Hello All!
I’d like to introduce myself…. My name is Mark Vicente. I am a Director / Cinematographer / Writer / Producer / Trouble-Maker from South Africa, currently living in Los Angeles. I was introduced to Steemit by my lovely wife @bonniepiesse and the amazing @benleemusic - who are both champions of the platform.
A little about me. I was born in Johannesburg but have lived all over the world. South Africa, Portugal, Brazil, Canada and now the US. I developed a love for filmmaking early on, after seeing Star Wars when I was 13 years old. (More on that and how I ended up marrying an actress from Star Wars, later.)
My childhood dream was to be a filmmaker and my obsession when I was a teenager was - I had to make a movie that was important by the time I was 26. At 26 I started shooting the film “Sarafina” and it was released when I was 27. I was extremely proud of the film and felt like I had just squeaked in under my goal! I also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Nelson Mandela, who came to visit the set for a day. That was a moment I will never forget. Sarafina’s critical success gained me entry into the larger world of filmmaking and to Hollywood.
My pursuit in life has been to create media that effects people in the deepest possible way. It was my dream to get to Hollywood and in doing so, I worked with some incredible people: Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Swayze, Halle Berry, Rufus Sewell, Minnie Driver, Josh Brolin, Marlee Matlin, James Spader to name a few.
As a cinematographer I shot a number of films I was very proud of but I was yearning to express my own voice about things that moved ME. Directing was the obvious next step. That yearning began to come too fruition with the release of “What the Bleep do we Know?!” Along with my partners Will Arntz and Betsy Chasse we came up with the crazy notion to get ideas that were relegated to musty weird bookstores - out into the mainstream. And we did exactly that! The impact of that film opened my life up to so many new adventures and people.
The dream has always been the same. Make films that matter and effect people deeply. I am currently in the middle of production on a series which promises to do just that, in a profound way. Also, I’m in early development on a Science Fiction film about Artificial Intelligence, a Ghost Story and a number of other short form projects. I love directing like nothing else in the world.
I decided to jump onto the Steemit platform for two reasons.
- I love a community that seeks to nurture and develop voices in all kinds of fields and...
- I have a lot I’d like to express! I might have to do a little work to temper my insurrection, politically incorrect sense of humor and outspoken views - but hopefully I can bring value to this amazing platform and meet other awesome people.
I’ll likely be posting about:
- The making of films I’ve been involved in
- Films I’m currently in production on
- Some of my film work
- Video and photo contemplations
- My spirtitual quests in life (the good the bad and the pitfalls)
- My heroes
- Video interviews with fascinating people
- My passion for Science Fiction, Philosophy, Science and Art…
- My evolution as an artist
And more importantly… my work-in-progress realizations as a human.
See you soon!
Mark
Feel free to follow me here:
Instagram:
Website:
Facebook:
Welcome to Steemlandia! The Steem blockchain has immense potential, far more than just Steemit itself. @hardfork-series for instance with film, but many more in the works too.
Thanks @preparedwombat! Welcome to the platform @markvincente! Would be cool to get you in the @hardfork-series mix. Let’s connect.
Ok
Star Wars is an inspiration for me as well
Yay! Welcome Mark! Excited youre here!!
Yeah
Thanks Ben! It's all because of you! xoxo
Welcome, Mark! Great to have you here. There is an amazing community on Steemit. I am also originally from South Africa, now living in Australia. Thank for sharing that amazing introduction.
Thanks for the warm welcome!
Hi mate. Have you reached out to @choogirl for #teamaustralia membership?
Not yet, but thanks for that. I will check it out.
Hello, Mark, and Welcome to Steemit.
It's quite a surprise to meet the director of "What the Bleep..?" which I saw in Toronto years ago.
I typically welcome certain new Steemers with a list of advice / suggestions re making great posts, but your intro shows that you pretty much know how to do that. So, I'll just summarize by saying ...
Create high-quality content.
Support others through "curation" of their posts (You'll learn about doing that>)
Cheers, and Full Steem Ahead ... to wherever the Bleep it takes us.
Great to have you onboard, Mark.
