'll be moving to New York to continue working on many different projects that are in the pipeline because it's kind of of like I would describe it as self-fulfilling prophecy. The more clients you gain, the more work you do, the more people you work with, the more people will be like, hang on, I know this guy

that they can do really good work. So it would just naturally grow. People will approach you and they will be like, oh, I heard you're going to be in this part of the world. Can you come down? Let's do something together. So yeah, I'll be spending some time in, New York and then I'll make my way down to South America where I have three bookings, maybe even four, one in Chile, one in Bolivia, one in Brazil, and one in Argentina. Wow, this sounds really exciting, yeah. But can we start? You mentioned you come from Estonia. What was it like growing up in Estonia?

I have never visited the country, but I heard about it and it sounds interesting. So what does it like? Oh, growing up in Estonia is an absolute dream. There is so much nature and I come from a family of farmers. Both of my grandparents are on the farm. So I grew up growing potatoes, growing vegetables, going to the forest to pick mushrooms and pick berries and prepare these for the winter. Estonia's climate is you get 30 degrees of heat in the summer, minus 30 in the winter, so you need to prepare for the winter, preparing the firewood to heat the properties.

So, yeah, I come from a very down-to-earth, nature, wisdom, culture. So growing up in Estonia was an absolute privilege. And all of my family is still in Estonia. I love my family. I, despite being away for so many years and kind of like popping in and out of Estonia every now and then I still have a large group of friends there and of course all the industry connections as well

who kind of work created from the time when I was living and working in Estonia as well. Yeah. I heard it's kind of unrelated but I heard that Estonia is very digital friendly, that it makes everything super easy and convenient. Is that true? That is very true, yes. I think something that some countries could get inspired from and adopt something similar.

Okay, and what about the creative industries or film industry there? Is it big or how is it there? Yes. Estonia is gaining a lot of interest now. A few years ago, we had Tenet that was filmed in Estonia. Yeah, I remember. Because I had a friend from Estonia, and I don't know if it's written in a tenant, but I texted him, and I couldn't believe it.

It was so cool. I didn't explain that. Yeah, and that was so funny because at the time, I was living and working in Australia, And of course I had, I knew almost everyone in Estonian film industry at the time. And every single person that had anything to do with film was literally working on that feature. Yeah, but it must be a dream to work on a feature of Christopher Nolan. Of course. And since then, Estonia's kind of realized, okay, we have this really big opportunity here. So as far as I'm aware, there are some film production neighborhoods being constructed as we speak to empower people all around the world to come and do their projects in Estonia.

So Estonia, yeah, it's just oozing with talent. And because of the relatively small size, it's very easy to work with people and access the best of the best because it's, just one million people in Estonia. Yeah. Sounds like a great idea, definitely. And I'm curious, what's the level of proficiency in English language there? Because as far as I know, Estonian language is something not understandable to people outside. Yes, that is true.

The youth is very bilingual. They can speak Estonian, they can speak Russian, and yeah those are those are the two main languages but there's there's so many english speakers there's so many russian speakers that really diversifies the the world that you can access yeah yeah and you said before you worked with some celebrities or big people from estonia obviously i don't know any but can you mention some names maybe someone knows and i will check them afterwards. Yes. What I'm going to do is I'm actually going to provide you with a more international name. So I recently work with Misa Rodriguez from the Spanish Real Madrid Football

Club. And we did a project with one of the healthcare companies and it was such a joy to work with her. After the shoot, she signed the gloves that she was wearing and she was like, I really enjoyed working with you. Here's a small present from me to you. And I gave her my rose quartz bracelet. I also enjoyed working with you. Here's a little something from me. And just a few months after we've wrapped the project, she won gold in the World Championship. So, yeah, it was really amazing. I've also worked with Danel Badar, who is an Estonian household name. I grew up admiring his work, and it was just so unreal directing him and telling him what to do in front of the camera.

I could dream. Also, some, exactly. Also some other international names. David Polcock, he's the Australian rugby player who I work with. Yeah, as time goes by, you kind of forget the names because at the end of the day, when working with these big artists, big names, big celebrities, you really need to stay grounded and kind of almost like take them down off their celebrity status to be like, no, this is just my talking prop in a sense.

