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About the Magazine

Editor-in-Chief:
Kenneth Brosky

Managing Editor:
Stephanie Nolasco

Associate Editor:
Janelle Kennedy

Mark Borchardt

Interviewed by Kenneth Brosky (2003)

5 years ago, Mark Borchardt went out to write, direct, and produce the short film COVEN, 30-minute thriller shot on black-and-white reversal, his trials and tribulations during the filming captured in the full-length documentary American Movie: The Making of Northwestern. Since then, Mark Borchardt has gone on to write a variety of movies in production, including: Witch Hunter, The Mark and Mike Horror Comedy Movie, and Scare Me.

Mark has also been hard at work, editing and re-editing his quintessential masterpiece, NORTHWESTERN, continually adding and taking away, sculpting his draft into what will eventually be the culmination of his work as a filmmaker. So, with 5,000 copies of COVEN already sold with no signs of slowing anytime soon, I decided to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with America’s favorite filmmaker with a quick emailed interview.

It's 2002 and you've got a few projects under your belt. Specifically, "The Mark and Mike Horror Comedy Movie," "Witch Hunter," and now "Scare Me." How are they coming along, and which one are we going to see first?

Mark: I've written various drafts of all three but I'm shooting "Scare Me". The other two I have waning interest in at this time.  After SM it's right to "Northwestern".  SM is a warm up and to get me out of the fiscal hole. Also, it's a hell of a lot less involved than NW.  I have to make a film because it's been five years since "Coven" came out.  I have a great desire to get behind the camera again.

 

Tell us a little bit about "Scare Me."

Mark: Plot-wise it's about this alcoholic writer who has to pen this horror novel to get out of debt.  It's also about how relationships can damage the work effort, how some people have that magic 'it', and others who don't or themselves cannot create capitalize on others who do, and how alcohol is a defensive mechanism against dullards and painful societal situations but can ultimately turn on it's user, etc.  It'll be shot in the Milwaukee area just like the last one.
 

You've gone through a lot of drafts of "Northwestern" since the completion of AMERICAN MOVIE. Tell us about what's been changing from draft to draft and how the overall story is coming.

Mark: I completed the first draft in 1992.  Of course I'm older and have accumulated more experience and see some things differently.  The basic premise is the same, this dude working in the junkyard who literally writes his way out of it and meets this writer chick out in the sticks.  The psychological atmosphere is still the same.  Just the reality of a ten year difference changes some elements on the surface.

When are you expecting to start shooting "Scare Me?"

Mark: By the time this is in print I will have started shooting. I'll
probably edit as I go along.  It won't drag out like "'Coven", I gained a hell of a lot of experience of what  to do and not to do with making that film.

So chances are that "Scare Me" is probably going to be the first film you shoot. Tell us about "Witch Hunter" and "Mark and Mike Horror Comedy Movie."

Mark: "Witch Hunter" was a horror flick that was going to be the basic money making premise like "Scare Me".  WH was getting a little too complex and I wanted to do it right.  The same goes for MMHCM.

Do you foresee a busy schedule over the next few years, or are you going to take these movies slowly and take a few breaks between shoots?

Mark: I think I'll be busy as hell because in the last year and a half I've written three feature scripts, poetry, started a novel, some acting gigs, etc. and I'm just warming up.  I've wasted years of my life, I'm thirty-six now and I want to make the most of each day.  I've got a lot to learn about discipline and the work ethic but I'm making headway.

Describe for us a typical day in the life of Mark Borchardt.

Mark: Get up early in the morning, drink coffee, spend about an hour writing in my personal journal, work on the script, work on orders, answer emails, interviews, read books, think and on occasion watch a film.

How's Mike doing?

Mark: Pretty damn good.  He drinks a hell of a lot of soda, plays the lottery and rolls his own smokes.

Finally, how the devil are YOU doing?

Mark: As I write this I've been sober for a number of days because I've been working day and night.  I get a high off my work and when I'm interrupted I can go into a depression and drink for days, even weeks.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with my life right now but that could change in a minute, it's pretty mercurial because I've got a lot of complex situations.  I do understand the importance of good habits and how they ultimately lead to strong character.  I'm just glad to be alive and hope to make the most of the time I have here.