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MARK VAN DE VEN

Certain he was on the path to becoming a corporate lawyer, Mark Van de Ven accidentally fell in love with film and headed in a completely different direction. Pursuing a film studies degree at the University of Western Ontario and taking basic production training in England at Royal Holloway led him to success at his first public screening: his uniquely experimental Mark: A Documentary not only won an award but also caused a complete stranger to approach Mark to thank him for making the film. Oddly, it was the second of these events that left Mark hooked for life.

After university, Mark moved to Toronto, where he focused on script writing while also working in the documentary industry on productions for the NFB, MTV, and Alliance-Atlantis. After forming Resistance Pictures with Jeff Vanderwal, he decided he didn't believe all those people who said he should pick one discipline and run with it: he found that combining writing, directing, producing, and editing-both documentary and drama-provided a better route towards filling his insatiable need to fully understand the craft of filmmaking.

Since then, he has worked as an editor on numerous projects, including an episode for History Television's award-winning Turning Points of History and two films with emerging director Simon Reynolds. After starting with documentary, he directed his first drama, Perennial, in 2006. His scripts have been honoured by Slamdance and the Worldwide Short Film Festival, and have been awarded grants from the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.

Return from Mark Van de Ven to October 2007 Film Festival