Mark J. Parker was born in southern New Jersey and grew up acting in theater and independent films, and making his own student films, in the greater Philadelphia area. After studying at Temple University for a year, he moved to New York City in 2006 to attend Fordham University. In New York, he worked at various companies and networks like ABC, NBC, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Telepictures, Harpo, and Jarrett Creative Group, and continued acting here and there. He started working on indie features and shorts in 2011, and continues to produce, cast, assistant direct, script supervise, shoot, edit, and of course write and direct indie and digital projects today. He directed his first real short film Sticks in Maine in 2015 and it screened at 40 North American film festivals in 2016-2017. He directed his second short Family History in Connecticut in 2019 and premiered it at virtual festivals in late 2020 (still on the festival 2021 circuit). He now lives in southern Maine, where he freelances in entertainment/media, works on his next shorts, and teaches teens, children, and adults.