Mark Taylor

ROLE // PRODUCER + DIRECTOR + SOUND

BRIEF

Sydney Opera House briefed out a suite of video content that would coincide with the launch of Badu Gili. They were particularly interested in engaging somebody who would use a delicate approach in embracing this very significant First Nations story.

RESPONSE

We responded to the brief with an objective of showing the Sydney Opera House in a way that audiences had never seen before. We wanted to visually explore the connection between the Opera House and the land upon which it sits in a rich and vibrant way.  

ROLE // PRODUCER

BRIEF

Universal Music approached myself and director Laura Nagy to work on this special project.  Universal Music were wanting to re-position their artist Alfie Arcuri and engage in the LGBTQIA+ equality conversation.

RESPONSE

Knowing that Universal Music were providing us with a certain level of creative freedom, Laura and I set out to create a Music Video that resembled more of a short film. We convinced Universal to not include Alfie in the video and instead focus on a simple story of young love. With a limited budget, we settled on a run-and-gun shoot format and engaged crew members who suited this style. The final piece of the puzzle was casting three exceptional actors. 

ROLE // PRODUCER

BRIEF

Working with my previous employer AKA Australia, myself and Paper Moose were engaged to find a way to communicate the joy of experiencing a great piece of musical theatre in a way that is relevant to an ever-changing market place. For over 30 years (since the days of Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables) musicals have been selling themselves with snappy production footage shot on a theatre stage.  It was the 'what you see is what you get' approach.  For the third Australian tour of Mamma Mia! this traditional approach needed to be reimagined.

RESPONSE

A solution had to be found that created a TV commercial for a new production of Mamma Mia!, more than 6 months before the show actually existed. Riding on the current 'Carpool Karaoke' phenomenon and the feeling of anticipation you get when travelling to the theatre to see a show that you're really excited about. We executed a TVC significantly different to anything used to sell musical theatre in Australia in the past 30 years and has become the foundation of a campaign already receiving significant social media attention and participation.

ROLE // PRODUCER  + 1ST AD

BRIEF

With the unveiling of her most recent album, Primal Heart, Kimbra and her label set the Herculean task of filming a total of three music videos over two (very long) weekends in Melbourne.

RESPONSE

Working with Director, Guy Franklin and production house, Pixel, we shot two location driven, atmospheric videos on 16mm film and one high concept video using a 360° Dolly Track.

ROLE // PRODUCER + 1ST AD

BRIEF

Nathan Farrell Entertainment engaged myself and director, Bryn Chainey to produce two music videos for local hip-hop act, Thundamentals.

RESPONSE

For Wolves we wanted to make this video as an artefact of this city at this specific moment in time. A time when the cultural investment of artists like Thundamentals is now being shat on. Wolves is a howl against those forces, and also a call to arms for those who still believe this city has something to offer after dark.

For Sally we chose to embrace a glorious 80's aesthetic and take advantage of the band's ever-apparent comedy chops. The video enjoyed tremendous success online. 

ROLE // PRODUCER

BRIEF

When chatting to 12 councils across Sydney, it turned out they all had a common enemy: plastic bags. People put recycling in plastic bags before putting it in the bin, rendering it unrecyclable and headed to landfill. We needed to change this behaviour, and the dry subject matter required a bit of a new approach to get cut through.

RESPONSE

We combined 80s nostalgia, horror, and putting cute faces on things, to create the opening titles to a sitcom featuring a recyclable family; these slowly descend into chaos as plastic bags take over and “murder” The Recyclins, destroying the credits and bringing the catchy theme tune to a grinding halt. The idea was bizarre but also simple: plastic bags are the death of recycling, so take your recycling out of plastic bags.

ROLE // PRODUCER

BRIEF

Celia Pavey's musical project Vera Blue exploded onto the scene back in 2015. For the first single off her new album, Universal Music approached myself and director Bryn Chainey to create an epic music video that would tie in with her strong aesthetics and create a buzz about the upcoming album.

RESPONSE

“Private” really struck us on first listen: it has a haunting and manic quality, like a fever dream, with lyrics so full of longing that they almost tip over into obsession and maybe even violence. With the video we wanted to riff on those sensations in a way which also captured the seductive quality of the song along with its brute force; we also wanted to find a way to visually bring together the gothic and modern textures of the song. 

ROLE // PRODUCER + DIRECTOR + SOUND

BRIEF

eHarmony approached myself and Paper Moose to capture video content at an eHarmony LIVE speed dating event and create a series of edits that support eHarmony’s new Spark brand direction.

RESPONSE

Working closely with a trusted DOP and the eHarmony Marketing Department, we delivered a range of documentary style videos that demonstrated the fun, cheekiness and authenticity of the evening which eHarmony seeded out on their social platforms.

ROLE // SINGER + SONGWRITER

With a history in musical composition and a love for live music, I formed Huckleberry and Me in 2010. The band enjoyed local success and spent a great deal of time between 2010 - 2014 playing gigs around the country and touring to regional areas and festivals.

In 2012, I produced and wrote the treatment for our first music video, What is the What. 

ROLE // PRODUCER // 1ST AD

BRIEF

We were tasked with creating a series of videos that would teach BBQ enthusiasts how to smoke a range of meats.

