Mark is a brilliant filmmaker, an inspiring teacher and probably the funniest human being on the face of the earth. I've always told him he missed his calling. As good a filmmaker as he is, he is priceless in front of the camera.
When our role in the Scottish Film School broke up Mark and I didn't speak to each other for about five years. He moved to LA in order to finish his undiscovered masterpiece "The Limits of Thermal Travelling" and I stayed in Scotland raising my kids and trying to raise money to finish "Who Owns Jack Kerouac?" When I was crossing the country shooting the film in 1998 I gave him a call to see if we could meet up. He took a plane and we met in San Francisco, at James Stauffer's house. It was like old times.
The three of us went down to Big Sur, on a pilgrimage to the cabin where Jack Kerouac wrote his last great novel, "Big Sur". We were walking down the trail to Bixby Creek when Mark spied James standing by the water. "Hey, is that Jack Kerouac?" he said. "I don't know" I said, "Let's ask him. Excuse me sir, are you Jack Kerouac?" "I am" said James, "what can I do for you today?"
Mark
Bender
is one of my oldest and best friends. We founded the Scottish
Film School together in the mid-80s and although we are no longer
part of it, it's still going strong...even after its death.
Mark's sites- http://www.velocityoptics.com/