Don't keep a lid on the political stuff; we love a quality rant :)
That's good to hear Matt! Thanks for the support.
hi markvicente, it’s nice to see new face on steemit, hope you will spread positive vibes in steemit.and keep up the good work on steemit...;-) and be regular on steemit it will make grow you faster... ;-)
Welcome to steemit , upvoted you will regularly do on your good work , for newbie tips and basic information you can check my blog at @adityajainxds
If you want that your post should be curated, join MINNOW POST PROMOTION - FREE UPVOTE,
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You Have My Back.....
Thanks @adityajainxds
This is fantastic!
Welcome aboard the Steemit Train @markvicente!!! May we flourish together for years to come. I am so excited to read what you are about to share with us.
Namaste :)
Thank you for your kind welcome Eric.
Hello welcome. I invite you to our discord chat. We help new users to grow. You will be welcome if you want to come. https://discord.gg/h6ykdsu
Thank You Anais!
Hello, @markvicente, and Welcome to Steemit.
Below are a few basic points of advice re posting on Steemit.
1 – Longer posts are more lucrative than short posts. If you make a post of 20–30 paragraphs, it's more likely to earn rewards.
2 – Include some photos, images or graphs, to complement the text.
3 – Make sure the text and photos are formatted properly, so that your post looks attractive and appealing.
4 – Be yourself.
5 – Be interesting and informative.
6 – Create quality content. Steemit is intended to be a platform of quality content. (You will see many insignificant posts with meager content and no quality. Most of those of posts [called “shitposts” by Steemit whale Stellabelle] will earn few rewards and soon pass into oblivion.)
7 – Get online and start curating. Read various posts, comment on those posts you find interesting, and upvote those posts. That’s the best way to attract followers.
Thanks for the advice!!!
Glad to have you here @markvicente I think you are really going to enjoy this platform. I am excited to see more filmmakers here on the platform as we could definitely use more. Hopefully at some point we could rally all of us filmmakers into a little community here and potentially start a discord group.
Loved your film "What the Bleep do we know" By the way. I remember watching it a few years back ad really resonating with the core concepts you guys put forth in the film. I am always looking to connect with fellow conscious content creators. Welcome to steemit and welcome to the future of content creation. Cheers and I look forward to seeing what you create here.
Thanks! BTW Techno-Pagan is an awesome descriptor :-)
Happy to meet each other via this platform! Stay in touch! Congrats for your Art/Filmography! All the best Mark!
I wish you much success and hope you find Steemit to be as rewarding and informative as I have.
Here are some links you might find useful.
Your stats on SteemNow
Your stats on SteemWorld
Your stats on SteemD
How does Steemit actually work?
Welcome to Steemit @markvicente! Introbot is hosted and managed with donations from @byColeman to help make your journey on Steemit be truly rewarding. Your feedback is always welcome so that we may improve this welcome message. Oh yea, I have upvoted you and followed you. Many blessings from @introbot & @bycoleman
Hello @markvicente, I am interested in film making but I think it's too late for me to pursue that as a career. Haha. So, I just learn video editing as a hobby. Looking forward to your reading your next articles and learn from you. Thanks.
It's never too late! ;-)
Welcome to Steemit :) I look forward to following along your creative journey and seeing the projects you’re working on! Sounds exciting! Especially the meanings behind/reasons for what you do.
Ahhh the meanings/reasons... so important....
Welcome to the steemit community :D We are really glad to have you here :)
Thanks
Welcome! I look forward to seeing what you put in your blog.
I follow you bro, welcome
Welcome to Steemit Mark :) I remember being blown away the first time (and subsequent times) I watched 'What the Bleep' - Congrats on that ..and best of luck here in the Land of the Steem!
Welcome to Steemit! I look forward to your posts about your spiritual quests. I've been working on a series of video interviews on spirituality and mental health. There's a steep learning curve in video production, not dissimilar to Steemit. ;-). But you have some good mentors here. See you round.
Welcome Mark! Looking forward to your film posts on here. I write a music blog and do sports articles for @steemsports and I'm actually in LA too! I live in Koreatown. Big fan of the Lakers and Dodgers. I think you'll really like this platform I've been here since the beginning of January and have been posting almost every day.