And it is my responsibility as a director to make sure that I get the best out of them. So I can't be starstruck on the set. I need to tell them if the performance is not good, it's not good. They're going to have to do it again regardless of their celebrity status or not. Yeah, you are the boss they need to listen to. And when you are feeling with some people in, you know, other countries, you as a director do you have your own crew or you find people or they provide you with the crew how does this work it's a hybrid approach i do have networks all around the globe so i can very

easily pull my people in often often clients would have preferred suppliers so they would be like actually we have this person internally who can help you film or sometimes they would be like listen, I need you to pull everything together. I just finished filming a music video in Tallinn. It was by this international artist who is having their world debut in a few months' time. This is the first time that they're being introduced into the world and we started developing this idea nine months ago and this was one of the cases where they came to me and they said, I need you to pull everyone and everyone and every.

thing on this. So it was really nostalgic going back to Estonia after almost seven years and kind of warming up those connections again and accessing these old people who I used to work with who are so talented and yeah, just having a lot of fun on a set. And it must be both pressure and kind of satisfaction because you as the person who make literary, you know, make this person as a star, because as you said, they are starting, and you are the one who brings them, you know, to the world, to the light. And if it's successful, hopefully, they're successful, then it will be a great feeling of satisfaction, I'm sure.

Yes, and to me, how I see it is all about the energy. It's all about the energy. If we are not having fun on the set and if the artist is not having fun in front of the camera, the audience will never really get pulled in into the music video but if they can see the artist having fun and they have this confidence there the illusion is complete in a sense then it will fly

yeah it has to be a collaborative process yeah yeah so you're what kind of director are you a friendly if anyone or a strict series one I am a a very friendly and nurturing director. Because what I've noticed is people tend to thrive on positive feedback.

If their performance in front of the camera are giving you a performance that is 75% there, you're not going to tell them, oh, that was 75% there, you can do better. You will find something to compliment them on this. take and you're going to give them feedback by saying, I really enjoy that you did this. How about you tried to channel a different angle because now we have this take in a bag, but for the narration of the story, we'd love to get a different performance in. And people tend to respond really well. And oftentimes you get people with different levels of camera training, different levels of media

training in terms of what their capabilities are in front of the camera. for instance, if very quickly, because I also often work with non-camera trained people, non-professional actors, particularly for documentaries. If you clock that this person only has these three takes in them, don't continue pushing them, just accept what you get and adapt and work with that.

Yeah. Is that something you learned along the first? the way or have you got someone as an inspiration or someone as a teacher? Let me have a think. I think it's something that just comes naturally to me. This kind of nurturing compassion. That's something that really comes very naturally to me. But I do remember I had this one experience where I was working with this makeup

parties on many, many different projects with different talent, different clients. And after the shoot, she came to me and she said, wow, you are like the nicest director that I've ever worked with because oftentimes we get the director screaming at the maker parties or screaming at the talent or screaming at the light department or screaming at the camera camera department. And I was just so blown away. I was thinking like, well, filmmaking is a teamwork. So every single person has the most important role.

And if you destroy those relationships, if you destroy the confidence of the makeup artist, or if you destroy the confidence of the lighting artists or whatever their role is, then you're essentially bruising that department. So it's very counterproducing. I was just completely blown away hearing that this is even a possibility but you know we live in a diverse world and there are many different ways of working. Yeah, I completely agree and I like your mindset and I think if there is something negative, it kind of influences the rest of the team and it's not such a good atmosphere as it was before.

Certainly, certainly. Still, are there any maybe moments when it was too much for you and you stormed up or it doesn't happen to you? Yeah, I've never really had stormouts. I've had experiences where some other directors have stormed out and clients have approached me saying, this is what happened. We need you to pick this up. We were working with... some top five celebrities from everyone being on top of their field.

And the client came to us and they said, yeah, we was actually developing this commercial for three months with the director. And when we messaged the director, the director told us to not messages anymore. And yeah, we came in, we took the project.

