Mark Summers started his career as a trained performer (training at the Barbara Speake Stage School) and is now one of the UK's best-known Casting Directors, casting in both North America and Europe. In 2009 Mark Summers and his team were chosen to be the UK Casting Directors on Michael Jackson's This Is It (Michael Jackson concerts)

This Is It (Michael Jackson concerts)

This Is It was a planned series of fifty concerts by Michael Jackson to be held at The O2 Arena in London. They were scheduled to begin in July 2009 and continue through to March 2010. However, with all concerts sold out, Jackson died less than three weeks before the first concert date...

. In 2010 Mark Summers was honoured by the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and was awarded a 'Companionship'. For the past number of years he has been on the panel of the jury for the Best Performance by an Actor/ Actress at the British Television Advertising Awards

British Television Advertising Awards

The British Television Advertising Awards are awarded each year at the Walker Art Center....

 (BTAA). His client list includes Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

, Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

, Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine is the recording name of English musician Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide music for her voice. Florence and the Machine's sound has been described as a combination of various genres, including rock and soul...

, and Shakira

Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...

, and has cast for directors such as David LaChapelle

David LaChapelle

David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...

, Matthew Rolston

Matthew Rolston

Matthew Russell Rolston is an American photographer and music video director. Rolston is known for his signature lighting techniques and detailed approach to art direction and design, and has been repeatedly identified throughout his career with the revival and modern expression of Hollywood glamour...

, Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham is an English music video film director and video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1970 and grew up in Lakenheath, Suffolk....

 and Kenny Ortega

Kenny Ortega

Kenneth John "Kenny" Ortega is an American producer, director, and choreographer. He is known for directing the High School Musical trilogy and Michael Jackson's This Is It concert tour.-Life and career:...

.

Casting & Management

The agency consists of three separate divisions: casting, dance, and management, which have contributed to casting over 10,000 productions across the world. He has cast for film, TV, voice-overs, commercials, dance, print, world tours and fashion. The casting division takes care of supplying supporting artists and actors for television series and commercials. In addition to a large number of trained dancers, the dance division represents numerous choreographers such as Wade Robson

Wade Robson

Wade Jeremy William Robson is an Australian dance prodigy, director, producer, songwriter, and award-winning choreographer. He began performing as a dancer at the age of five. He has directed music videos and world tours for numerous music artists such as 'N Sync and Britney Spears...

, Natricia Bernard

Natricia Bernard

Natricia Bernard is a choreographer and creative director based in the UK who has worked with many leading artists for over 20 years. After appearing in a commercial at the age of 5, she trained at the Super Arts Stage school for 12 years, completing her training at the London Studio Centre...

, Litza Bixler

Litza Bixler

Litza Bixler is one of the world's most sought-after choreographers and an emerging talent as a screenwriter and creative director. She has earned a reputation as an artist on the cutting edge who creates work that is unusual, ironic and distinctive. Her agent in London is , and in LA...

 and Les Child. The management division represents actors as well as various celebrities.

Television

Mark Summers and his team (including Managing Director James While and Associate Director Louise Mason) have also been involved with numerous television shows, most notably joining Jermaine Jackson in December 2009 as a judge on the 6-part BBC show Move Like Michael Jackson

Move Like Michael Jackson

Move Like Michael Jackson is a British talent show made by independent production company Fever Media and transmitted on BBC Three, which aims to find people who can dance like pop singer Michael Jackson. The show began airing several months after the entertainer's death in June 2009...

. The show also went into production in Belgium and The Netherlands, aired on SBS 6, where Mark Summers also served as a judge. The team is currently working on expanding the show even further abroad.

Mark has also been involved with numerous other television shows including:

• Britain's Missing Top Model
  Britain's Missing Top Model
  Britain's Missing Top Model was a British reality modelling show aired on BBC Three. The première episode aired on 1 July 2008.The show followed eight young women with disabilities, who competed for a modelling contract...
  
  
• Bump and Grind (Trouble TV)
• Make Me a Supermodel
  Make Me a Supermodel
  Make Me a Supermodel may refer to:*Make Me a Supermodel , the original British version aired on Five*Make Me a Supermodel , the American version on Bravo **Make Me a Supermodel ...
  
   (UK TV series)
• The Boss is Coming to Dinner (C5)
• The Model Agent Ireland (The Model Scouts)
• Bust a Move (MTV Networks UK)

Awards

Mark Summers has received several nominations and awards for his work. In 2008 he was a Craft Finalist for the category 'Casting' at the British Arrow Awards , an honour which he also won in 2003 . Furthermore, many productions he has been associated with have won awards, such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy , as well as several television commercials.

External links

• Official Website: www.marksummers.com
• IMDb Profile: www.imdb.com