The Mark Dugdale "DRIVEN" DVD story by Wayne Gallasch.
This month our Hard News is a little different. After regular contact with Mark regarding his new DVD production, I invited him to write for our site about the background and making of his new DVD. He readily agreed and his story is below. As an intro to Mark let me share my experiences to date with this fast rising new pro as he makes his mark on the scene.
It is not possible for me to shoot major men's NPC contests in USA and accordingly I do not get to know the top NPC guys till they obtain IFBB pro cards. Back in 2004 I read that a guy called Mark Dugdale had won the overall USA Championships in Las Vegas and that he was not a huge guy from the Heavyweights! Naturally I was intrigued to find out more about this Dugdale character having never heard of him before.
Next year when I was shooting the 2005 Iron Man Pro I was delighted to find that MARK DUGDALE was making his Pro debut. I was most impressed with the package he brought to that event. His 8th placing was a top class result for a rookie pro in his first event. Making top 10 in such a large and star studded field was an achievement in itself. Mark went on to place 9th 2 weeks later at the Arnold Classic and then a week later place an amazing 6th at the San Francisco Grand Prix. Mark was now setting quite a standard and knocking on the door step of the top 5 finalists.
In February 2006 GMV was back to Pasadena, California and again Mark showed good improvement on the previous year as he took a very strong 5th place at the Iron Man Pro. This time he joined elite company in the top 5 posedown along with Lee Priest (the eventual winner at his 10th try at the Iron Man title), David Henry, Troy Alves and Kris Dim. All are Olympia competitors. Top guys that Mark beat included Mustafa Mohammad, and Toney Freeman who later placed 5th in the San Francisco Grand Prix.
Unfortunately illness struck preventing Mark from competing in the 2006 Arnold Classic or San Francisco Grand Prix. I know he will be back next year at the Iron Man with the 2006 model of his physique. l feel sure his improvements can propel him into at least 3rd place and an Olympia qualification. Mark has “the goods” with one of the most symmetrical physiques I have seen in years, along with great condition and excellent posing.
In regard to our involvement in Mark's new DVD, here is how things evolved with GMV. This may be of interest to all other up and coming new pros and DVD producers who need contest footage to spice up their productions. Firstly I got a message that Mark wanted his finals posing from the Iron Man for his new DVD. I spoke with him briefly at the Arnold Classic Expo. On returning to Australia I thought, "that seems a bit thin for a new DVD so why not offer Mark everything I shot on him at the Iron Man!" This subsequently was accepted and I went through my wild camera footage looking for everything on Mark from the weigh in, to solo compulsory poses, to his posing routine to the posedown and presentation at the finals. I knew that if this had been my own DVD, I would have wanted access to all of this material to work from.
Over the last 5 or 6 years it has been my privilege to shoot and edit the Iron Man DVD and the availability of such footage is a side benefit for all who are involved. Now it is over to Mark to tell his side of the DVD production story. I hope to be announcing ordering details next week for Mark's new 2 hour DVD "DRIVEN". Don’t miss it!
Making “DRIVEN” by Mark Dugdale
Over a year ago I went to lunch with an old friend, Joel Barham, from back in my high school days. Joel and I competed against each other in our first competition back in 1993, the Northwest Natural in Portland, OR, and became good friends ever since.
Joel now lives in Florida teaching English, but came to visit family in Seattle last year. I took him out to lunch and we discussed what it was like for me now that I was an IFBB professional bodybuilder. I brought up the fact that I wanted to come out with my own training DVD, similar to what other pros offer. To my surprise, Joel said he had a real passion for film making and had done a few short films in his spare time. Despite not seeing any of Joel’s work, I agreed then and there to have him direct and edit my first DVD.
The next step involved deciding what exactly the fans would want to see in the DVD. The resounding response via my web site, entailed people asking to see how I live my life outside of the gym. What is it like to own and operate a business; be a husband; be a father to three daughters; and train and compete against the best physiques in the world. Basically, aside from the training, who is Mark Dugdale and how does he live his life?
With this in mind Joel felt the best way to shoot the film was over the course of my prep leading up to the 2006 Iron Man Pro. He thought it should be shot in the spirit of reality TV, whereby, aside from interviews inserted throughout, I don’t directly speak to the camera when filming. In Joel’s words, “He would be a fly on the wall, observing.” The result is not just a training DVD, but a bodybuilding documentary.
One thing I never considered until filming DRIVEN, involved legal issues surrounding audio copyrights for music. Thankfully Joel’s older brother, Isaac Barham, agreed to help us out. Isaac did all the audio for the intro, the training scenes and is the artist for the song Love’s Sure a Funny Game which runs during the Special Thanks. Isaac inspired me with his biceps as a teen, so his involvement made the audio even more special on a personal level.
Another big contributor of music was the church I attend – Mars Hill Church. The Parsons and Team Strike Force both contributed several songs to DRIVEN.
DRIVEN culminates with the weekend of the Iron Man Pro, in which John Balik agreed to provide me with footage from the weigh-in, prejudging and finals. Wayne Gallasch from GMV went above and beyond by providing high quality footage of each of these events which Joel incorporated into DRIVEN.
DRIVEN is special for me on several levels. One, I got to capture a moment in the life of my family. Years later I can look back on this DVD with fond memories of when my daughters were young. Two, I enjoyed collaborating with one of my best friends, Joel, who literally took DRIVEN from an idea to reality and vastly exceeded my expectations in the process. Three, it’s my first DVD and something I think the fans will truly enjoy.
Here is the official chapter list and run time… Run Time 2:01:37
DVD Chapters
1. Intro 0:00
2. A Day’s Work 3:06
3. Chest & Biceps 10:37
4. Dinner 31:51
5. Church 41:01
6. Back & Hamstrings 42:39
7. Love Story 58:22
8. Shopping 1:00:21
9. Sushi 1:07:04
10. Shoulders & Triceps 1:08:52
11. Weider Tour 1:23:44
12. The Last Week 1:29:10
13. Posing with Larry 1:31:46
14. Weigh-in 1:37:39
15. “He’s Ready” 1:39:16
16. Night Show 1:42:53
17. Three Days Later 1:46:30
18. Placing 1:49:23
19. Thank You 1:53:08
20. Credits 1:57:31
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