Meet Marcus Hamm

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marcus Hamm. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marcus below.

Marcus, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?

I had a beautiful childhood, one that allowed my imagination to thrive. I fell in love with film from the time I spent with my family watching both in theaters and at home. That fondness led me to gain optimism as I would always look forward to what’s coming next.

I grew up holding onto those core memories and feelings and as an adult, I believe in knowing that anything that you truly work towards is possible.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a filmmaker with an LLC named Urban Renaissance Entertainment. I created this vision back in 2003 where I produced my first TV pilot, a professional wrestling series called Urban Empire Wrestling. I came very close to a deal on my first try which told me that I was on the right track. At that stage of my career, wrestling was all I wanted to do.

After acting training at my alma mater, University of Maryland, College Park, my Theater instructor encouraged me to pursue an Acting career. I later sought representation and in 2007, I landed my first feature role on HBO’S The Wire season five. I played a special division officer who was part of the task force that arrested Marlo Stanfield played by Jamie Hector. It was so new to me that I didn’t realize how big a deal that was until years later.

After several years Acting and wrestling, I decided in 2020 to begin making films. I started with a collaboration feature film thriller Heaven’s Revenge, I Love You to Death and also filmed my first self written short film, The Black League of Superheroes. Both were successful in being critically acclaimed having won multiple film festival awards both for Acting and filmmaking.

My next focus included helping to make a friend’s final wish come true. A Hollywood mainstay, Steven James Tingus connected with me and teamed as Co-Executive Producer for my next project, Triggered, a Cinematic Superhero Fan Film. Steven confided that his time was short due to a rare form of Muscular dystrophy that led to organ failure. But he refused to leave us until the work was done and he got to see himself on the big screen on December 3rd 2022 at the TCL Chinese Theatres for Indie Night Film Festival.

That night we enjoyed the experience of a premiere screening and celebrated which was his que to say goodbye. Following his passing my mission was to continue to create opportunities that were inclusive to the disabled community and celebrate diversity. This led to my latest work, Triggered 2.0 which recently premiered at Indie Night Film Festival as well and has been given a 5 star review by Short Films Matter along with being selected as a handpicked must see short film.

This project is a homage to Steven and allows for the character that he created to live on, The Director 2.0. As we prepare to create a 3rd and final chapter, we also now are offering to collaborate with aspiring Superheroes who would like us to help them produce their Fan Film.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The first was the desire to excel in education. When I was young I skipped 3rd grade and moved on to a new school that took a few years to adjust. It wasn’t until 6th grade that I began to achieve the honor roll again, and it was my mission to remain on it from that time on. I graduated high school with a 3.83 average.

The 2nd skill was amateur wrestling. I attest so much to this. I joined my high school wrestling team at Largo Senior High School in the 10th grade. That experience gifted me with finding my untapped potential and indomitable spirit. It also helped me to learn the discipline and physical development that it took to later enter the professional wrestling industry.

The 3rd skill is fatherhood, the motivation to continue to grow in my career came from it. I learned from both my father and from being a father that there’s never a time that we stop growing and learning. If we think we’re done learning, we have chosen to stop growing.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Absolutely, it is my focus to give back by working with others who see collaboration as a way to build on their goals. I think in art collaborative work is the only way to truly stretch your creative limbs so I want to work with anyone who is on a path towards a vision and sees what I do as being a potential part of making that vision possible. I invite anyone who is seeking partnership of any form to visit www.urbanrenaissanceentertainment.com and email me at urbanrenentertainment@gmail.com.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Araya Doheny

Masashi Ishizuka

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