Mark L. Lester

Early life Mark L. Lester was born 26 November 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Career "Now people want to make films to get into festivals, we made films to get into drive-ins." - Mark L. Lester

After his debut in 1970 with the documentary film Twilight of the Mayas, Lester quickly became a prolific B-movie director/producer/writer, initially making his mark with a trio of road movies designed for the drive-in market: Steel Arena (1973), Truck Stop Women (1974), and Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976). In 1977, he directed the high-concept thriller Stunts, an early outing for New Line Cinema, starring Robert Forster, Joanna Cassidy, and Richard Lynch, with a score composed by Michael Kamen. Two years later, he capitalized on the disco trend with Roller Boogie, starring Linda Blair. The film had a significantly higher budget than his previous films and was the first to be distributed by a major studio, to modest success. While it received negative reviews upon its initial release, it has since gained cult status as a proverbial time capsule of the bygone Disco Era. He then made the exploitation action crime-thriller Class of 1984, a film revolving around violence in an inner-city school. The Canadian-made production, which featured an early appearance by Michael J. Fox, was controversial at the time of release, but has since gained cult status .

"...many of my films have a revenge theme. It’s something I’ve only recently noticed, but revenge and conflict are elements that often return in my stories and the final act is usually the resolution of that conflict. I come from a very visual, not a word-based, way of conceiving films, and to me that resolution must articulate itself visually and in the most spectacular way possible. What you are underlining is essentially the manifestation of the character’s, or characters’, inner anger and frustration, which end up exploding. I think Class of 1984 (1982) is a perfect example of this." - Mark L. Lester (2021)

Lester entered the mainstream in 1984 with the Stephen King adaptation Firestarter.

I was at the "Midsummer Night’s Dream" Playboy Mansion party, sitting in my pajamas next to Joel Silver. He said he had this script, and maybe I could direct it. I said, "Fabulous, can I read the script? He said, "No, if you read the script you’re not gonna want to do the movie." - Mark L. Lester (2015)

Lester had his biggest hit the following year with Commando, a big-budget, Joel Silver-produced, Arnold Schwarzenegger action film that grossed over $57 million worldwide. In 1986, he directed and produced his first comedy, Armed and Dangerous, starring John Candy, Eugene Levy and Meg Ryan. In 1986, he formed Original Pictures, replacing his original production company Mark L. Lester Pictures, he had earlier established in the late 1970s, and had five films planned, source from the work of public domain with a $66 million budget. In 1987, he, by way of Mark Lester Films, had signed with upstart film production company Davis Entertainment for production of $5–10 million action films, which Davis produced, Lester directed and independently funded by two independent studios, and 70% of each pictures could be obtained for presale use. In 1990, he directed Class of 1999, a semi-sequel to Class of 1984, starring Malcolm McDowell, Pam Grier, and Stacy Keach. In 1991, he directed the cult classic Showdown in Little Tokyo, starring Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee.

Lester also founded American World Pictures, Nemec was later replaced by Charmed co-star Brian Krause.

A critic describes his career as having an exploitation period, a commercial period and a DTV period.

Personal life On 14 March 1992, Lester married Dana Dubovsky, with whom he had two children: Jason and Justin. The couple divorced in 2010. Lester also has a daughter from a prior relationship, Janessa (James) Lester, who is a musician and singer-songwriter.

Filmography Film Director Year Title Director Producer Writer 1971 Twilight of the Mayas 1973 Steel Arena . 1974 Truck Stop Women 1975 White House Madness 1976 Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw 1977 Stunts 1979 Roller Boogie 1982 Class of 1984 1984 Firestarter 1985 Commando 1986 Armed and Dangerous 1990 Class of 1999 1991 Showdown in Little Tokyo 1993 Extreme Justice 1995 Night of the Running Man 1998 Double Take Misbegotten 1999 Hitman's Run 2000 Blowback 2003 Betrayal Stealing Candy White Rush 2010 Groupie 2013 Poseidon Rex 2014 Dragons of Camelot

Executive producer The Funhouse (1981) Instinct to Kill (2001) Bad Karma (2002) The Wisher (2002) Day of Wrath (2006) Jurassic Attack (2013) Toxin (2015) The Gardener (2020) Producer Tricia's Wedding (1971) (Short film) Devil's Prey (2001) Beauty and the Beast (2009) Sand Sharks (2012) Social Animals (2018) High Resolution (2018) Sleeping With My Student (2019)

Direct-to-video Year Title Director Producer 1996 Public Enemies 1997 The Ex 1999 The Base 2000 The Base 2: Guilty as Charged

TV movies Year Title Director Producer 1979 Gold of the Amazon Women 2000 Sacrifice 2004 Pterodactyl 2007 Wraiths of Roanoke 2011 Sinbad and the Minotaur Jabberwock

Executive producer Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon (2008) (Also story writer) Dragonwasps (2012)