Pivot As A Practice: Building Films That Amplify Quiet Voices with Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA (USA)

The moment a gallery visit turns into a dinner and a documentary deal, you realise some careers are built on curiosity meeting readiness. We sit down with producer Mark Sternberg, who left a two-decade marketing run to build films that carry real weight—projects that start with a strong why, gather great teams, and earn their audience through clarity and craft. He shares how COVID pushed a reset, how Oxford sharpened his storytelling chops, and why producing became the perfect home for a builder who loves people, logistics, and narrative momentum.

Mark unpacks the long arc of making a film: shaping a story, securing attachments, and solving the classic catch‑22 of talent versus financing. He explains how a producer thinks like a market—who the film is for, where it belongs, and how to fund it without losing the point. We dig into his slate: a neighbourhood slice-of-life called Why We Mow, Central California winemakers challenging Napa’s shadow, a data-informed look at addiction recovery in Alabama, and a two-year journey across museums and studios for Cowgirls, focused on women in Western art. Then comes the spark: a chance meeting with Thomas Blackshear that became Outside the Frame, an eight-part docuseries featuring Blackshear, Ezra Tucker, and Dean Mitchell—three African American artists reshaping the Western canon.

Throughout, Mark returns to the habits that make creative work sustainable: embracing failure as feedback, building generous networks, and keeping the door open to serendipity. He’s honest about the money—grants, donors, equity investors—and specific about his next milestone, a £300k raise for the docuseries pilot. If you care about documentary filmmaking, arts equity, creative careers, or how to turn purpose into a plan, this conversation brings you into the room where decisions get made and films get finished.

Enjoy the episode, share it with a friend who loves art and story, and if it resonates, subscribe and leave a review so more listeners can find it.

Music, lyrics, guitar and singing by Dr Ariel Rosita King

Teach me to live one day at a time
with courage love and a sense of pride.
Giving me the ability to love and accept myself
so I can go and give it to someone else.
Teach me to live one day at a time.....

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Mark Sternberg
• 1:41 Early Dreams Deferred By Practical Advice
• 4:22 From Startup Wins To COVID Reset
• 6:57 Choosing Producing Over Screenwriting
• 9:22 Film School Move And Thesis Vision
• 11:33 Navigating Family, Travel, And Oxford
• 14:57 Five Documentaries And What Drives Them
• 18:42 Creative Process And The Long Timeline
• 21:57 Producer Mindset Meets Market Strategy
• 25:17 Learning, Networks, And Open Doors

Transcript

Dr Ariel R King: 0:46

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Business of Life. Today we have a very special guest, Mr. Mark Sternberg. Welcome, sir.

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 0:54

Thank you so much. Great to be here.

Dr Ariel R King: 0:57

Would you please introduce yourself to our audience?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 1:00

Sure. My name is Mark Sternberg. I was an entrepreneur and marketing executive for 20 years. And three years ago, I pivoted to film producing. So I am working on my fifth documentary film at this moment.

Dr Ariel R King: 1:14

That's amazing. That's absolutely amazing. So is film your passion? And what did you do before that?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 1:21

Yeah. So I wanted to go to film school for undergrad, but we went and toured all the best schools. And my mom came with me and asked, what's he going to do when he graduates to the tour guide? And the response was always he's going to serve coffee to directors. And so Jewish family, they said, no, you're not going to go spend $200,000 for this kind of degree to go serve coffee. So my dreams ended then for film, which I had been passionate about film all through high school, making films with my friends on the weekends and doing everything related to film, working at Blockbuster. So I thought I was going to be the next Tarantino, like going down that path. And so it really had a huge pivot moment. And so I chose business school. So I went to business school, then went and got an MBA, sold my first company at 23, and had a very successful run for 20 years as a marketing person. But my wife said during COVID, you just don't seem happy. So she said, let's look at your life and see what you want to do. What are you passionate about? And so I revived the idea of film as my passion and my pursuit. And so I said, Well, what would be the first step? So I applied for screenwriting, thinking that story is really what I'm passionate about, because that's what film is all about, being a storyteller. So I said, I'm a I'm a decent writer. Let's see if I can get into a decent screenwriting program. So I got into Oxford for screenwriting and did a two-year stint there and wrote 14 screenplays and then finished that and said, Well, I don't know that I can really cut it as a screenwriter. It's it's super intense and very difficult industry to break into. So I said, What my real skill set's been is producing. I'm a business person, I've owned many companies, I've come into organizations and changed the whole layout of companies. So my background is really managing people and pushing forward a vision. And that's what producers do. They they find the IP and they push it forward all the way through post-production and selling of that film. So I got into film school in California, so we moved, and I'm just finishing that right now. So I'm working on my thesis film, which is about a 1950s juke joint. And it's just a fantastic story. I think we're gonna win a lot of awards for it. So really showing what I can do through school, really proving out what I can do. But in the meantime, I've been working on documentaries. So I'm on my fifth documentary at the moment as well.

