Meet Mark Cheng | Director/writer/animator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Cheng and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, what role has risk played in your life or career?
There’s that quote, “if you think the cost of failure is high, wait until you get the bill from regret” I think that summarizes how I feel about risk. So many of our battles are lost in our mind before we even take a physical step forward. I want to get past that fear, blow past it, break free from that ever happening. With regards to risk specifically, I think it helps me to drill down on exactly what is the unit of measurement, the metric, by which you’re quantifying the risk? What’s at stake? In business, we use the term, ‘opportunity cost’ to refer to resources like time and money. But what about happiness? If you take a risk and it doesn’t work out- what exactly was your loss? At 45, I was a vice president at Nickelodeon and on a fast track to becoming a senior corporate executive. To many, walking away from that to pursue a career as a director/animator was a huge risk financially and a loss of the career momentum in my current trajectory. But in your 40’s you start to feel like it’s now or never. You stop adding to your bucket list and start thinking, how many of these am I going to get to? And that’s when your perception of risk shifts dramatically

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I was a leading a team at Nickelodeon, we worked under the mantra that “Your kids only get one childhood, and that our job was to extend their sense of wonder for as long as possible.” This continues to guide me but it’s not just kids- it’s everybody’s inner-kid! My transition from a live action director to now working in animation has been the most fulfilling experience of late. When the pandemic locked us all in doors, I looked to animation as means to allow me to continue my storytelling while live action sets were all locked down. After my work on the animated feature MAX BEYOND, I rejoined former Nickelodeon president, Cyma Zarghami, to produce and direct 20 episodes of the animated show, HIPPO PARK. It was a daunting challenge to produce so much but I found strength in 2 things: 1) having a hugely supportive and positive team and 2) the trust in my own creative sensibilities- no matter how tight the timeframes were, I knew I’d never let something bad slip past through the production pipeline. And when it comes down to it, those are the only two things you need – a team you can trust and trust in yourself!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’re going to the Santa Monica beach first! The sea, the sand, the weather and that view… it makes your troubles melt away! Then we head up to the pedestrian walk way and go to It’s Sugar for the best selection of candy lol. While you eat up all that candy, we’re headed to the Little Tokyo Mall where awesome toy robot stores await us! And we’ll end the day at Scum and Villany Cantina, the Star Wars themed pub! So we’ll have sun, sand, candy, toys, and neon!! best day ever!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Mentors have played a huge role in my personal, professional and creative development, and I’ve been fortunate to find them in each chapter of my life! In my creative journey as a director, I’ve been so lucky to find a mentor in director/producer Haz Dulull who, by seeing the small footprint of my work, saw my potential and invited me to join his creative team that was producing an animated feature film. I ended up creating several scenes for MAX BEYOND over the course of 2 years. That the film will see international release this month is a huge milestone in the latest chapter of my life.

Instagram: mark.cheng.creative.studios