- Born
- Height5′ 7½″ (1.71 m)
- Mark Aaron Cantu (born October 4, 1978) was raised in San Antonio, Texas, United States by his parents, Arturo and Alicia Cantu. Majoring in Fine Arts with Secondary Certification, Mark attended Texas State University-San Marcos. His early career includes numerous short films and stage work, including roles as Felix Ungar in "The Odd Couple," and John Williamson in "Glengarry Glen Ross."
In 2002, he established LWF Films in San Antonio, which focused on short films and music video work. Spending several years developing his craft, Mark was finally able to focus on solely film work starting in 2009. He created three award winning short films for the SA 48 Hr Film Competition: "Saint Passions Landing" (1st Place-2009); "Endgame" (2nd Place-2010); and finally "Love After" (1st Place-2011).
In 2012, Mark began preproduction on the superhero romantic comedy NOW HIRING. Initially plagued by early budgetary issues, LWF Films regrouped and was able to produce the feature film in 2014. Premiering in Summer 2014, the film won several international awards and was picked up for worldwide distribution by Indican Pictures. In 2015, LWF Films began preproduction on the military thriller ELITE, co-written by himself and actor Jason Scarbrough. The final film was well-received and picked up for worldwide distribution through Lost Empire Films.
The success of this film led to funding for his fourth feature film NIGHT ZERO. It is currently slated for a release on May 22, 2018 through Lost Empire Films. As of 2018, Mark has six more films in preproduction.
Mark currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife, Elizabeth and their children.
- IMDb mini biography by: mark
- SpouseElizabeth Cantu(May 22, 2011 - present)
- Known for extremely fast and kinetic editing
- Loves quick dialogue exchanges in David Mamet-type rhythms
- Uses a lot of two-point lighting set ups and hard shadows
- Mark's middle name, Aaron, comes from his father's love of Elvis Aaron Presley.
- An admittedly huge Tony Scott fan, Cantu first became aware of Tony Scott by name after seeing the video for "Shakedown" from Beverly Hills Cop 2. Prior to that, Cantu had been a lover of his films without knowing who the director was.
- A huge fan of 1982's Flash Gordon film, he claims that if he could ever get to make a huge, Hollywood FX film, his number one choice would be Flash Gordon.
- His first memory of a film in theatres as a child was Return of the Jedi.
- As a child, with his brother Michael, they would ask their parents to leave them at the local cinema to watch films. Immediately after, his brother and he would start to critique the films while waiting for their ride.
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