Patrick Stark

Dreaming of the day he would one day create a career for himself in Hollywood, Patrick Stark needed only to journey half the distance from his home town of Dawson Creek in northeastern British Columbia to Vancouver. American-based productions had begun to set up shop in Vancouver to take advantage of versatile locations and a favorable exchange rate. Today, Stark is an independent producer and director, acting as a consultant for various projects, and developing many of his own. From 1990, when he first stepped onto set as an extra and throughout the 30 years since, Stark has acquired numerous credits. Working behind the scenes in various departments, mostly as an assistant director, he gained the experience necessary to eventually produce and direct his own films. In 1997, it was his run as the trainee assistant director on the hit television series The X-Files (1993), in its fifth and final season in Vancouver, where Stark really began to learn physical production. Befriending many seasoned veterans in every department from the successful series, they helped to teach him the finer points of their expertise. After X-Files flew south for sunnier skies, Stark coordinated key personnel from the show to assist him in producing Tilt (2003), a modern take on Don Quixote. The project became a five-year journey, involving nearly 700 individuals from Vancouver's film community who either assisted as crew on set, or donated money and services. Stark's efforts were publicized in newspaper and magazine articles around the world. It even attracted the attention of Hollywood mega-star Hugh Jackman and A-list director Bryan Singer, who offered up a set visit and lunch with them on the set of X2: X-Men United (2003) as a silent auction item toward a fund-raiser for Tilt's post-production. The 30 minute short was well received, eventually becoming an official entry into the Boston International Film Festival and the Toronto Filmmakers Festival in 2003. In the fall of 2002, Stark produced and directed "Perfect" a music video for singer Sammi Morelli (an opportunity given to him by stuntman Tony Morelli.) The music video was featured on Much Music's "Indie Spotlight." Later that year, Stark helped to produce Pits (2003), another short-film, this time starring celebrated Scottish actor Alan Cumming. In April of 2005, Stark produced and directed "The Party Crasher", a 30-second commercial contest entry for Shaftebury Beer, which landed him in the top ten best entries. Also that same month, Stark acquired the film rights to the novel A Century of November, written by award-winning American author W.D. Wetherell. In May of 2007, Stark and his former producing partner signed Jay Wolpert (The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)/Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) to write the adaptation. In October 2007, Stark signed on to produce and direct for a small media company in Vancouver. His work was broadcast over many networks including BNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, CBC and Air Canada. He left in early 2008 to establish his own creative agency under his own name.