Mark is a TV producer at CBBC’s Newsround and lives up North with his wife and 3 children:
How did you end up where you are now?
By deciding what I really wanted to do, and finding people who could help me make it happen. I started in Radio and did my first love of editing audio for several years. Then I thought I would try TV for a while. After 13 years I’ve stayed there – with occasional trips over to the web.
What's your favourite children's story?
One of them is Aesop’s fable about the sun and the wind who compete to get a man to take off his coat. The wind tries to blow it off him. The sun just shines and shines til the man is so hot he takes it off. Lots of resonances with God’s love shining on us. Cue Van Morrison intro.
How does your faith affect your work?
Good question! My primary relationship is with God, and work is one small part of who I am. Faith stops me leaning towards BBC ID-card idolatry. I have to remind myself I don’t need it absolutely wherever I go. The ID card, that is.
How do you relax?
I love the absence of all deadlines, having nothing to do, the feeling of the adrenalin not being replenished, of the heart rate slowing, and the eyelids drooping. And then I leave the office and go home… ;-)
Seriously, anything involving my family, eating together, and sunshine is relaxing. And making music. Anyone up for a perfect pitch competition?
Any good advice for fellow MediaNetters?
When times are tough - 1. A colleague in the media reminded me ‘we’re not brain surgeons – its only TV’. And 2. You can’t control whether other people will be nice to you, but you can control whether you’ll be nice to them.
What can we at theMediaNet be doing to help support you better?
Keep inspiring us with the Bigger Picture. With a capital B and P.