We did the creative in a matter of two weeks. pulled it all together and it's still one of their most successful adverts to this date. But yeah, I haven't really had stormers. I've had situations where, you know, you got to go with the flow and you need sun and weather is unpredictable and you are filming outdoors. So on the day of the shoot, you all look outside the window and it's pissing down rain and you're like, sorry, we're going to have to cancel today because we can't. If we can't film, then I'm not going to even waste everyone's time asking you to come down.

There's been moments like this where because of unforeseen circumstances, we've had to cancel, but never really stormed out from a set. Yeah, when they're like forces out of your control such as weather or something. If you want to boost your online presents, check out our digital marketing agency called Trailblazed. You can also enroll in a skill share course called the 10 tips on how to suck. succeed in your creative career, which was inspired by the podcast. Lastly, make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter called Creative Spotlight to stay up to date with the show and more.

Links are in the show notes. Thanks. And are you such a calm person on set or in real life as well? Yeah, it's definitely multidimensional in real life as well. It takes quite a bit to kind of knock me off my balance. But since the beginning of my career, I've lived in five different countries. I've learned so many different languages. I've seen people in so many different conditions.

And what that has taught me is that ultimately, at the end of the day, we're all trying to do the same thing. We're really all trying to follow our passion and live the best life we can without hurting anyone on our way. So just having that awareness and having that wisdom is what helps me stay calm. Because that kind of, when I was younger, and still exploring the world of the industry,

of how it works, trying to understand it, there were certainly opinions of whether something you know the work is good or the work is not good on these kind of things and you know the ego kind of mindset oh if people don't love my work i'm just going to completely destroy myself and i'm going to be completely like no they didn't like it and when you're working creative industries you know that the client is the person with the money so whatever they say they are the the person ordering the work it goes. So oftentimes you get clients who perhaps are not the best communicators and they give you feedback like what is this? You know and you just have to appreciate that this is their way of communicating that

they would like some changes amended in this video. So you just have to almost be like a psychologist as well when you're working with your clients. So if they freak up, then that's your opportunity. to be like, it's all right, we can edit this around. There are a million different ways of editing and footage. So just giving them that kind of understanding and it's not the end of the road here. That helps to bring them back. And obviously you don't want to break the relationships because you may not get any of other projects or the industry is quite small.

So the world spreads. So it's not a good idea. Yes, and there have been moments when you work with immature clients who end up perhaps wasting a bit of your time or making something more difficult than it has to be. But then you learn from that. And sometimes you're like, when the booking comes in, you're just actually, oh, this is my new price and you just price them up. because you don't really want to work with that kind of energy or you just still work with them, but you get a little bit more for your troubles in that sense. Yeah, of course. That's understanding.

There's definitely clients that I've had interesting collaborations with, not many, but there's a few and I would certainly think twice before entering a new collaboration or you know, this is also a learning experience because if there are some kind of friction then that's your opportunity to communicate even better and make sure that you make better agreements beforehand and you're kind of covering yourself so that you get to the end stage of the project and the client says, I don't like this, I don't like that. Then you can pull out the storyboard, you can pull out the shot list, you can pull out all your documentation, be like, this is what we agreed on, on the pre-production, and given your

targets and your audience jointly, we agree that this is the approach that we're going to take. If you choose to flip the script on me, then that's fine, but, you know, it's, I've got, I've got my, um, my evidence to back me up in the sense. And are there some examples worth mentioning something, not to mention any specific names or anything, but something unusual or, you know, bizarre? Many, many, many, many, many. Bizarre and unusual in a very positive sense in terms of like the kind of shots we've tried to create or someone gets an idea.

And I said, like, wow, I really want to do this. let's do this and let's see how it's going to work. Or also when your client comes up with something ridiculous. But yeah, specific examples, let me have a thing. It had one where we were producing a series of summer commercials for a food brand and we were filming with a barbecue. So we were trying to find creative ways of igniting the barbecue. So we used the petrol and a match to kind of create this kind of explosion look.

