I’m Mark Wooden, a creative writer and live event video tech at Wooden Shed Creative.
Early Video Work and Touring
I came right out of college into the world of video, working at a small dub house for (gasp!) VHS. Did a bit of editing there too.
My editing skills earned me an editor/ video engineer spot on the HealthSouth “Go For It!” Roadshow.
The “Go For It!” show was an arena-based educational field trip for high schools. The show featured a variety of athletes including Troy Aiken, Bo Jackson, and Herschel Walker (before Walker lost his damned mind).
This show earned me spots as a video engineer on the Jimmy Buffett “Carnival” Tour and a camera switcher on a variety of other tours and festivals.
Creative writer of original works and fanfiction
While working in the video field, I continued to work as a writer with several feature-length scripts and the beginnings of my “Shadowdance” action/ urban fantasy saga.
One short story, “Fall to Grace,” earned quarterfinalist status in the 2017 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Contest.
My second novel, For Her Sins, also placed as a quarterfinalist in ScreenCraft’s 2018 Cinematic Book competition.
I also write fanfiction. I do mashups of classic comic book heroes like Batman and Iron Man and stories in the “Star Wars” galaxy.
My work garnered the attention of SYFY Wire’s Fan Creator series, which published a profile of me in October of 2018. They’ve since taken the article down so trust me and the included photo. I had my moment.
Settling Down in the Corporate World
After a few years on the road, I settled down into a life of corporate video work again as a video engineer and camera switcher. This brought me into contact with a myriad of clients.
For the Walt Disney Company, I directed cameras for their “Twenty Plus” celebration. This two-night event included musical performances as well as an awards portion.
Our client told us the audience was glued to the screens despite having the live performance in front of them.
I eventually went back to freelance work, helping production companies large and small with their video needs.
Freelancing afforded me the time to continue working on the “Shadowdance” series.
I also completed a short film, “Where the Heart Bleeds,” which played at the 2019 Central Florida Film Festival and the 2019 Spooky Empire International Horror Film Festival.
Post Pandemic
I waded through the pandemic by continuing my fiction work and writing a few articles for the online magazine Comic Book Resources.
In the video world, I learned about online seminars and virtual events. Work’s slowly trickled back.
I also (finally) got off my butt and started the podcast I threatened to create. Unfortunately, work REALLY kicked in, and then I restarted my book so the podcast went astray.
But, the “Thoughts From the Shed” podcast is available from all your favorite podcast apps and YouTube under Writer Mark Wooden.
Proficiencies and Memberships
- Microsoft Word
- Final Draft
- Ross Carbonite, For-A, Black Magic ATEM, and Panasonic video switchers
- Analog Way Live Core large display switching
- Evolve Academy-certified Barco Event Master Series (E2, S3)
- Video engineer (intermediate)
- Wirecast and vMix (intermediate)
- Client relations
- Leading large crews of both stagehands and technicians
- Creative writing/ show development/ show calling
- PowerPoint Operation
