Mark Willingham Gantt IV (born December 10, 1968) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. Gantt is best known for his role as Neal Bannen in the series ''

The Bannen Way ''The Bannen Way'' is an American crime drama web series starring Mark Gantt as Neal Bannen, a third generation criminal who wants to get out of the con man lifestyle he's been living. The show officially premiered on Crackle on January 6, 2010 ...

''. Gantt grew up in Stockton, California, and comes from a law enforcement family; he drew upon those family experiences as part of the backstory for the title character in ''The Bannen Way''.

Career

Early career

Gantt got his start in the entertainment business working in the art department and props while training as an actor and director at the

Beverly Hills Playhouse The Beverly Hills Playhouse is an acting school with theaters and training facilities in Beverly Hills, California, and also in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. It is one of the oldest acting schools and theatres in Los Angeles Cou ...

under

Milton Katselas Milton George Katselas (December 22, 1933 – October 24, 2008) was an American director and producer of stage and film, as well as a Hollywood acting instructor and coach who trained under Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg at the acclaimed '' Ac ...

. His credits on television shows and films include ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

'', American Horror Story: Hotel,

Ocean's Eleven ''Ocean's Eleven'' is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The fil ...

, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,

Buffy The Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

, Major Crimes, and a role in The Arrangement on E!.

The Bannen Way

Gantt plays the lead in ''

'', which was designed as both a 16 episode web series and feature film. It has been streamed more than 13 million, and was designed "to reach a demographic of men 18-34 years old".

Directorial debut and collaborations

Gantt's feature directorial debut, ''Murder In Mexico: The Bruce Beresford Redman Story'', was based on the real-life events involving

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

's Survivor producer,

Bruce Beresford-Redman Bruce Beresford-Redman (born April 20, 1971) is the co-creator and executive producer of MTV's ''Pimp My Ride'' and a former producer of '' Survivor''. In 2015, he was convicted in Mexico of the murder of his wife, Mónica. Early life The son of ...

, who was convicted in Mexico of the murder of his wife, Mónica. The film premiered on

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

in September 2015.

Directorial work

In April of 2016, Mark directed

Intricate Vengeance ''Intricate Vengeance'' is a 2016 television drama pilot created by Wilson Cleveland and directed by Mark Gantt for New Form, the digital studio co-founded by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Discovery Communications. The project was announced on Apri ...

for

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

and

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated fo ...

's New Form Digital studio. It was part of the 2016 Incubator program, a series to showcase and produce original scripted pilots. Mark directed branded series for platforms like AOL, Lifetime, and the Better Sleep Council. In 2010 Gantt directed two episodes of the branded series, Suite 7 with

Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...

, Dexter’s

Jaime Murray Jaime Erica Murray (born 21 July 1976) is an English actress. She is known for playing Stacie Monroe in the BBC series '' Hustle'' (2004–2012), Lila West in the Showtime series ''Dexter'' (2007), Gaia in the Starz miniseries '' Spartacus: G ...

, Warehouse 13's

Eddie McClintock Edward Theodore McClintock (born May 27, 1967) is an American actor, best known for his role of Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer on the Syfy series '' Warehouse 13''. Early life McClintock was born in Canton, Ohio, and raised by his father The ...

and in 2011, the award-winning short film Donor starring Trevor Algatt and Alexis Boozer. In the year 2020, Mark Gantt directed two feature films, both of which made their debut on Lifetime. The titles of these films were A Deadly Price For Her Pretty Face (also known internationally as "Model Citizen"). On October 20, 2023, Mark's fourth feature, Soul Mates was released in theaters. The film was written by Joseph S. Russo and

Chris LaMont Chris LaMont is a screenwriter, independent filmmaker, and film professor, who co-founded the Phoenix Film Festival in 2000. He has written and co-written several feature films, including ''The Inheritance ', The Locksmith, '' The Au Pair Nightm ...

and stars

Annie Ilonzeh Annette Ngozi Ilonzeh (born August 23, 1983) is a Nigerian-American actress. From 2010 to 2011, she played Maya Ward on the ABC daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'', and later starred as Kate Prince in the short-lived ABC reboot of ''Charlie' ...

, Charlie Weber, and

Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn Compton, Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney ...

Writing Efforts

Gantt co-wrote Her Boyfriend's Deadly Secret with Evan Unruh which premiered on Lifetime and Deadly Infidelity, which premiered on Lifetime.

Podcasts and Audiobooks

In 2021 Gantt co-wrote the Audible series A Devil in the Valley, alongside Paul Holes, and retired FBI Special Agent Jim Clemente. Mark Gantt and Brianne Davis launched Secret Life, a podcast that discusses love, sex, money, food, addiction, and hidden taboos.

Producer Credits

Mark Gantt worked as a producer on Psychophonia, a thriller directed by his wife, Brianne Davis. Mark and Brianne produced two horror/sci-fi films, The Night Visitor and The Night Visitor 2: Heather's Story.

Speaker

In 2011, Mark hosted the first annual NATPE Digital Luminary Awards in Miami, Florida.

Personal Life

Mark Gantt is married to Brianne Davis.

Filmography

Film

TV Series/Internet Productions

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gantt, Mark Living people 1968 births Male actors from California People from Stockton, California Male actors from Los Angeles Streamy Award winners