Born and raised in South Africa, Mark came to the USA to pursue a career in film scoring in 1994. His academic life in his native country (Master's degree in composition) and very active performing career (as a pianist who played with people like Darius Brubeck, Shirley Bassey, Airto Moreira and Ladysmith Black Mambazo) prepared him for his enrollment into USC’s Film Scoring program. Upon completion he was hired by film composer Christopher Young as an assistant and then joined Machine Head in Venice where he wrote music for countless TV commercials for companies like Apple, Budweiser, American Express and Toyota.