Mark Thomas Ciardi (pronounced ''CHAR-dee''; born August 19, 1961) is an American film producer and former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He is currently the Founder and CEO of Apex Entertainment. Mark has a rich breadth of experience as a Film Executive, and Producer. Apex Entertainment is an independent content production firm that also serves as a financier for media properties. Prior to Apex, Ciardi was the co-founder of Mayhem Pictures that had an overall first look deal with Walt Disney Studios for twelve years. At Mayhem, Ciardi produced several sports films for

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...

including '' The Rookie'', ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

'', ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

'', ''The Game Plan'', ''

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...

'', ''

Million Dollar Arm ''Million Dollar Arm'' is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku ...

'', ''

McFarland, USA ''McFarland, USA'' (also known as ''McFarland'') is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Niki Caro, produced by Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, written by Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson with music composed by Ant� ...

'', and ''

Safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

''. Awaiting release is the worldwide best-selling novel, ''Fallen''. He also produced the Emmy Award winning, ESPN 30 for 30 documentary titled ''Big Shot''. A native of

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway () is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan Valley. At the 2010 United States Census, the population was 56,044, an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) fr ...

, Ciardi was an All-State high school pitcher, graduating from

Piscataway Township High School Piscataway High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Piscataway in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the P ...

as part of the class of 1979.O'Donnell, Chuck
"Mark Ciardi: A life worthy of a Hollywood script"
''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees * John Curley, former pre ...

'', July 22, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2016. "Mark Ciardi pitching for Piscataway High School. After graduating in 1979, he went on to pitch at the University of Maryland.... Ciardi, who turns 55 in August, grew up on Mitchell Avenue in Piscataway." He continued his baseball career at the University of Maryland, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He was drafted in 1983 by the Milwaukee Brewers organization and was called up to the major leagues in 1987. He retired the following year due to an injury. Ciardi is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

and serves on the board of trustees at the University of Maryland. Mark is married with two children and resides in Los Angeles.

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

;As an actor

Television

Major League Baseball career

Ciardi played for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in 1987. He opened the season on the

roster in which they started the season with 13 consecutive wins, winning the eighth game in that streak against the Orioles. That winning streak is a record that still stands today. Ciardi remained in the big leagues for one month that year then retired the following year due to a shoulder injury.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciardi, Mark 1961 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from New Jersey Beloit Brewers players Denver Zephyrs players El Paso Diablos players Film producers from New Jersey Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Paintsville Brewers players People from Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway High School alumni Sportspeople from New Brunswick, New Jersey Stockton Ports players Vancouver Canadians players Maryland Terrapins baseball players