Let me start by first acknowledging how many other people seemingly share my name online, so there may be a small chance that you stumbled upon this website looking for the wrong one. However - we all seem to work in the entertainment industry, so perhaps I can be of use after all...
I was born in sunny England some 28 years ago. With a lifelong interest in all things art and entertainment, I promptly studied 'Media Studies', 'Film and Video', and 'Art and Design' at College. This lead me to University, where I took a BA Honors Degree course in 'Illustration and Animation'. Specialising in 2D Traditional Animation. During this time I attended a variety of animation festivals in Annecy, France and Bristol, England, and produced a three minute cartoon called 'Box of Tricks'.
Upon Graduating, I had already established a wrestling video games website in my spare time, which soon attracted over 3 million visitors. This opened a door to the video games industry, and before long I was interviewing video games producers, attending launch parties and trade events, and reviewing all the latest wrestling game releases.
The website's success inspired me to launch a new website (Film-Reviews.net and Game-Reviews.net) that focused on all video game genres, as well as the latest theatrical and home movie releases. As my list of industry contacts continued to grow, I was soon travelling to London on a regular basis for increasingly higher profile interviews and movie premieres. During this time I spoke to Quentin Tarantino via Satalite at the Kill Bill 2 Premiere, and also interviewed one of England's premiere comedians - Eddie Izzard. Working with PR companies, I set up regular competitions and promotions for the latest movie and video game releases. As Film-Reviews.net continued to grow, I enlisted twelve dedictated reviewers from across the Globe to provide even more content to our visitors.
After surviving a month of auditions in 2003, I went to the now defunct Southampton Television for two weeks of unpaid work experience as a researcher. This turned into over six months work, as I was offered to create a pilot show after only four days (I guess I made a good impression!). The company was looking to create a late night entertainment show called The Late Shift, with a dedicated XBox review segment ("Live in the XBox"). With my previous games experience, they called on me to get the show off the ground. I wrote the pilot episode in two days, and was subsequently also asked to present and co-produce it. I also assisted on other productions, and also asked to step in as camera man for a Cookery Show, edited a weekly music program called "Pop TV", provided a variety of content for other shows, and even assisted in editing a live lunchtime news program.
A continued contact made during an interview took my career in a new direction in February 2004, when I was invited to fly to California for an interview with video games publisher THQ. The interview went well, and I relocated to the USA in August 2004 to work as a Project Coordinator / Creative Manager for their WWE products. During the next year I worked on
four titles, including Smackdown Vs. Raw (Playstation 2), Wrestlemania 21 (XBox), Day of Reckoning 2 (Gamecube), and most recently - Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006 (Playstation 2 and PSP).
My latest animated project is a 2D short entitled 'Sexual Peak', which will be released later in 2010. Visit the Animation section for more details and exclusive images!
I relocated to Sussex in 2006 to work for Creative Assembly as PR and Online Manager on their highly successful Total War series and console games.
So, this is my story to date. Stay tuned to www.MarkOConnell.com for all the latest information, and sign up if you would like to recieve email updates when new content has been added.
If you would like to contact me for a business proposal, or have a comment about this site, please send an email to: contact@markoconnell.com . Alternatively, you are also welcome to leave any thoughts or questions on the message board.
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