Welcome Mark, enjoy your stay on steemit :)
Excited to see a real life filmmaker on here! I'd like to check out your films, definitely followed. I'm in film/media production school right now, I'll have to glean some knowledge from you ;) Welcome to Steemit, Mark!
Nice, there needs to be more film related stuff on here, looking forward to your future posts. I love seeing those niche books turned into movies.
Hi Marc
You dont seem to need help but
Welcome to Steemit
Blogging thats what its all about on this blockchain. The best part is that you could earn money too.💴💸💰but movies or video’s are good too.
I never blogged before I just write, and I like it
But be carefull with all your passwords !! Never give those up !!
The Steemify App I use is great, it is available in the Appstore and free, go cheque it out. I wish you good luck with steeming and I Will See you around🍀
Greetings from Brittandjosie from the Netherlands I saw your #introduceyourself and its nice to meet you. Dtube needs people like you! For safety tips visit https://steemit.com/steem/@verhp11/safety-first-first-aid-kit-for-steemians-who-are-just-beginning-this-great-journey from Our fellow steemy @verhp11.
Welcome. Glad you are joining us!
Ah another Star Wars fan! Good to meet you.
And you as well.
Welcome, Mark, to... the future.
Good power and energy to you and your work.
Thank You Hans!
Hi Mark. My name is Aaron aka @shauntaemonte. I am a relatively new user but I wanted to reach out and say hi. Whether you've come to realize it yet or not networking and building up a community of supporters is key to success here. After reading your introduction, perhaps our interests are similar enough we can appreciate each others posts and share comments and support.
Equally important is educating ourselves about steemit and the community and the rules. In fact it's probably equally or more important to learn how things work and start commenting, communicating and accumulating followers as it is to creating content. Do both things.
BTW, I've been to SA and really loved it. I've already done a couple posts with images I collected there. I shall return.
I also wanted to point you to steemd.com/@yourname. This site will give you more detailed information about your reputation value, your voting power and your voting weight. It will also provide you a real-time ledger of all your steemit transactions and show when people give you comments, replies and up-votes as well as dreaded down-votes. And sadly I must say it can happen, so caution you again to pay attention to the rules.
There are a lot of articles and information out there so just google a question and you should find the answer. Also feel free to send me a comment with a question and we can share ideas.
Kindly, if you follow, up-vote, or resteem me, please make a comment so I know. And why. That way I know if I'm sharing things of interest to the community and also I can repay you in-kind for doing so.
Thank you,
https://steemit.com/@shauntaemonte https://www.spohnranch.com/bio/aaron-spohn/
Very impressive introduction post Mark! I wish you all the best and I am very excited what I will read here. As a photographer I am sure, I will lern a lot ...
Cheers,
David
Welcome, you will enjoy yourself. Steemit welcomes all types even trouble makers
Ah! Music to my ears ;-)
You have been scouted by @promo-mentors. We are a community of new and veteran Steemians and we are always on the look out for promising authors.
I would like to invite you to our discord group https://discord.gg/CNvvuu6
When you are there send me a message if you get lost! (My Discord name is the same as here on Steemit)
Welcome to Steemit. Go and make us South African's proud🙂
Welcome Mark! I’m glad you’ve arrived and planning to invest your creative energy in the platform. There are some wonderful creators and gold hearts on this platform. Hopefully, you’ll settle in quickly and start sharing you creative experiences with us.
Cinematography is not a space amateur me plays in, but I’ve always thought how multi-talented someone has to be to weave a story into a meaningful film. This really came to me when someone pointed me to Andrea Tarkovsky films. These are not the usual films I seek, and as someone who can’t sit still, they were an arduous feat in focus. Lol. But I was fascinated by his life, his inspiration and his creative process. I hope you allow us to peek into your creative world and understand what drives you to making the films you do. Good luck on your steemit journey, I’m certain you’ll be a fabulous success!
Please do not temper your insurrection :)
So you passionately loved Star Wars and married an actress from Star Wars. Lucky you've got a passion for filmmaking to get you out of bed cos that's just a bookend to life right there.
Imagine if E.T. had been your passion movie. You'd need a wormhole or you might still be single :)
Welcome Mark! Keep up the good work!
Looking forward to hear more from you