the super genius and mark wahlberg

2007.03.10 13.18

"You'll have to go around to the short red carpet, sir."

I was perplexed by the nameless security guard, but took the situation in stride knowing that I was having a conversation with him because of a fortunate set of circumstances in the late 1990s.

I walked around the fenced off red carpet and passed Mark Wahlberg who was posing alongside his co-star Kate Mara several feet away. Cameras flashed and photographers yelled out, "Mark! Mark! Over here!" They snapped away endlessly thanks to digital camera technology. I wended my way through the surrounding crowds and made my way up to the front of the Mann's Westwood Theater. I flashed my tickets and took my place at the end of the red carpet which led into the lobby of the theater. Free bags of popcorn and soft drinks lined the concession stand counters. Folks involved in both ends of the film making spectrum intermingled. Black suited security guards stoicly brayed, "Folks, please move into the theater and clear the lobby as soon as possible." Danny Glover grabbed two bags and inquired about which stack of soft drinks were "the diet stuff." I'd been in the lobby several times before and observed that nothing had changed in all those times. I'd attended the premieres for THREE KINGS, THE PERFECT STORM, and ROCK STAR there. Today's premiere was the Antoine Fuqua (TRAINING DAY) directed thriller SHOOTER.

"There's actual seat numbers on these tickets," announced Aaron, one of my co-workers who attended the show with me.

"Really? Hmmm. Most of the time people sit where they want to," I offered half-heartedly.

It was true – I'd never been to a premiere that had followed strict This Is Where You Are Going To Sit mandates. I left the lobby to retrieve my boss who was waiting outside. After passing four different groups of black suited sunglass wearing security guards, I was back across the street from the theater. I looked up at the neon tower above the theater that had the word "FOX" where a lighted beacon would go. I then motioned to Rich, the aforementioned boss man, and we proceeded to walk back inside.





Hiding out in video games like QUAKE and then shooting people from a great distance (in the game) has always been one of my favorite pastimes. I've been called a "camper" for doing this, and it hasn't greatly improved my ability to shoot my virtual buddies, but it did make the thought of a sharp shooter film very appealing to me. Bob Swagger, Mark's character, is haunted by an offensive gone wrong. He's a gifted prodigy when it comes to the art of sharp shooting. The U.S. government ask Bobby for assistance in sniffing out a possible presidential assassin by asking him, "If you were to kill the president, how would you do it?" As you can imagine, things don't go as planned and Bobby is framed for the assassination. What follows are exciting chases and shoot outs. As Aaron put it, "There was quite a bit of shooting." I give the film an 8 out of 10. I give co-star Kate Mara a 10 out of 10, however. Wow! I was a few feet away from her for several minutes in the theater lobby after the film was over. Some young girls begged for a photo and she observed, "You guys are lucky you got to see the movie!" SHOOTER is rated R for strong graphic violence and language. Dammit.

I'm constantly asked to explain how I get the tickets to attend a Hollywood premiere. That's a long story.

When I attended my first premiere in 1999 it was to see THREE KINGS. Outside the theater on the red carpet I was introduced to Johnny Alves, Donnie Carroll (also known as Donkey) and Eric Weinstein (also known as E or E-Factor). This group, along with Mark, would eventually be immortalized in the HBO comedy series ENTOURAGE. For those not in the know, ENTOURAGE is loosely based upon the group of friends that lived together in Los Angeles when Mark was on his way to becoming the A-List actor that he is today. Eric is practically Mark's bodyguard, although I've seen several other big guys help Mark during such events. Donkey managed the transport of Mark's belongings from gig to gig during his musical career. Johnny is Mark's cousin and, like on ENTOURAGE, is also called Johnny Drama.

"This is amazing!" I kept announcing to anyone that would listen. Donkey and Jamie were focused on their own conversation, but nodded in acknowledgement. I forgot to mention who Jamie is. Jamie Kennedy. I figured he was another member of the group. Rebecca, my girlfriend at the time (see photo below), also nodded as she took a long drag on her cigarette. She was wearing a low cut black dress that we'd purchased the day before on Rodeo drive. Her skin reflected the red and blue neon light from the FOX sign above thanks to generously applied moisturizer on her face and shoulders. At the after party in the Armand Hammer museum, Mark Wahlberg's body double would declare her "a porcelain doll!"



I was standing by myself at one point early on at the after party. Someone approached me from the side and extended his hand.

"Hey, I'm Mark Wahlberg. It's really nice to meet you. I appreciate what you're doing with the site and working with us on it."

It was a both a sincere hello and the first indication of many that Mark was both a gentleman and a really nice guy. We talked briefly about the site and the brief history that led me to Sarah and Lev. Noticing a group waiting to the side to speak to him, he shook my hand once again and excused himself. I watched as he was promptly surrounded by the nearby group of folks who'd been waiting for their chance to speak with him. From that point on I've been a big fan. Before that, I was really into the site because we had the same name. I thought it was cool that he was an actor, but our brief meeting converted me on the spot.

I'd picked up the domain MARKYMARK.COM on a whim a year earlier in 1998 when I'd decided that I wanted my own domain name. A group of European girls who went by the name Funky Vibe Productions had been running a Mark Wahlberg fan site using the domain for years. Its focus was mainly upon Mark's music career which had continued to blossom in Europe while his American musical success had been on the wane. The girls had grown tired of running the site and were looking for a replacement webmaster. I fit the bill and they turned the site over to me within a day.

I redesigned the old site and gave it a darker, more masculine look that seemed to be more apropos to Mark Wahlberg in general, with a slight 1970s feel in the spirit of BOOGIE NIGHTS. The site was quite popular. I would occasionally touch base with inside informant Eric who had the scoop on where Mark was going and what he was doing. The board also boasted a fan named Lianne who has always proven to be an invaluable resource. It was Lianne who clued me in when the domain MARKWAHLBERG.COM was available for purchase. I snapped it up and the transformation was complete.

This unofficial site eventually led to my being contacted by Steve Levinson of Leverage Management in the late summer of 1999. Someone named Sarah had contacted me via email and asked me to call Steve. I was scared and worried not knowing what the topic of the conversation would hold. All that stress was for nothing, however, as Steve, or Lev as everyone calls him, was a cool guy who wanted to take ownership of the site but keep me on board as the de-facto webmaster claiming there were a dearth of webmasters in California. After looking up what the heck dearth meant, I was relieved. The best part of the deal, however, was that I'd be added to the permanent list of attendees for Mark's movie premieres. All I had to do was ask ahead of time.

The site underwent a second transition where I was asked to drop all of the music career references and focus on the film career. References to Marky Mark were updated to just say Mark. It's like Ricky Schroeder being called Rick or my childhood friend Jamie Bergerone preferring to be called James. You drop the Y when you grow up. My friends, however, are still welcome to call me Marky Mark. I'll take over that moniker, thank you very much.

Being a part of MarkWahlberg.com has given me a chance to witness the sometimes magical machinery that is the Hollywood film industry. I'm a minor unimportant player, in my opinion, but it's a blessing to be around those who were in the business of making movies. I know I have an impressive career of application development under my belt, but I always like to think that one day I'll be able to take a more active role in the industry. Don't count me out yet.