Up and Coming Podcast

A great celebrity portrait can look like access and luck. For photographer Mark Mann, the real work happens long before the shutter clicks.

In this episode of Up & Coming, host Bob Cagnilia sits down with Mark, who has photographed everyone from major actors to world leaders. Even with that résumé, Mark doesn’t treat it as a finish line. In his view, the moment you think you’ve mastered photography is the moment you stop seeing what’s possible.

Mark traces his path from growing up in Scotland to studying photography in Manchester, then returning to Glasgow to hustle for work. A trip to New York City that was supposed to be a short visit ended up changing everything. He talks about what it takes to break into portrait photography, how reputation spreads through real relationships, and why helping people relax in front of the camera is a skill you practice like any other. He also shares an exercise from a Leica workshop that teaches you to keep a real conversation going while the camera slowly becomes part of the room.

The conversation then turns to motion work and why moving from stills to video can feel like learning a new language. Mark explains what he loves about the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, why simplicity matters on set, and why light, composition, and taste matter more than a long list of features. He also opens up about ego, professionalism, the advice he’d give his 25-year-old self, and the day he let his ten-year-old take the shot.

Whether you’re a photographer thinking about moving into video, an artist trying to build a reputation, or someone still learning your craft years in, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who shoots, and leave a review so more filmmakers can find the show.

Up & Coming is sponsored by Blackmagic Design. Learn more at blackmagicdesign.com.

Presented by League of Filmmakers
Website: www.leagueoffilmmakers.com
Instagram: @leagueoffilmmakers

“If you can do something else and be happy, you probably should because this business will just tear you apart.”

In the first episode of Up & Coming, host Bob Cagnilia sits down with actor James Sutorius, a friend, former next-door neighbor, and golf partner of more than 30 years, to trace a career that spans Broadway, regional theater, and decades of TV.

James shares the unlikely break that kept him from ever bartending or driving a cab in New York: a last-minute voiceover audition for Ragu that turned into a 15-year run as the voice behind “Ragu spaghetti sauce, that’s Italian.” That steady gig gave him the freedom to chase what he loved most, from playing Laertes opposite Sam Waterston’s Hamlet at Lincoln Center to taking on Hamlet himself at the Cleveland Playhouse and Indiana Rep.

He also looks back on landing his own CBS series, The Andros Targets, after network executives came to see him Off-Broadway in David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and how the show lost its spot to Lou Grant. The conversation then moves through guest roles on Family Ties, Tour of Duty, Columbo, L.A. Law, and Ally McBeal, and the one-man show a college roommate wrote for him, My Life with Will: An Evening with William Shakespeare and James Sutorius.

Bob and James also talk about why even successful performers never quite feel like they’ve made it, and the joy of returning to great roles like Danforth in The Crucible years later. James closes with advice for anyone in the business: train, read plays out loud at home, and above all, keep the discipline.

Whether you’re an actor building toward steady work, a filmmaker curious about how careers really unfold, or someone wondering if you’ve “made it” yet, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend in the industry, and leave a review so more filmmakers can find the show.

Up & Coming is sponsored by Blackmagic Design. Learn more at blackmagicdesign.com.

Presented by League of Filmmakers
Website: www.leagueoffilmmakers.com
Instagram: @leagueoffilmmakers