So it was something that we just kind of came up with on the spot there. Let's try this. And it produced a lot bigger of an explosion than we thought it would. So we were all kind of like, whoa, this was really cool. And we got the shot. but it could have really gone sideways and we could have, you know, health and safety. So, yeah, there's been this.

And another really, really cool project was when we were working with Phantom cameras, the cameras that shoot thousand frames per second and it comes with a trigger. So we had to fly the camera in from a different country and the camera came with the camera operator and it was such a cool creative as well. It was a commercial for a smoothie brand, and we had a drummer in a white studio,

and we built a scaffolding, and whilst they were drumming, a team of people was throwing fruits at them. And we were filming all of that in 1,000 frames per second, and the result is, today is still on my show reel, and it's one of the most impact. full shots there. I can personally say that.

I will share the link to the show so that people can have a look. It sounds interesting. Perfect. And out of so many projects that you work on, are there some that you want to tell us more about? Because I can imagine you've got so many, whether from interesting locations, interesting experience, or just it's worth mentioning for some reason? Yes. I would like to share my recent example.

experience in India. So often when I travel, I always try to combine work with my own passion. And because I've been around the block a little bit, you know, 10 years, I've developed these connections all around the world. So what I do is every time I fly somewhere for work, I'm always like, okay, I'm going to be here for this amount of days and I'm going to be working on this project. What else can I do? Who else can I meet with? And sometimes that will flower into a video that we do together or a film product or a podcast or something like this, but sometimes it would just be a coffee that we have. So a few weeks ago, I was in India filming for a healthcare brand.

And after we, after I finished a shoot, I ended up flying to a completely different part of India where there is an animal dispensary, which is completely volunteer run. nonprofit, they essentially capture injured homeless animals, treat them and release them back into the streets or wild animals. And in that kind of project that we did, I had a chance to film monkeys, cobras, parrots, all sorts of exotic animals in an Indian site. which was very exclusive. It's closed access nature park that you only get access

with the special permissions with and India's number three oldest and biggest Vanyan tree lives there and the site and campus is just completely amazing. So yeah, I landed in Chennai

where that facility was located just to really experience it for myself and when I met the team there, they were like, oh, so you're carrying all this equipment. Let's do something. Let's have fun. Let's find something that we can do. So we ended up producing this seven minute informational short video, which tells people about the facilities,

but also really showcases the people, the people who work there and what motivates them to go into that kind of a crazy world of. you know, working with up to 80 cases of different animals and their injuries per day and understanding what motivates them and fuels them. That was a really fun, loving project to work on. Yeah, that sounds like amazing experience. When you mix both the work and with something to enjoy and it ends up like something like this, I would definitely, is the video available online?

It's just in the final stages of the edits. So it's not available yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And are you also, yeah, so you are also editing the video, right? Yes. Wow, sounds exciting. And before, you also mentioned that you did your own feature film, right? Yes.

So can you tell us more about it? Yes, of course. this was one of the most beautiful experiences in my career so far. And what I really love about this is it has grown so much. This is one of the reasons also why I'm moving to New York and I have all this bookings in South America because what has happened is people all around the world have seen this. And they've invited me to come down and produce some. something similar for them.

But to kind of share this story a little bit, a few years ago, I met this community in Peru that had been completely cut off from mainstream society. In today's life, we have smartphones, we have taxes, we have our fast life and all of that, and we're always on the go. But this community doesn't have any of that. they don't have smartphones, they don't have the tax system, they just live off the land. And their culture is just living in harmony and balance with the nature. So hearing the story of this community and how they got cut off from the mainstream society,

they've been cut off for about 500 years now. The perspective that they bring, the story. that have been preserved in their original culture, they are the direct descendants of the Inca culture. And it's just such a rich heritage and beautiful story. And it's also very scientific in a sense because this was one of the moments that made me realize that, you know, today in a Western society, we think that we are the most advanced that humanity has ever been. But the stories and the wisdom that they share,

all these structures, but DNA was only discovered in Europe in the 1950s. And for them, this is very, very old. So being able to go to these places that no one has seen before, or at least hasn't seen in a very long time, learning from the communities and understanding the story, that they have to share and meeting that community. And what really fascinated me is they speak an ancient language called Quechua.

