Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Birnbaum.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My dad was an ad agency principal in Baltimore. I made my first film in Vietnam. In the US Army. It was a propaganda film. So Dad would have been proud. The Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting was my film school. Film: 16mm film. In public television, I discovered my non-fiction chops and I’ve never looked back.
A job offer from KERA in Dallas moved me to Texas, where I immersed myself in all things Texana. Working with an extraordinary group of reporters and other filmmakers, we made NEWSROOM nightly must-see TV. So many stories, so little time. We did it night after night.
Digital video changed everything. One finally had all the tools in hand to tell almost any story you cared to commit to. And it just keeps getting better. More stories told that would never have seen the screen in the film era.
Now I make documentaries for the web and for broadcast, documentary-style films for business, healthcare, non-profits and education. I live and work downtown, in a city where so many seem to want to get things right, where the arts thrive and it’s almost impossible to find a bad meal.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
You know, it’s been like most roads: long, smooth super slab with great scenery, two-lane blacktops that called for more attention to possible disasters and the occasional hardscrabble road from hell that you know will end eventually and does, and you just keep driving forward to see what’s next.
I love road trips.
Please tell us about Mark Birnbaum Productions.
Mark Birnbaum Productions is me, with some help from my friends. I/We make documentaries, long and short. That included a broadcast on the PBS series, POV, still the premier venue for docs on TV.
My films are different in that I almost never rely on scripted narration. Instead, I use interviews to tell the story, in the words of the people in the story. So I’m very good at interviews, at preparing and then getting that part of the story from the person at hand. This is perhaps a truer form than using spoon-fed narration.
Lately, I’ve been making films about preservation and restoration. Courthouses, log cabins, grand homes. These stories combine history, science and art of architectural restoration. Last year I won awards from Preservation Texas and Preservation Dallas for my work in this area.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1409 S. Lamar #950 Dallas TX 75215
- Website: www.markbirnbaum.com
- Phone: 2142235264
- Email: mark.birnbaum@PObox.com
- Instagram: markrbirnbaum
- Facebook: Mark Birnbaum Productions
- Twitter: @markbirnbaum
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