Mark Wexler

Mark Simon Wexler (born 1955) is an American documentary filmmaker and photojournalist.

Mark S. Wexler

Family

His father, Haskell Wexler, was a cinematographer and filmmaker who won two Oscars. His mother, Marian Witt-Wexler, was a painter. Wexler's half-brother Jeff Wexler is an Oscar-nominated sound mixer. Actress Daryl Hannah and film director Tanya Wexler are cousins via his uncle Jerrold Wexler, a Chicago Real Estate Developer.

Personal life

Wexler was born in Chicago, but grew up in Hollywood, California.

He majored in cultural anthropology in college.

People Magazine named him one of America's 100 Most Eligible Bachelors.[1]

The Washington Post dubbed him "our latter-day Phineas Fogg"[2] following publication of his Los Angeles Times article "True Confessions of a Mileage Maniac" about his 30-day global circumnavigation, entirely financed with Frequent Flier miles.[3] The accompanying self portraits were published in The Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine.[4]

Wexler was interviewed live on The Today Show regarding his expertise on the topic of life extension.[5]

He had a tumultuous relationship[6] with his famous, and famously opinionated father Haskell Wexler. Their attempts at reconciliation were documented in Tell Them Who You Are which was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2005.[7]

Career: Motion

In 1996, Wexler released Me & My Matchmaker, an intimate portrait of a feisty and meddling Jewish matchmaker in Chicago who made it her personal mission to get the filmmaker married. The film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Slamdance Film Festival.[8][9] Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that it was "amazing and touching."[10] Timeout London said it was "... funny, fascinating, and finally faintly disturbing."[11]

Wexler's 2001 film, Air Force One, aired as a prime time PBS - National Geographic special.[12] As the first filmmaker ever granted unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, Wexler told the story of the “Flying White House” both in terms of its unique technological and historical significance. The film included original interviews with President Jimmy Carter, President George H. W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, and President George W. Bush.

The 2005 Oscar shortlisted[13] film Tell Them Who You Are was an exploration of Wexler's fraught relationship with his father, legendary filmmaker and two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler. It won a place on Roger Ebert's Top 10 Documentaries of the year,[14] The Associated Press' Top Ten films of the year,[15] as well as praise from The New York Times,[16] the Los Angeles Times, and others. Judd Apatow spoke about the film on NPR's Morning Edition, recounting his reaction to a scene where, after viewing the film, Haskell tells Mark he's "a hell of a filmmaker". Apatow said "I sat in bed, my wife is sleeping, and I'm just bawling like a little girl. You can tell this man has been waiting his entire life to hear his dad say that sincerely."[17] The Los Angeles Times declared that the film " ...is meta-layered cinema" which "...fits squarely into the new genre of nonfiction film that perhaps should be called the Me Documentary, the personal film that is indelibly shaped by the presence of the filmmaker."[18]

Wexler's 2010 film, How to Live Forever, followed the filmmaker's quest for eternal youth. In interviews with a wide variety of subjects, including fitness legend Jack LaLanne, author Ray Bradbury, futurist Aubrey de Gray and inventor Ray Kurzweil, the film invited viewers to consider ways to live a long life, but one that is also meaningful. The New York Times wrote that it was “Engaging… remarkably spry and lighthearted.”[19] The film was selected by AARP The Magazine as a Movie For Grownups, noting that "For boomers especially, How to Live Forever is the perfect film at the perfect moment."[20]

Career: Still

As a photojournalist, Wexler has covered assignments in over ninety countries. His work has appeared in publications such as Time, Life, National Geographic, Smithsonian, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. He is the recipient of three World Press Awards for Outstanding Photojournalism, one in the Science category and two in the Sports category.[21]

Wexler has been a contributor to eight volumes in the Day in the Life book series.[22] His photographs are also featured in the books The Power to Heal,[23] Passage to Vietnam[24] and 24 Hours in Cyberspace. His own book, Hollywood,[25] was published by Random House. Wexler has exhibited his work in galleries around the world, including the International Center of Photography in New York.

References
  1. "America's Most Wanted".
  2. Trueheart, Charles (6 March 1990). "SPY'S WORLD THAT CAME IN FROM THE COLD" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  3. WEXLER, MARK S. (4 March 1990). "True Confessions of a Worldly Mileage Maniac" – via LA Times.
  4. "American Photo". 1 August 1990 – via Google Books.
  5. "5 lessons to help you live to be 100". TODAY.com.
  6. Hunter, Stephen (10 June 2005). "Dad the Camera Genius: It's Not a Pretty Picture" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  7. "Fast food film makes Oscar list". 18 November 2004 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  8. "1997 Slamdance Film Festival Diaries". Film Scouts. October 28, 1996. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  9. Rico, Diana (June 1, 1996). "Festival Watch: Sundance Film Festival". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  10. Ebert, Roger. "Me & My Matchmaker Movie Review (1996) - Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com.
  11. "Me & My Matchmaker".
  12. "Air Force One". partisanpictures.com.
  13. Grace, Francie (November 22, 2004). "Dozen Documentaries Vie For Oscar". CBS News. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  14. Ebert, Roger. "Tell Them Who You Are Movie Review (2005) - Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com.
  15. "Flick picks of 2005". Associated Press.
  16. Holden, Stephen (May 20, 2005). "A Moviemaker Seen Through the Lens of His Son". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  17. "Judd Apatow: Favorite and Forgotten DVDs".
  18. Goldstein, Patrick (May 3, 2005). "Unflinching film of Haskell Wexler exposes the son too". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  19. "Only a Number". The New York Times. 13 May 2011.
  20. Newcott, Bill. "How to Live Forever, by Mark Wexler, Movie Review".
  21. "1986 Photo Contest".
  22. "A Day In The Life Series by Rick Smolan". www.goodreads.com.
  23. Smolan, Rick; Moffitt, Phillip; Naythons, Matthew (1 January 1990). The Power To Heal : Ancient Arts & Modern Medicine. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0136845495 – via Amazon.
  24. "Nonfiction Book Review: Passage to Vietnam: Through the Eyes of Seventy Photographers by Rick Smolan, Author, Pico Iyer, Designed by, Jennifer Erwitt, With Against All Odds Productions & Melcher Media $50 (6p) ISBN 978-1-885559-00-5".
  25. Reavill, Gil; Wexler, Mark S. (1 December 1994). Compass American Guides Hollywood and the Best of Los Angeles. Fodors Travel Pubns. ASIN 1878867717.
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