King B, making films that make money.

That is the idea isn’t it? After all it always has been and remains show BUSINESS meaning that the objective is to make money with or without high art form. When it comes to making films that make money Mark Pirro is without peer and a genuine entrepreneur. His very first commercial feature film was “Polish Vampire in Burbank” released in 1983. The budget was an astoundingly miniscule $2500 yet this film has earned well over one million dollars and continues to earn even today.

According to the television news program Hard Copy, Mark’s production company Pirromount Pictures made Hollywood history with its unbelievable mini budget film yielding both financial (over a million) and critical (Silver Award, Houston International Film Festival) success. So amazed was I that anything more than a family vacation movie even in 1983 could be made for such little money I asked a dear friend of mine who works at Panavision about how much it costs today to rent just one camera for one day. The answer was just under $4000. Then there are actors and directors and grips and so forth and so on. Now you understand the true scope of this amazing story.

In 1974 Mark Pirro came to Hollywood from upstate New York with his heart and mind firmly set on becoming a film maker. Not a very original story. He quickly met others with similar ambitions and together they began making short movies. Quickly recognizing that while short films can be fun they rarely contribute to paying the rent, he turned his attention to his first feature “A Polish Vampire in Burbank.” Since that auspicious launch Mark has directed nine films including “Curse of the Queerwolf,” “Rectuma,” and his most recent film “The God Complex.” Many of his films have appeared on Cinemax, Showtime and the USA network. For a complete list of the films of Mark Pirro and Pirromount Pictures visit his website at: www.pirromount.com,

CAUTION: If you are one of the sadly growing number of humorless pathetic dweebs who spend every moment of your miserable life aggressively seeking ways to be offended DO NOT WATCH a Mark Pirro film. Everyone else will find his films to be outrageous, utterly irreverent and hilarious. Simply they are entertaining which is precisely what a movie should be in my world. It is that commitment to humor that has made Mark Pirro and Pirromount Pictures amazing winners in a town where all too often aspiring writers, directors and actors spend far more time in the food service industry than in the film industry.

If a man is to be known by his work then in addition to some of his other typically over the top zaney comedies such as “Rectuma” (2003) which I am convinced is about a national political figure, maybe even the current Governor of California, or his most recent and perhaps his most controversial work “God Complex” which premiered in August of 2009 to an enthusiastic full house at Raleigh Studios, then you must also consider Mark’s 1998 classic “Color Blinded”

Still staying well within the comedy genre “Color Blinded” goes much further with a truly fascinating portrait of a black girl who becomes white. The possibilities are endless and Mark Pirro handles it with panache. It premiered to a full house at Universal Studios where he and his film received a standing ovation. That had to have been one poignant moment for Mark as he absorbed the accolades while standing on the grounds of Universal Studios where so many years earlier he had worked as a tour guide while launching his movie making career.

Mark is quietly working on his next project while never deviating from his personal commitment to always keep it fun. Given his long and highly successful career in the world of “B” movies I, by absolutely no authority whatsoever, simply assume the power and thereby dub Mark Pirro “King B.” Long live the King!