The need for short-form, impactful, scroll-stopping content has exploded. Mark and his team have been at the forefront of this movement for more than a decade. From the early days of Instagram, Mark created countless viral moments for brands and publications - from the InStyle elevator to Zendaya shattering the glass ceiling for Glamour.
Mark’s work has BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of views.
Working with his wife, production designer, Domenica Agostino Leibowitz, they concept and construct sets that are more art installations than photo and video sets. Pairing these high concept sets with Mark’s background in commercial and television directing, today’s top celebrities feel immediately comfortable to shine in front of the lens.
The icing on the cake is that the production team often delivers all images and videos within 12 - 24 hours of the shoot meaning that the tight deadlines for today’s social media are easily met.
Euphoria
HBO had a bold vision - film captivating, thumb-stopping video the night of the Euphoria premiere, then stylize and feed it immediately onto social media that evening. We started at 8 am in front of the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard, building out clean walls illuminated with colored light that reflected off flowing mylar and cellophane. We added a 360 degree optical camera effect. When the cast arrived at 5 pm we began shooting and by midnight we had delivered 10 videos of the cast and dozens of images that exploded across the internet, way beyond their millions of followers.
Netflix FYSEE
We designed and built a portrait installation at Raleigh Studios for Netflix where their FYSEE (For Your Consideration) events were being held. They requested “classic” portraits of Netflix’s biggest stars that could be shot in the moments before or after they took the stage to speak with the industry press. This request meant we had only a few minutes with everyone from Oprah, Jane Fonda and Bruce Springsteen, to the full casts of shows such as Queer Eye, Russian Doll, and the Umbrella Academy.
We selected images onsite and sent them out immediately for retouching so they could be distributed for press and publicity. The studio lived on site for about 5 weeks with us photographing about 20 days total. Over 200 images from the 25 biggest Netflix productions of the year were delivered by the end of the shoot.
House of the Dragon
Tapped for what became the biggest launch in HBO’s 50-year history, we concepted and created a set filled with flames and heat. Our challenge was to signal to viewers that, although part of the Game of Thrones franchise, House of the Dragon has its own distinct vvoice. We hand cut over 2,000 paper dragon-inspired scales and brought in some world-class lighting design. Our installation danced like fire around the talent and then burned up the internet.
Staircase
Inspired by a visual brief, we custom designed and manufactured a plexi-glass room that could be quickly built and deconstructed given the tight timeline on location. We had one hour to set up and then one hour to photograph the star-studded cast. To capture the themes that The Staircase touches upon, we used lighting and the lines of the furniture to simultaneously reveal and obscure our subjects. Our team of retouchers then worked through the night to deliver images for immediate posting.
Succession
Confident, dramatic, intimate, intense, and bold. The shoot for Succession Season 3 demanded it all. Inspired by New York City’s dramatic skyline,we concepted and built a cityscape that resembled the sophisticated stomping ground of the show. We then edited and retouched the footage for immediate posting across social channels. The resulting content not only resonated with the current fan base, but also intrigued new viewers.