And in this language, there are no swear words. So in many other languages there are swear words. But imagine if we didn't have swear words, that would completely take away this kind of negative aspects to communication. So it's just very pure. It's very pure. France is the documentary premiered in seven countries across the globe.

Since then, it's been a year since it was released. And I have been working on an app where people can go. They can log in and they can see my documentary. That is just in the final stages of release. So I'm really, really excited to share this with the world. and essentially I am now going to Peru in a few months' time to film the sequel.

I also filmed another feature in Bolivia last year with a different community and as on the back of the first feature documentary that I produced and directed, there was this community in the Amazon Rainforest who was working very closely with the community that this documentary is about, they saw it and they were like, we want you to come down to the Amazon rainforest and we want you to make a film about our culture as well. So this is one of my next destinations that I'll be

heading. So it's very beautiful how from this one project, so many other opportunities, have created itself. And yeah, it's really the testament of, I must be doing something right, because people are interested, people want more, and let's go. Yeah, those sounds like very exciting opportunities

and especially something that not many people have access to or, you know, just a limited amount of people. So, actually, how did you get there? How did you find such a community? Yes, it was just when I had moved to Brazil and had set up my business. I was living and working in Brazil where I could stay for three months because of the visa requirements. And I ended up in Peru. At the time, I was really doing a lot of research on all of the different aspects that we experience here in the world.

And it happened that I found this contact. His name is Stefano. He is a local Peruvian that lives in the sacred valley of the Incas, which is just by Kusko. And we had a few conversations and instantly we connected. And we realized that at the time when we met, we realized that this is something. that this person had been wanting to do for the past couple years

and the topics that we were researching were really aligning. So it was really the perfect storm of meeting the supply and demand. And for me as well, it was my first feature. So a very, very daunting experience, that for sure,

because when it comes to feature films, it's a big project, time-consuming project. But if you, have passion and if you have the drive nothing is impossible yeah so so it's like a fate and how did you how did you go about getting the finances for it it's because it's usually the biggest barrier for the people or the freelancers or the starters so how did you get it how did you find it so this is one of the biggest misconceptions that I had also in my mind that making a feature film is going to cost you a lot of money, but really it's not going to cost you a lot of money at all.

This feature film was self-funded entirely kind of me working with my clients all around the world and kind of putting a little bit money aside after each project to kind of calculate a lot. okay, I'm going to need the camera operator for this amount of days. So I'm going to need to have this amount of money. Also, thinking of the flights, I'm flying people in from all around the world to go to Peru. This is how much money I'm going to need for that. And then, of course, the planning stages, the research phases. That was all done by myself. I'm still gradually working through the research materials and publishing them on my YouTube channel

to make them accessible for the public for them to see the research behind the documentary but coming back to the finances you don't really need money all you need is the drive and passion and a bare minimum of what it needs

what it takes to make the film I was very fortunate enough that I had the opportunity to pay for everyone's time so I had the opportunity to pay the camera operator fully for every single day that she spent with me. I had the opportunity to pay for the sound designer. I was working with one of the top Estonian composers who did the score for the film.

I was able to pay for the premieres across the world, you know, the catering, the location hires. So how it works is once you have a film that is ready for the audience to be seen, how do you get it in cinemas? How do you get people to take your film and put it in a cinema? And it's very easy. You just email the cinema being, hey, I'm this filmmaker, I made this film. I want to book a few slots in your week to screen this film. and you can either get the cinema to sell your tickets or you can also advertise it in your means.

You know, people who are interested in this kind of film that you're producing or sharing it in social media. So, yeah, this one was completely self-funded. But of course, if you have, you know, a producer that is helping you produce it, that's a different story because then we're going to start talking about completely different. finances, but luckily I had both the producer and the director skill set within me, so I could kind of save a lot of money by not having to initially pay myself, but the payday is definitely on the way. Yeah, I think it's a great example and inspiration for people who may use this as excuses or as a barrier that it's possible and just great inspiration.

