Mark McQuown

Mark McQuown is a native of California, raised in Southern California and a graduate of Arcadia High School in 1963. He went on to finish a Bachelor of Science in Theatre at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in, Directing for the Stage, at UCLA in 1974. Mark has been an educator all his life starting with the Chair of The New Shakespeare Company of San Francisco, Acting Training Program and then onto the Head of the Acting Division for The University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Theatre And Dance in 1977. Mark left teaching in 1980 and traveled to New York City where he worked as an actor/director and playwright for almost ten years. He returned to Boulder, Colorado where he became Artistic Director for the Sirius Theatre Company of Boulder. In 1990, McQuown became the Production Manager and Second Director for the newly formed Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea, Michigan, Jeff Daniels, Executive Director. He joined the staff of The School of Theatre at California Institute of The Arts in 1991 and became a full faculty member in 1994. In 1997 Mark left Cal Arts to work on television as an Art Director, Assistant Art Director or Art Department. At the same time, he was making a career as a screenwriter, winning many contests and optioning his script, "PJ" to a production in New York City, in the winter of 2006, starring John Heard. Mark taught technical theatre at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Wan Chai, Hong Kong from 1997 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001 he returned to working in television and directing for the live stage in Los Angeles. The year 2001 saw him as the new Technical Director and full-time faculty for the Theatre Arts Department at Pasadena City College. Mark left this position in 2003 to become the Technical Director for the new Boston Court Theatre, a $4.5 million, state of the art, 99-seat theatre in Pasadena, just up from the famous Ice House Comedy Club. Mark became the Production Manager for the Liberal Arts Division of Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, in 2006 and later that year joined the Theatre Department as an Associate Faculty member teaching acting. At the end of 2006, "PJ" was shot in New York City starring John Heard, Vincent Pastore, Patricia Rae, Robert Picardo and Hallie Kate Eisenberg. The film is now in Post in Los Angeles. Mark Mc Quown is a theatre professional in Directing/Acting/Playwriting and Screenwriting. He is a long time member of Actor's Equity in New York and The Screen Actor's Guild in Los Angeles. In addition, he is a member of The New York Dramatist Guild, The Virginia Screenwriters Association and The Theatre Communications Group of America. Mark is an award-winning/produced Playwright with seven finished play scripts and twenty finished screenplays.