Dr Ariel R King: 3:57

So that's just amazing. I love the fact that you quote unquote pivoted from business to still and and uh owning businesses, selling businesses, doing marketing to film. That's just really fantastic. Can you tell us more about the the practical aspects of doing that shift to Oxford and then to film school and then to to moving? I mean, what what does that really look like? And how were you able to uh navigate that with your family?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 4:24

Yeah, the craziest part is I got into another master's program. So now I'm working on my fifth master's, which is at Oxford again. So um, and it's a distance program, so it's the executive master's. So I go for a week every two months. Um, so yeah, it's a lot of travel, but my career and my every role I've taken has really led me to a new. I've lived in seven states, I've worked in India, I've worked in China, I've worked in the UK. So yeah, I've I've been all over and it's really about how can I maximize the opportunity? And really it's being present with a team, really pushing forward on a project. And so film is very much in the same vein. The people that want to just live in LA and be a producer, good luck because film is global and projects just take you everywhere. So I want to be hands-on and I want to be really helping propel that story forward. So it's very much aligned with how I kind of have led my life. So I feel like I'm a great fit for this type of role. My wife thinks I'm crazy. I think my whole family thinks I'm crazy, but I'm really doing what I feel like I was called to do and kind of how I'm naturally wired.

Dr Ariel R King: 5:39

But I think that's that's really fantastic. The fact that you've started in business school and went back to really not only just what your passion was, but what you actually worked towards. Because even before you went to undergraduate, you were doing everything in your power to put yourself in the spaces and the environments that would allow you to be around film.

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 5:57

Yeah.

Dr Ariel R King: 5:57

So this is fantastic. May I ask? You said you've done five films. Could you just tell us a little bit about the five that you've documentaries that you've done so far? And I'm quite curious about that.

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 6:09

Yeah. So I started with one just in my neighborhood going around interviewing all my neighbors, and it was a silly topic. I did Why We Mow because I was fascinated with the people who take pride in their owning their property and how they treat their lawn versus how the hired services or people that neglect their lawn. So I was just fascinated to do a little microcosm story. Just took that and launched off to the next project, which was I went around and interviewed winemakers in Central California. Since I had been visiting California for a long time, I was familiar with the region and fascinated that it's always considered lesser than the Napa Valley Sonoma region, even though they're making incredible wines at a decent price. So I really was fascinated by that topic. I then went and did the opposite. I worked on a documentary about addiction and overcoming addiction because I found this amazing service. It was in Alabama randomly, but they had this amazing success rate. And so I said, I want to find out what you guys are doing differently. So I went and interviewed them and created a documentary on them. And then I'm working my last two that I'm currently in production on are cowgirls. So women in Western art is one that I'm currently in post-production on. I'm trying to get into Tribeca Film Festival for that as our launch. And so that's a two-year project I've been working on, over 50 interviews about women in Western art. So really amplifying those underrepresented voices because about 10% of women are represented in museums. And I felt like that was a story I could tell. And then my last one, or my current, most current one, is on African American artists. So three African American artists that are very successful in Western art, Thomas Blackshear, Ezra Tucker, and Dean Mitchell were putting together a docuseries, eight episodes on talking about their life and kind of their passion for their art, which is very much storytelling and really trying to make a change in culture.

Dr Ariel R King: 8:21

That's truly fantastic. What's amazing to me is it's so diverse.