And what about streaming services? Is it going to be there? Is it possible to show it on some streaming services? Yes, I have been in touch with quite a few screening services and trying to find ways to collaborate. But because of the percentages that are being harnessed by these streaming services, this is the reason why I've opted for the, path of producing my own platform for the people to go and pay for that, almost like my own

Netflix in a sense where people can download the app and pay a monthly fee. And for that, they can access the content. But also, never underestimate the power of physical screenings where people can come together in a community and watch it all in one space. I'm going to have another face-to-face screening in New York with the director's commentary after. That will happen in a few months' time. After that, I'm going to have another screening in Peru as well, again, face-to-face. So I would say the hybrid approach is the best for me at the time of doing physical streams, but also online streams.

So it's the message for the listeners. Follow Mark on social media. We will be following your exciting journey when you are promoting your projects. Thank you so much. What's the name of the film, actually? Gao Saipak. What does it mean?

It means a good living. Oh, nice. It means to live in balance and harmony with everything. and everyone around you. Yeah. So just being aware of your time, if you want to, can you promote yourself? Where can people follow you or where you are present if they can connect with you?

Yes, of course. So my main platform right now is TikTok where you can see me, travel the world and experience life. So my TikTok, I'm going to send you the details. So maybe you can put them in the description of the video. So follow my TikTok. That's where I'm most active. The second platform would be my YouTube channel.

And my YouTube channel is more like a workspace where you get to see me explore different mediums and test out audio. I'm also going to send you the link for that. And last but not least, my Instagram as well. Instagram is a platform where I'm least active, but every now and then I would have a moment to pause from my travels and be like, okay, let me just post something now that I've been to 17 different countries in the past two weeks or something.

Cool, yeah, I will make sure to share it. And before we finish, is there something that you would like to share? Maybe something I forgot to ask or something that is on your mind? No, not necessarily. I think you've done a wonderful job, kind of helping me open myself up to the world and share what I do. But I would say an advice that I would like to share is when we filmmakers come out into the world from our film schools, ready to take on the world. and make our directional debut or explore the industry and find what really, who we are as an artist, I would say never give up to follow your dream.

Never give up. It doesn't matter the amount of times that people say no to you or the amount of times and opportunities slips you by. if a door closes three other doors open so never give up, just keep doing what you're doing and collectively, you know, coming up from film school, I have a lot of filmmaker friends that we're all grown together in our careers. At film school, they paint us the picture that, you know,

when you enter the industry, you're going to work as a runner for years and years and years and you're going to be working 18 hour days, just making coffee for the people. I would really challenge that perspective because that is not my reality. If you want to direct, start direction from the moment you exit film school.

If you want to edit, start editing the moment you exit film school. Do what you want to do and don't think that you need to do something else which you don't enjoy to get somewhere because actually what you will get is you will just develop yourself to be very strong in this particular role that you might not even be

passionate about being a runner might not be your passion, but if you think that you're going to have to do that for four years, and then you become a really good runner, that just makes you really good as a runner. But instead of doing that, you can just go straight into directing. And yes, you're not going to be booked on the most expensive. and glamorous gigs with celebrities and big brands and big budgets, but it will be a starting point. And in the process, you will develop yourself as a director in your signature and you're creative and you will attract the right people who will give you the next step. So be kind to people.

Take all opportunities that you can get, be your absolute best self and never give up. Never give up. Never give up. I think it's a perfect message and advice to finish this interview. So thank you so much, Mark. It's been really inspiring listening to you. And I'll be excited to invite you sometime in the future, because I believe there is much more we can talk about

and definitely a lot of exciting stuff ahead of your journey. So thank you so much, Mark. Thank you so much for having me. And yes, I'm more than happy to come back and perhaps speak about some other things. Yeah. Thank you, Mark. We should good luck and we'll stay in touch. Thank you. Thank you. See you. See you.

Thank you for listening. If we enjoy the show, please leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast app, get in touch to provide your feedback or share any ideas for future guests. Thank you and see you soon.