Biography
Grandson of well-known Viennese sculptor Josef Josephu. Josef knew Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and was related by marriage to sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. One of Josephu's statues, "The Dentist Dodger," is featured in the David Selznick film "Since You Went Away" with Joseph Cotton. Marc's distant cousin was character actor Otto Waldis who began his career in Fritz Lang's "M". Otto Waldis emigrated to the US in 1940. His last booking was in Mel Brook's "Young Frankenstein" but he died before scheduled filming. Marc's great uncle, Viktor Drouot, was knighted by the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph. Also in his family tree are Austrian composers Emil Schindler, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenber, and violinist Florian Zajic (who's violin is in the Smithsonian. Marc's mother went to school with Hedy Lamarr in Vienna. Marc is a dual citizen of United States and Austria.
Marc was first mentored by Gene Kelly's brother, Fred Kelly, as both a performer and director. Marc worked closely with Sidney Lumet and Woody Allen, among many other directors and cinematographers, gaining on-set training in film directing. It was at the urging of Dustin Hoffman and Matthew Broderick on the set of "Family Business" (was Matthew Broderick's stand-in/double) to start writing, where he also got daily insights on film directing by Sidney Lumet, who was writing his book "Making Movies."
Along with business partner Joe Cirillo, they formed the independent film development company Oroloro Entertainment. Oroloro is a palindrome which loosely translates to 'Golden Parrot' and is a registered trademark of the company. .
Oroloro is developing/producing numerous screenplays written by Marc and Joe, with modest budgets ($1-$6 million USD). Three of the many Oroloro projects include: "Love of a Lifetime" (a heavenly romantic comedy to die for); "Comeback in Vienna" (loosely based on a play with the same title written by Richard Wolf, and directed by Marc Baron in New York City), has received recognition from 44 film festivals and is optioned and packaging to film in Vienna, Austria; and "MegaBall$" (A comedy about computer geeks, the lottery and the Mob, written by Marc Baron: Tag line: Ya' never know when your number's up). Marc's screenplay for MegaBall$ has been recognized by 39 film festivals. Marc also formats/edits/doctors other writer's screenplays and heads a screenwriting group for the NY SAG-AFTRA Conservatory.
Marc is the Shepherd Emeritus [president] - the third to receive such honor in 150 years - of The Lambs, America's first professional theatrical club established in 1874, where he often sings, acts, and directs. He served 10 years as its Shepherd and 30 years in leadership. Lambs were involved in the formation of The Actors Fund, Paramount Pictures, United Artists, Actors' Equity, Screen Actors Guild and ASCAP. Marc was the president of The Lambs Foundation for 10 years, an entertainment-based charity founded in 1943. Marc has been serving on the NY Board of SAG/SAG-AFTRA since 2006 and in 2025 re-elected to another term.
His work includes film, television, theater and musicals, cabaret, voice-over, directing and screen writing. Marc can be found on most social media. He is screenplays "MegaBall$" (feature comedy) and "Comeback in Vienna" (romcom) each have garnered thirty-five film festival laurels. He is also the writer/director of the short comedy "Coda Interruptus" which will shoot in Vienna in late 2023 in cooperation with the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra.