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 8:25

Yeah. Yeah. I go where the opportunity is. I mean, I I find a story and I say, hey, that's worth telling, and I want to get behind that. So it's not like I'm pushing an agenda and saying I'm trying to create stories around this topic. When I hear a great story, I say, hey, can I attach myself to this or can I turn this into a film?

Dr Ariel R King: 8:46

Makes it makes a very big difference. Can I ask you with the creative process? For you, how how does that work? The creative process of going behind and saying this is a story I want to tell. And then, you know, for all of us that that have never done that before, what what comes next? Is there a process for that?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 9:04

It's a long, long process. So that's one of the big, I think, unknowns about film. It's three to five years to produce a film. That is the average. And one of my professors was the producer of Unbroken, the famous film. Angelina Jolie was the director. It took 20 years to produce that film. So I don't have that type of tenacity. I'm not going to work on one project for 20 years. I think you can tell with my background that that wouldn't be how I'd pursue it. But projects just take a long time. So you have this idea and you say, wow, this could be something. And so you start putting together what is this story? What would be the narrative that I actually want to tell? And then you start thinking about attachments. Who would be helpful in telling the story? So do I have to hire actors to portray the individuals, or am I going to use the actual source material, the the individuals that the story is about, more like a documentary? And then it's all the camera, the crew. So it's who's the director, who's the VP, who's all these important roles you have to attach. And usually you need all that ahead of time before you can go get money. Because money, they're going to say, well, who's in it? Who's making it? But the it's a catch-22 because you need money to have those people attached, usually. So it's that's a very difficult balance between getting the money and attaching the right talent and crew. But then when you have all that, it's what's the development process? So what is the script? When are we shooting this? Where are we shooting it? What are the scenes? Like it just goes on and on and on until you finally get to day one where you're shooting. And then you sometimes still are changing the script at the last minute because you're having all these new ideas and these new team members that are really making it better. Um, so film is very collaborative and very uh strategic. Like it's just it's fantastic how it starts as something and becomes something else. And I love that. I I have that hands-off approach where I say, I want to hire the best and let them help guide that story instead of saying it has to be my way. Like that's just not how I want to make stories and make projects. I believe in team and I believe in hiring the best. So, but other people are different. Other people say, This is the story, I'm sticking to it. It's got to be this way, it's got to be this talent. And I think those projects take a long time to make and sometimes never get made.

Dr Ariel R King: 11:30

That's amazing. You know, I'm thinking to myself, with all of the experience you've had as a business person, uh, someone who has businesses, sold businesses, someone who's in marketing, you've been able to apply that, I think, to what you do in film. Could you tell us more about that?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 11:47

Yeah, so that's why I think being a producer makes the most sense. It's not just a story that's compelling or that's interesting to me as a person, but I can see what's the audience, what's the actual message, what would be some of the channels or places this movie would be shown or interested in and being sold. So I'm thinking of it from a business perspective from the very beginning, as long as well as what's the purpose and intent of the film and the story. So yeah, I'm very much thinking about the why from a very early point. And I think that when I go into meetings, having that perspective has been very helpful because it's not just I like this project or I'm excited about this idea. Like that, you don't really hear me saying that. You hear me talking about what's the potential, why I chose it, like much more meaningful content.

Dr Ariel R King: 12:40

And you're saying the fact that you actually have gone from sc for screenwriting for two years at Oxford, and right now you're doing a another master's degree. Can I ask how have you been able to use that in order to help with your passion of filmmaking and storytelling?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 12:56

So I love education, I love learning. I don't think I ever can get enough of that. Everyone asks me when's one's enough, and it's just like if there's something else I like, I would love to learn. But for me, it's not just the learning, it's also the environment. So the the administration at these programs, the the peers in the programs, the educators, the teachers, like all of them to me are very much part of why I'm there. And so it's the network, it's who it's the alumni afterwards, it's all the different touch points for me that just open doors. And I'm the type of person, I don't know where my meandering path is leading. I'm just looking for open doors. And I love to walk through open doors that I don't even know exist today. But that's a very different philosophy, I think, than most people. But I want to do the best thing. I don't want to do, I don't have this constraint of saying it has to be this thing. I don't know what the best thing is at this moment. I'm always looking for what that is and how I fit and how I grow. I'm so excited about growing, learning, being in places where there's people that are better than me that know so much more than me. And it's just such a fascinating experience. I don't like doing the same thing. I don't like uh when it's something I've done before or I already know how to do. It's just like I feel like other people can do that. I'm much more inclined to do something that is more meaningful, in my opinion.

