Biography
Patrick Stark is an independent producer and director.
Over the past 36 years, Stark has worked in the Vancouver film industry in multiple departments, initially in casting, locations and as an assistant director from 1997 to 2007. From 2007 onward, aside from being the creative director/producer of his own animation studio, he is an independent filmmaker, working in documentary, short drama and the adaptation of acclaimed novels.
In 1997, it was his run as the trainee assistant director on the hit television series The X-Files (1993), in its fifth and final season in Vancouver, where Stark really began to learn physical production. Befriending many seasoned veterans in every department from the successful series, they helped to teach him the finer points of their expertise.
In 1998, after The X-Files flew south for sunnier skies, Stark coordinated key personnel from the show to assist him in producing Tilt (2003), a 30-minute modern take on Don Quixote. The project became a five-year journey, involving nearly 700 individuals from Vancouver's film community who either assisted as crew on set, or donated money and services.
Stark's efforts were publicized in newspaper and magazine articles around the world. The short film even attracted the attention of Hollywood mega-star Hugh Jackman and director Bryan Singer, who offered up a set visit and lunch with them on the set of X2: X-Men United (2003) as a silent auction item toward a fund-raiser for Tilt's post-production.
Tilt was well received, eventually becoming an official entry into the Boston International Film Festival and the Toronto Filmmakers Festival in 2003.
In the fall of 2002, Stark produced and directed "Perfect", a music video for singer Sammi Morelli (an opportunity given to him by stuntman Tony Morelli.) The music video was featured nationally in Canada on Much Music's "Indie Spotlight." Later that year, Stark helped to produce Pits (2003), another short-film, this time starring celebrated Scottish actor Alan Cumming.
In April of 2005, Stark produced and directed "The Party Crasher", a 30-second commercial contest entry for Shaftebury Beer, which landed him in the top ten best entries. Also that same month, Stark acquired the film rights to the novel A Century of November, written by award-winning American author W.D. Wetherell. In May of 2007, Stark and a producing associate signed Jay Wolpert (The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)/Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) to write the adaptation.
In October 2007, Stark signed on to produce and direct for a small media company in Vancouver. His work was broadcast over many networks including BNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, CBC and Air Canada. He left in early 2008 to establish his own creative agency under his own name, that he still oversees today.
In 2009, Stark began work on a feature length documentary entitled One Life No Regrets, a memoir of his attempt to push past an intense fear of singing in public through 'extreme exposure' - from a first vocal lesson to singing in a stadium with Irish rock stars, U2.
In May of 2015, U2 was in Vancouver for the start of their Innocence + Experience world tour. A friend told Stark that the band was at a Vancouver restaurant, so he ran over to pitch them his mission. He was greeted by lead singer Bono, who agreed to let him sing with them during their Friday show. But the death of legendary blues man B.B. King prompted U2 to change their concert plans and bumped Stark from the show so the band could pay tribute to their longtime friend and collaborator.
In 2018, Stark produced and co-directed Any Wednesday (2018), alongside Academy Award-winning director, Allie Light. Light is best known for her 1991 documentary In the Shadow of the Stars (1991), which garnered her and her late husband,Irving Saraf, an Academy Award for best documentary feature. "Any Wednesday" won numerous awards in festivals around the world, was Oscar-qualified, and co-screened with Eleanor Coppola's film "Two for Dinner" at the prestigious Mill Valley Festival in 2018.
In 2021, Stark obtained an option to adapt author Eliot Treichel's YA novel "A Series of Small Maneuvers", an Oregon Book Awards Readers Choice Award Winner, and Reading the West Award Winner.
