The Mark Dugdale "DRIVEN" DVD background story by Wayne Gallasch.
 
After regular contact with Mark regarding his new DVD production, I invited him to write for our site about the background behind the 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 professional 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.

Click here to return to the product page.