Dr Ariel R King: 14:21

Yeah, it seems like also you're quite innovative, you know, and someone who who's okay with change and actually prefers change and not necessarily knowing what tomorrow brings, but it seems like you're very confident in yourself, also, that no matter what tomorrow brings, it's something that you will be able to use in a positive way. Is that correct?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 14:40

Oh, definitely. I feel like faith is a big component of that, but also I fail all the time. So it's not that I'm always gonna be a success and I'm always gonna win, but I'm always gonna learn. So even when I fail, I'm gonna get back up and I'm gonna pivot and go in a different direction, but I'm gonna walk away with a learning that's important for that next adventure.

Dr Ariel R King: 15:03

Would you please tell our audience about one of the favorite projects that you've had so far and just walk us through that particular project?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 15:12

Yeah, so the combination of my two current documentaries. I mean, I've been working on the Cowgirls, Women in Western art for two years. So I've been going around interviewing top artists, academics, historians, museum curators. So it's taken me all over, primarily the Southwest. And I kept seeing this art in in these galleries, and it was from a specific artist, Thomas Blackshear, I found out. And I kept saying, wow, this guy is amazing. And I'm like, he has nothing to do with a cowgirl documentary, because he's a man, but and he's a black man. So I'm just like, this is so fascinating, and I love the art. That's what drew me to it. But I kept seeing it, and I'm like, if I keep seeing something, I feel like I need to just pursue it and see where it leads. And so I'd constantly ask the curators or the gallery owners, would you be willing to introduce me? Because all of them know the contact information of the artist they represent. And so everyone would say, Yeah, sure, happy to do that sometime. But I would go to the next gallery and I'd see him again. And so finally I was at a gallery where I said that, and they said, He lives around the corner. Sure. You want to go see him right now? And I was in Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor Gallery, and I had no idea he lived in Colorado, let alone Colorado Springs. So this wasn't some pre-planned idea. This was just me pursuing open doors. And so they took me to his house and we went and there he's actually doing a little studio demonstration for some students. So I sat through it, and then afterwards I got to meet him and thanked him for being an amazing guy and for taking the time to say hello. And he's like, Want to go to dinner? And so he took me out to dinner, which I did not expect. And three hours later, he asked me to do a documentary about him. So this was a very serendipitous moment where none of this was planned by him or me. I didn't know that day I'd even meet him, let alone that I'd be pitching my services and being employed by him. So it's just a fascinating experience of very much kind of how I lived my life, which is I'm always looking for those opportunities. And not because I'm trying to exploit those opportunities, because I'm I'm fascinated and interested, and I want to attach myself to things that are meaningful. And when those appear, I very much pursue those ideas and and see where they lead. And in this case, it's leading to a very exciting project that I think will probably be the best one of my career so far.

Dr Ariel R King: 17:41

It sounds quite exciting. May I ask, do you do you even remember your time working in marketing and working in the other place? And and do you think you're the same person you are now and you're just able to fulfill what you want to do, or has has there been a shift somehow?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 18:01

I really do feel like I've been super consistent my whole life. I've just always been so curious. I taught English in China, I worked at an af uh orphanage in Africa. Like I've done all these random things that have just been passions of mine that have really influenced kind of how I live my life. And I I had a huge team of 40 people in India. So I'd go to Bangalore, India, and manage that team that I really loved. So it it's really been very similar where I just I'm put into these fascinating situations where most people would probably be like, What am I doing? And I just love it and I learn from it, and I move on to that next. I play leapfrog, right? What's the next lily pad in the pond that I can jump to that's exciting for me? And so that that's just how I view it.