ROLE // PRODUCER + SOUND

BRIEF

Universal Music approached myself and director Laura Nagy to create a series of short documentary style videos that would contribute to the LGBTQIA+ Equality conversation. 

RESPONSE

We spent over 50 hours interviewing a number of incredible LGBTQIA+ advocates and settled on 4 subjects who we found both compelling and authentic. We wanted to steer away from the look of a 'white cyc' background so captured these interviews in a photography studio with a textured white brick wall. We also paired Universal Music up with the advocate group Just Equal who would go on to distribute the videos.

ROLE // DIGITAL AND VIDEO PRODUCER

BRIEF
Carat approached myself and Paper Moose to create a website, conceptual art, video and digital assets for their Artists With an Edge campaign, partnering with Mishka Vodka, Spotify and featuring three Universal artists.

RESPONSE
Working closely with Universal Music, Mishka Vodka, Carat and Spotify, we crafted a suite of visually compelling artwork that tied together the branding of Mishka Vodka, Spotify and each of the three Universal artists. We then produced a series of videos and an interactive website, featuring a Spotify Player and calling each user to join one of the artist’s playlists. Accompanying this was a suite of digital assets to drive traction to the website.

ROLE // DIGITAL STRATEGIST

BRIEF
The City of Sydney experiences high volumes of illegally dumped domestic waste such as mattresses, white goods and furniture. This is unsightly and inconvenient for residents. They approached us to increase calls to their free waste collection service by 10%.

RESPONSE

We devised a campaign that incorporated digital banners, billboards, outdoor 3D illusions and a cinema advertisement. During the campaign calls to the collections service climbed from an average of 2,200 to over 4,000 calls (over 30%). The 3D illusions created a stir in the community and the digital campaign attracted industry beating results.

ROLE // ACCOUNT MANAGER + CONTENT PRODUCER

As Marketing Account Manager for the 19 month Australian tour of Les Miserables, I was responsible for the development and execution of multiple campaigns and pieces of content to ensure that the show was front and centre of theatre-goers minds.

#LESMIS30TH

To celebrate 30 years of Les Mis, I developed and rolled out a social media activation that called upon fans of the show to upload videos of themselves lip-syncing to Do you hear the people sing. This was at a time when Dubsmash and Jimmy Fallon's Lipsync Battles were enjoying tremendous activity across the digital sphere. With over 100 entries, I pulled the videos together into one giant Les Mis mash up. 

ROLE // PRODUCER + DIRECTOR + EDITOR

I was engaged to help create a buzz about the upcoming musical Ordinary Days which was about to receive it's professional debut in Melbourne. Knowing that the song I'll be here was at the heart of the piece and knowing that the creative team had cast a wonderful young actress in the role, I set out to create a piece of content that showcased the simplicity of a beautiful song being sung by a beautiful voice. 

ROLE // PRODUCER + WRITER + DIRECTOR + EDITOR

Raising money to stage an independent theatre production is tough going (no surprises there). Professional Partnerships can make or break a production - so for First Date The Musical, I set out to do something a little bit different to secure some much needed investment.

I approached Volvo Cars Bilia in Melbourne about partnering with our production in return for a significant financial investment. To get them over the line, I pitched a piece of social media content that would showcase both Volvo and our production. Test Drive Karaoke was the result. 

ROLE // PRODUCER + DIRECTOR + EDITOR

With an unwavering love of theatre, in 2017 I formed an independent theatre company Hucklebuck Productions. The objective of the company is to create a collaborative, supportive, and professional environment for artists whilst fearlessly producing quality, compelling, and dynamic theatre for audiences.

Hucklebuck's first production is the world premiere production of Michael Ralph's original dance piece SELF. With my background in theatre marketing and content creation, I have been able to shoot and edit video content that we can utilise to sell the production. 

ROLE // PRODUCTION MANAGER

Working with Fremantle Media, I was employed to manage a three-day shoot involving multiple locations, actors and extras. A series of 10 videos were produced for Crown to distribute on their social channels.

ROLE // WRITER + DIRECTOR + DOP + EDITOR

To garner some interest in an upcoming fundraising event, I engaged the two hosts, Damien Bodie and Dolly Diamond in a playful video, riffing on the infamous ‘cards’ scene from Love Actually. 

ROLE // DIRECTOR + EDITOR

I was lucky enough to be asked by Melbourne Lyric Opera to direct Dolly Diamond, singing a very special version of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps. This came at a time when the Marriage Equality debate in Australia was becoming incredibly disheartening. At such a dark moment for our country, Dolly and the folks at Melbourne Lyric Opera wanted to spread some light, some love and a whole lot of glitter.

ROLE // PRODUCER + WRITER + DIRECTOR

BRIEF
Groupon approached myself and Paper Moose to create a piece of branded content that would creatively articulate a recent report that over 90% of Aussies admit to lying when opening a Christmas present.

RESPONSE
We proposed a humorous take on a standard ‘game face’ entitled Christmas Gift Face, which is the face one must embrace when pretending to like a gift…that one doesn’t like. With a one-week turnaround, we wrote, cast and created the Christmas Gift Face content.