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

Hi Mark, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think the universe wants us to take risks and grow from them. I have to wonder if one of the ways that we stay young is to keep challenging ourselves.

Producing the film TOUCHED was way out of my comfort zone. I acted, but had not produced. The work that was put on other peoples productions prior to making the film, produced the best talent to get the film made.

Three days prior to filming I learned that my salary after 27 years was going to be cut to 1/4 of what it was. By putting my mind in the vibration that making the film was now my job, it helped me to stay focused on the task at hand.

One of the things that kept me motivated was knowing that my older sons were watching and learning, not to give up on your dream.

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.
I consider myself an actor. As a matter-of-fact I told Marco, our Director, that I just wanted to act in the film and that he had total creative control.

In a perfect world that would have been the case; I would have just showed up on set and acted, but after the second day of filming, fires broke out in Southern California. We were supposed to shoot up in Big Bear for ten days. We had some days in 29 Palms and back in L.A. scheduled for the end. We had to shift everything around…lodging, studios, locations, permits, everything at the last minute to give us time for the fires to calm down. We were under the gun.

In the end we went over budget, which with the career jolt has put us in the humbled position of doing a crowd funding campaign on Indigogo. (https://bit.ly/TOUCHEDtheMovie)

I learned that you have to keep your eye on the end goal. Things work out, sometimes even better, when you aren’t caught up in the moment and the dream is driving you.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I really love California because there are so many places you can go.
One of my favorite places is the mountains.

That’s why we shot so much of TOUCHED in Big Bear. It’s so calming and quaint. The locals are awesome.

I also like the seal beach area in La Jolla. The tide pools are so nice to visit and watching the seals, never gets old.

The restaurant scene in LA is off the charts, but I wouldn’t be so bold as to point out any one location or two. There are so many!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Marco Bazzi the Director, Producer and Writer on the film TOUCHED was instrumental on helping it to get made. There’s no way it would have come to fruition without him.

Website: https://patriotfilming.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touched_the_movie/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TOUCHEDtheMovie

Other: https://bit.ly/TOUCHEDtheMovie

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