Dr Ariel R King: 18:53

I love that. May I ask? I I see that many of the documentaries and things you've been doing have been in the US, and I know that you've lived and worked in other countries. Is there a dream or a desire to do a particular film in another country? And if so, what would that be?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 19:08

Yeah, I was just in France a couple weeks ago and met with a director there that's in my network. So I was very excited to meet him because he came highly recommended. And so we were just talking about well, what would it be like to make a film together in France? As I'm the producer and he's the director. So I I love film because it's global, and I love story because it's global. So for me, I'm just in the US most of the time, so that just makes sense for my network, but I would love to absolutely attach myself to stories that are international. I think Scandinavia is doing some really interesting film. India, I think, is fascinating for film. Like I would absolutely love to be embraced by those types of projects. And I do think my background lends itself to at least producing those. And I would let the story be told by the locals. Like, I don't feel like I would come in and try to tell them how to tell their story, but I would make sure that project gets made and for the best price and the best efficiency possible.

Dr Ariel R King: 20:10

This is wonderful. And may I ask, um, do you actually ask for any kind of uh public, if not support, just kind of a public intervention into what you're doing now, especially with the two projects, the two film projects that you have now? And if so, would you please tell our audience more about that?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 20:27

Yeah, so as a producer, a lot of people don't know what a producer actually does, but a producer's primary role is money. So it's making sure a project gets made involves money. So you can have all the ideas in the world. You can attach Brad Pitt and whoever you want to this project. But if there's no money to make it, it's not getting made. So I'm always having meetings with potential investors or donors because a lot of what I'm working on are true story documentaries. So donations are one of the best methods for funding. But I would love to have a project funded by actual investors that believe in an idea and have equity in that project because that's typically how larger films are made. So far it's really been friends and family that have supported me and self-funding. But I'm getting to that point I'm actually January 9th will be my first fundraising event for a film, which is for Thomas Blackshear's docuseries called Outside the Frame. And we're looking to raise $300,000 for the pilot episode. So this would be an eight series or an eight episode series on three black artists telling fascinating stories about their life, but really it needs to be funded before we go and shoot. I've already filmed 20 hours of kind of preliminary work just showing what some of that content looks like. I'm going to be showcasing that at the January 9th event as well as an 18 page business plan that I've put together for this project. So very much done my homework and prepped for it. But my my production company is called Son of a botanist because my father is a botanist. So sonofabotanist dot com is my website and all the information can be found there about these projects. But yeah it really comes to finding the support either from nonprofits and grants or from individual investors or donations to to make any of these films happen.

Dr Ariel R King: 22:24

Thank you. And for our audience that would want to know more about what you're doing and more about how they can be involved in what you're doing are there other social medias that they can actually find you on?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 22:36

Yeah LinkedIn is my primary I'm not really on any of the other because while I'm in the creative field I'm the business person. So for me it's very much LinkedIn such as Mark Sternberg on LinkedIn and I have many credentials after my name because I'm working on my Fifth Masters. So it's easy way to find me. But yeah very much engaged with a large audience on LinkedIn because I really want to broadcast these stories not just to have the funding to make them because they're meaningful stories that I really want people to know about and to watch thank you so much.

Dr Ariel R King: 23:12

And it's been a wonderful interview may I ask do you have any last thoughts for our audience?

Marc Sternberg, MA, MBA : 23:17

Yeah so I I went to screenwriting really thinking I was going to create all these fantasy stories, these fictional accounts and and maybe grounded in reality as the basis of the story. But after graduating and now being in the a producing program I've gravitated towards nonfiction projects. So working on all these documentary projects and that was a huge shift for me that I would never have expected like if you asked me what I'm going to do in film it would be sci-fi films or or anything like world building because I love those types of stories when I watch films. But documentaries I've just found these stories coming to me naturally and they're so meaningful and so powerful that I've really started to develop a brand around amplifying underrepresented voices. So that's not what I entered film intending to do but that's what I found myself attaching to projects that are meaningful and around those lines. So I'm really kind of pivoting my brand son of a botanist to be amplifying underrepresented voices. So always looking for projects really that fit that idea. And so yeah any audience that's listening to this, I'd love to talk about stories that potentially could be made into films.

Dr Ariel R King: 24:35

Thank you so much and thank you for being with us. The 30 minutes goes by so quickly it does. Really appreciate it. And to our audience remember if I'm not for myself who will be for me? If I am only for myself what am I? If not now then when that's by the great philosopher Hillel and I've added if not me then who thank you so much for joining us.