Today's interview takes us to the fine state of Indiana, where director/producer/writer Mark Racop and the MagicHouse Productions team is based. A full production house with a studio facility, MagicHouse Productions is readying an exciting new science fiction movie, Starship II. The film features an extraordinary amount of special effects elements, and returns many fan favorites from the first Starship film (titled Rock N Roll Starship). For the indie film world, Mark Racop and MagicHouse Productions represents an intelligent approach to developing films and a production company. Mark has spearheaded a methodical path that has built a solid foundation for current and future projects, one that draws upon previous projects and has established an in-house production infrastructure. This approach enables growth in each progressive project, something demonstrated strongly in Starship II with its arsenal of special effects and increased production value. The buzz has been building for Starship II at conventions across the country, and is well on the way to becoming a growing indie movie franchise. Working with an array of talented individuals in Indiana such as Jeff Ello (the mastermind behind the CGI) and Chuck Budreau (sound and music wizard who is also with Indy Film News, a networking and resource site for Indiana Filmmakers), Mark has worked to establish the nucleus of an outstanding independent movie team. Mark Racop is a filmmaker to watch, and MagicHouse Productions is definitely on the indie movie map. Watch out for Starship II in the very near future, and hop on board a great new indie movie series! -by Stephen Zimmer, for Indie Movie Masters, September 6, 2009 SZ: What is your background in terms of filmmaking/production? MR: The filmmaking bug bit me at an early age. My father John remembers that I was interested in making movies even at the age of two, always asking, "How do they DO that?" Dad could only answer, "Trick photography." So while other children were reading short stories, I was busy reading–check that–studying Stephen Whitfield’s "The Making of Star Trek." My filmmaking life was changed permanently when "Star Wars: A New Hope" was released when I was twelve-years-old. I knew from the first scene of that movie that I HAD to make movies. I voraciously read everything I could about movie making. As a huge1966 Batman fan, it was no surprise to my friends that I decided to make Batman the focus of my movies while learning my craft. I collected a rag tag group of misfits from Logansport High School–and I'm quick to add myself to the list of rag tag misfits–to make my first movie in 1980, a 60 minute short film. We didn’t have a clue what we were doing when we started, but we figured things out pretty quickly. Shot on Super 8 movie film, and edited by hand with a Kmart splicer, it truly was a labor of love. It lacked big time, but as a first film, it was rather ambitious–there were several fight scenes, and the movie was made at many locations throughout Logansport, including the vault of the First National Bank. Logansport Mayor Jone Wilson even played a cameo in the film. The movie was rough, but well-received, and won some awards in high school. Bolstered by the completion of my first effort, the following summer I made a second Batman film, a 30 minute short. The titles, fight scenes, and editing were much more sophisticated, and I was learning from my mistakes. Mayor Jone Wilson again made herself available for a cameo. And again, I received some awards. There was little doubt that I would be going to college, and there was even less doubt that filmmaking would be the major. Majoring in telecommunications with a film emphasis at Ball State, I worked on several short films for classes, and networked with students that shared my passion for filmmaking. It didn’t take long for students to figure out that I was very serious about making movies. I was the only one that owned my own equipment. Even though I was ahe