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ALL ABOUT MOTW
 

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"Mark of the Wolf", or "MOTW", started off simply enough as a writing assignment for college all the way back in 1998. It was an one scene sample for film class. As a fan of werewolves, I chose my scene to be a werewolf movie. It was well received by my class and I got an  "A" for my effort.

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The cool part about this was, I had so much fun doing that scene, I continued working on it on my free time, until I had written out an entire script outline, one that I envisioned being a five-part epic designed for TV or video.



I gave out samples of the story to several of my friends, who were impressed with what I had done. I began turning my script into a novel, writing about six or seven small chapters until a lot of things, such as work, caused me to set it aside. But I always had the intention of resuming it one day and still held on to the hope that to make it into a movie.



In 2005, I managed to discuss my dream project with several friends of mine. Friends who, like me, are fans of the genre and had special skills, like makeup and acting and filmmaking. Through several stages of talking, things began falling into place and it looked like it was going to be a go. I was so confident that it would happen that I began announcing it on several film boards that I was doing this movie, stating that production was going to begin soon and everything. Unfortunately, I would get smacked upside the face with reality.​

There were problems putting together the money to finance it. We had trouble securing several locations, delaying the start of production. Then, one of my friends, who was going to play the lead character, couldn't commit to coming up to shoot. So I had to let him go. All of this led me to pull the plug on the project at the time and pretty much left me defeated.​

I learned a hard, yet valuable lesson from that experience. However, in spite of the setback, I still held on to the hope of making MOTW a reality.​

In 2007, I brought up my MOTW concept to some online friends of mine and slowly things started to fall into place. One friend even agreed to play the lead role. But, scheduling problems forced him to leave the project. This time, however, I wasn't deterred by the news. Because I had other things working in my favor.



One friend took my sketch drawing and came up with the MOTW movie logo. I gave out an idea to another friend to film some stuff for an initial teaser trailer to get the buzz out. After he did that, another friend helped with the effects and after I edited it. I launched it on YouTube, where it got favorable reviews and has since been seen over 43,000 times.​

The actual film script that I wrote years ago is still with me to this day. It would be nice to one day film it, but to do it and do it right, would require a budget right up there with some of the big screen films. A budget that I can't even reach. So for now, it remains in written form. I may turn it into a full on novel as I started doing years before. And who knows? Maybe one day, things might work out and I can turn this script into an actual movie. 

Although "Mark of the Wolf" was initially planned as a movie, over time, things evolved into what it is now: "Mark of the Wolf: The WebSeries".

The concept for the web series came together in 2007, shortly after the first promo trailer was released on YouTube. I had a ton of ideas in my head for future trailers to drum up support. It then dawned on me as I was coming up with these ideas that it would be cool to expand on them, to find ways to touch on not only the werewolf genre, but also some of the characters and plotlines for the full length film as well.

So, after writing out a few ideas, I got a hold of some online friends of mine, who are into making short films, and threw it out there to them. I asked if they would be interested in doing something like this. At best, I figured I'd get a few replies and at the most, it'd be a five or six film series with yours truly writing and directing a couple of them.

Little did I know that the response to this would be overwhelming. Before long, many had expressed an interest in doing something for the series. As I continued to get the word out, several people that I didn't know at all came out of the woodwork and wanted to get involved. As things progressed, I developed a good working friendship ranging from here in the U.S. to places abroad. Over the years, episodes have been filmed in England, Scotland, and Canada. Filmmakers from other countries have also looked into contributing.

After a slow start due to production delays, the webseries finally got off the ground in June 2008 with "Conundrum". More episodes soon followed. Several shorter segments, or promos, also were released, with "Clock's Ticking" being the first to come out. 

Each episode of the series all share one common thread: none of them will be like the typical werewolf movie. The goal I wanted to achieve with the series is to put a new spin to the genre, to do something that hasn't been done before. Many will serve as stand alone stories, while others will tie into the mythology set in previous episodes, involving characters that have already been introduced. 

The werewolves involved in the stories all range from good to evil, with some falling somewhere in between. They will also tell more about the secret organization that know of the werewolves' existence. Stories will cover an eclectic mix, from thrillers to crime dramas to even light hearted comedy.

After initially planning this to be just a ten-to-twelve episode series, the global success of the early episodes were enough for me to continue it to this day, as long as there are stories to tell. 


I'm proud of everyone who's taken part in the series, either on camera or behind the scenes. I've have established great

relationships with many of the people involved. Some have even become good friends. Thanks to their expertise, their output, and their dedication to the genre, the WebSeries continues to take the MOTW Universe to new heights. 

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-- Mark E. Brown, MOTW Creator/Producer

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