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CONVERSATIONS WITH CALVIN — WE THE SPECIES

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Meet MARK BUERCK; I set my interview with Mark assuming he’sbeen doing this screenwriting stuff for a few decades, after all, he won BestShort Screenplay at the Garden State Film Festival. I love it when I dial wrongnumbers. The look on my face as comprehension slowly began crystallizing.Numerically, I’m basically six decades older than Mark. Yet he still seemed tohave two decades of experience. Yet there was that youthful exuberance wrappedaround a sensitive screenwriter with a mastery of dialogue. His screenplay,‘One Last Time’, is inspired by shows and movies he grew up watching, such asRocky, The Avengers, etc. He’s into martial arts as well. And finishing upScreenwriting at Brookdale-Rutgers. I asked about martial arts and his writing.A strong influence. We bonded more when I told Mark about Chuck Wepner, a boxerfrom Bayonne who fought Muhammad Ali. An inspiration for Stallone. I absorbedhis words and enthusiasm. He’s a young guy but has been on this writing journeya long time. He’s great fun. Endless enthusiasm. Back to ‘One Last Time.’ It'spowerful stuff coming from Gen Z. Passion. Sacrifice. Emotionally Intense. Iforgot to ask this rising star how he feels about writing comedy. Next time.”Calvin

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MARK BUERCK: Short Screenplay Winner at Garden State FilmFestival; “One Last Time”

YouTube:

INSTAGRAM: @mark_buerck

BIO: Background

Mark Buerck is a 23-year-old screenwriter, actor, andmartial artist from Wall Township, New Jersey. He studies Liberal Arts throughthe Rutgers–Brookdale program and has been actively developing his career inwriting and filmmaking over the past several years.

Mark first became interested in storytelling when he was 13years old, writing short chapters of his own stories in notebooks. In highschool, while taking creative writing classes, he discovered that his strengthswere particularly strong in dialogue and character interaction. His classmatesand teacher often pointed out that his writing felt very cinematic anddialogue-driven, which naturally led him toward scriptwriting.

He also created and starred in his own short film titled“The Enigmatic Crew,” which was inspired by a real-life day with his closefriends.

Mark’s long-term goal is to continue writing for film andtelevision while also acting in projects he creates. He hopes to build a careertelling stories that combine action, emotion, and personal experiences

Project description:

One Last Time is a dramatic short screenplay about two bestfriends and fighters, Ethan and Ryan. Ethan is determined to keep fightingdespite suffering serious injuries, including multiple concussions and a tumor.Fighting is the only thing that gives his life meaning, and he refuses to walkaway from it.

Ryan, his closest friend and training partner, tries toconvince him that it’s time to move on and protect his health. However, Ethanpersuades Ryan to spar for him one last time.

During the sparring session, emotions rise and the fightescalates beyond what either of them expected. Ryan accidentally knocks Ethandown, triggering a fatal medical episode. Ryan is left devastated, realizingthat Ethan’s final fight was against his best friend.

The story explores themes of passion, identity, sacrifice,and the difficult question of when someone should stop pursuing what they love

Inspiration behind the script:

Being a martial artist helped me visualize the fight scenesand emotional tension between the characters

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