Mark Tapio Kines

Mark Tapio Kines (born 1970 in Danvers, Massachusetts, U.S.) is an American film director, writer, producer and owner of Los Angeles-based Cassava Films. Kines is perhaps best known for directing the thriller Claustrophobia, released as Serial Slayer on Lionsgate Home Entertainment in 2004.

Biography

Kines grew up in Cupertino, California. In 1989, he began studying film and experimental animation at California Institute of the Arts and graduated in 1992 with a BFA in film, with emphasis in experimental animation. After graduating, Kines moved to Los Angeles and began working full-time as a graphic designer, including a four-year stint at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood where he worked as art director for the official Star Trek and Entertainment Tonight websites.

Foreign Correspondents

In 1996 Kines began writing what would become his first feature film, Foreign Correspondents. The film went into production in 1997, was released in 1999, and received distribution in 2001. The film was shot on 35mm and had a $500,000 budget.

The film stars Melanie Lynskey, Wil Wheaton, Corin Nemec and Yelena Danova and is split into two entirely separate stories, the first entitled "Dear Jenny" and the second "Love, Trevor."

The film was shown at several film festivals across the world and received positive reviews. Articles about Kines and his venture into the world of filmmaking appeared in The Boston Globe ^[1] and Chicago Tribune ^[2] which helped spread word about the film.

Claustrophobia

Main article: Claustrophobia (2004 film)

In January 2002 Kines began writing Claustrophobia. It had only three main speaking roles, and Melanie Lynskey, Sheeri Rappaport, and Mary Lynn Rajskub were set to star in the film, with Judith O'Dea (who had starred in the classic zombie film Night of the Living Dead) in a small role.

When the film was picked up by Lionsgate, the title had changed to Serial Slayer and some of the original artwork had been changed.

The Closest Thing to Time Travel

In late 2005, Kines entered a pitch in a one-minute film competition sponsored by stock photo company Getty Images. His pitch, a bittersweet sci fi-tinged tone poem entitled The Closest Thing to Time Travel, was selected as one of only 30 pitches (out of over 240 entries) to be turned into short films using Getty stock footage material. In early 2006 Kines finished his film, and when the competition was open to the public for final voting, The Closest Thing to Time Travel won Kines the Grand Prize of $10,000 and trips to New York, Chicago and Bozeman, Montana, where Kines was a speaker at HATCHfest. ^[3]

Filmography

• Foreign Correspondents (1999)
• Serial Slayer aka Claustrophobia (2004)

References

• Cassavafilms.com
• Horror-Asylum.com Interview with Phil Davies Brown. (2004).
• www.upcominghorrormovies.com Interview. (2004)
• www.DVDtown.com Interview with Yunda Eddie Feng. (2005)
• www.filmjerk.com Interview with Dark Savant. (2001).

Persondata
Name	Kines, Mark Tapio
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1970
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

1. ^ Patti Hartigan, "Filmmaker goes Hollywood on Internet", The Boston Globe, May 14, 1999
2. ^ Andrew Rodgers, "Filmmaker Uses Web To Help Finance, Cast Movie", Chicago Tribune, June 11, 1999
3. ^ Kines' report from HATCHfest