Marcus Markou is a British film maker, playwright and internet entrepreneur. Markou's debut feature film ''

Papadopoulos & Sons ''Papadopoulos & Sons'' is a 2012 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Marcus Markou and self-distributed in the UK and Ireland by Markou's own company Double M Films through an agreement with Cineworld on 5 April 2013. Cineworld i ...

'', starring

Stephen Dillane Stephen John Dillane (; born 27 March 1957) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film '' The Hours'', Stannis Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'', and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries ''John Ad ...

, was completed in 2012. The film was self-distributed by Markou in UK cinemas in April 2013 achieving the second highest screen average of any film in that weekend. This success places the film among the top 5 self-distributed UK films in the past 15 years. The film went on to be bought by the BBC, ARTE and Netflix. Markou's approach to distribution included cold calling Greek Orthodox priests asking them to announce the film in their Sunday services Markou speaks extensively about self distribution at film industry events and film festivals and is the subject of self distribution case studies. His play '' Ordinary Dreams; Or How to Survive a Meltdown with Flair'' was staged in May 2009 at the

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...

with actors

James Lance James Frederick Grenville Lance (born 29 September 1974) is an English actor, best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series and the British-American comedy series '' Ted Lasso'' for which he was nominated for a Primetime ...

and

Adrian Bower Adrian Bower (born 20 August 1970) is an English actor, best known for his role as physical education and geography teacher Brian Steadman in the first three series of the British comedy series ''Teachers''. In 2015, he played Leofric in '' Th ...

. ''Age-Sex-Location'', his play about chat rooms and virtual worlds, was staged at the

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment i ...

in 2004 with actor

Ed Stoppard Edmund Stoppard (born 16 September 1974) is an English actor. He is the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and doctor Miriam, Lady Hogg. Life Stoppard was born on 16 September 1974 in London, England, the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and Miriam ...

. In 2014 Markou was nominated by the London Critics Circle Awards for Breakthrough British Filmmaker. On 11 April 2018 it was announced that Marcus Markou was embarking in a new crowdfunding film and TV venture, along with US producer

Cassian Elwes Cassian Cary Elwes (born 7 August 1959) is a British independent film producer and talent agent. Early life and education Cassian Elwes was born on 7 August 1959 in London, England. He is the son of Dominic Elwes, a portrait painter, and Tessa ...

. Their company, dubbed Movie Collective, aims at financing film projects through an innovative crowdfunding approach that allows any investor to share the risk and the rewards, should a film be profitable. In 2023, Markou self-distributed a micro-budget feature film about a couple breaking up called ''The Wife and Her House Husband'' together with a short film, ''Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times'' – as a double bill. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described ''The Wife and Her House Husband'' as a "worthwhile movie that genuinely gets under the skin of a long marriage" but added that the drama could feel "overworked" at times.

References

External links

*
Movie Collective : company's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markou, Marcus British dramatists and playwrights Living people Place of birth missing (living people) British male dramatists and playwrights Year of birth missing (living people)