Meet Marc Baron

We recently connected with Marc Baron and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Marc, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I guess it started with my parents, who worked hard most of their lives. My father was a child of the Great Depression, whose father died when he was young making him the head of the family, working to provide for his brother and sister. My mother was in the arts and fled during World War II and started a new life in New York. I was always one who followed through on a promise and became very dependable. This was somewhat reinforced when I joined the Navy. I found the required military discipline there easy…and that’s a trait that remains with me today. I’m usually the first to arrive for a meeting and always prepared.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am focused on the arts: film, theater, music, and writing. I recall when I was a teen and told my mother I wanted a life in the arts, her response was “it’s in your DNA.” I thought she meant that because she had been a dancer with a club act in Europe and NYC when she first arrived from Vienna. My grandfather, Josef Josephu, was a respected sculptor and concert singer, my grandmother was a concert pianist in Vienna [they often performed together]. When doing research for a biography on my grandfather and his sculptures, I discovered many other ancestors in the arts. And some who are directly related were major names. The best part of my research was discovering and connecting with family thought to have died during World War II, and we’ve become close, and I have since gained dual citizenship with Austria.

I have been acting, singing, directing, and writing most of my life. During most of my adult life I have been in service to my union, SAG-AFTRA, and I’m now in my 17th year on its NY Board. I have also been very active in The Lambs, America’s oldest professional theatrical association. I have performed, directed, and produced many shows and events there. I have served in its leadership for 30 years, including ten as its Shepherd (president). I stepped down last year to focus on my creative projects and was named ‘Shepherd Emeritus” the third such honor in 150 years, in recognition of my life-long service.

During my career in film, I had spent much time working closely with top level directors and actors, including Sidney Lumet, Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman, and Matthew Broderick. They were all incredibly supportive and shared their experience and knowledge. and were the people who encouraged me to start writing my own films.

I’m excited about two feature films I’ve written: MEGABALL$, a comedy about computer geeks, the lottery and the Mob, and COMEBACK IN VIENNA, a romantic comedy for an older couple of fading movie stars. COMEBACK has been optioned by a Vienna-based producer and we’ve been working hard at putting it together. I will be directing both, and both screenplays have done very well in numerous international screenplay contests and film festivals. I’ve made several trips to Vienna. Locations are all cleared, and we’re waiting to hear back from two actresses to see if either are interested in the lead role.

Their websites are www.MegaBallsMovie.com and www.ComebackInVienna.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I’d say the ease of having a good relationship with people and being reliable are important. People generally don’t work with people they don’t like – particularly in the arts. It’s all about team building.

Almost daily I read up on current trends in the industry, trying to know who’s doing what and make a connection. I often review my scripts and my director notes, so both the script and my preparation are clear, making it easy to share my vision.

My advice is to always seek growth, to train and practice. Pablo Casals, the famed celloist, at ninety years old was questioned why he practices every day. He responded, “Because I’m think I’m making progress.”

It’s also important to have a solid support group from people who care about you and believe in you. They are your fallback during dissuading times. to help fuel the fires when you need.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The hardest thing about independent films is finding funding. There’s what I call the Bermuda Triangle of filmmaking. Investors always ask who the stars are – but the stars and their gatekeepers won’t look at a script before it’s financed. Distributors don’t want to review the project until they know who the stars are. And everyone wants a director who has already directed, but every director starts somewhere somehow. You need to be fully prepared and do everything possible to gain confidence in your talent and ability.

First, we are approaching it by being sure the screenplay is GOOD and is a story that will have an audience appeal. Next, we are building a solid team of experienced filmmakers. We are attracting great locations and received some free product deals. For example, the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra is giving us free access to their library of over 1100 recordings. Not only is that a great savings and will provide a super soundtrack, but it’s also a tremendous act of faith in the film. We are combining the use of tax rebates/credits, and slowly building interest in the project. The idea is to get a combination of presales, tax deals, product deals and equity investors to raise the total funds needed. It takes time. Can be discouraging. We must keep focused.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

1) photo of me, Ken Howard, and Joe Cirllo – by Jim Manley
Others not professional, just friend photos from my camera

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