Biography
Mark Shady is an award-winning producer with more than 20 years of experience in independent filmmaking.
After touring the festival circuit and producing several feature films—including the critically acclaimed baseball drama High & Outside; A Baseball Noir, featuring Ernie Hudson and Geoffrey Lewis—Mark transitioned into film distribution. He served as an exhibitor and market coordinator at major film markets worldwide, including Cannes, Berlin, AFM, Sundance, Toronto, SXSW, and both Mipcom and MipTV.
In 2016, Mark co-founded First Focus International, a production and film representation company, with partner Leif Holt, a fellow seasoned filmmaker. First Focus International oversaw the release of All Between Us, starring Tiffany Haddish and distributed by Vision Films in 2018. More recently, the company secured international distribution for The Bellmen, featuring Thomas Lennon, Richard Kind, and Willie Garson. During his time with First Focus International, Mark also participated in multiple film panels nationwide, such as the 2018 New Mexico Film Commission's New Film and Media Conference and the 2021 Show Low, Arizona Film Festival, where he led a seminar on securing distribution for feature films.
In 2023, Mark departed from First Focus International to establish his own sales representation company, First Focus Independent, which operates as a sister company to First Focus International.
His background also includes development work with Senator Entertainment (formerly Mandate Pictures) and experience as a video game producer at TimePlay Entertainment, where he led the creation of TimePlay Sports—an interactive sports trivia game launched nationwide at Dave & Busters.
