King of Content
Mark DiCristofaro (’06, COM’08,’09) worked on the production of the hit Apple TV+ documentary, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry. Banner photo by Koury Angelo/Getty Images for Apple
Mark DiCristofaro never imagined he’d be stuck in a hotel with rapper Snoop Dogg. But that’s exactly what happened last year when he was in a quarantine bubble while working on the production of TBS’ Go-Big Show, a talent competition series that counts Snoop and Rosario Dawson as judges.
“It was wild to basically be locked in a hotel with people like that for a month, but we did it, and everyone was a really good sport,” he says.
DiCristofaro (’06, COM’08,’09) is the vice president of production at Matador Content, a company that produces unscripted and scripted television, documentaries, films, and digital programming for brands and companies. Before joining Matador in 2013, he held a variety of roles in the industry, including assistant script supervisor on Steven Spielberg’s (Hon.’09) The Adventures of Tintin and assistant to the showrunner on the Fox medical show House. At Matador, he’s worked on the production of shows like Paramount Network’s Lip Sync Battle and Netflix’s The Who Was? Show. He is currently working on the upcoming documentary World War Shoe, produced with soccer star David Beckham, about the family feud behind the Adidas and Puma rivalry, as well as a forthcoming competition series on Discovery+, Who Wants to be an Astronaut, which will send regular people to space.
Collegian spoke with DiCristofaro about breaking into the film industry, climbing the ranks at Matador—where he works for fellow BU alum Leah Gonzalez (COM’95)—and his work on the hit Apple TV+ documentary about the meteoric rise of a teenage pop star, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.
Collegian: Can you tell us a bit more about some of the projects you have been working on recently?
DiCristofaro: A lot of the work that I do now involves what we call “big shiny floor” shows, like Go-Big Show, Disney Fam Jam, or Lip Sync Battle. These are all big stage shows with a shiny floor. I’ve also had the opportunity to work on some rewarding scripted projects, like What Would Diplo Do?, which is on Hulu, and I got a chance to work with [Community creator] Dan Harmon on a scripted series he did called Great Minds with Dan Harmon. The Who Was? Show was a children’s scripted comedy series we did for Netflix, and we were lucky to have received six Daytime Emmy Award nominations for it. It was something we were all really proud of.
One of the things that’s most near and dear to my heart is, while we do some really big stage productions and some very big series, we also get to take on these sort of boutique documentaries. I got to work on and produce a documentary a couple years back called Wig for HBO, which told a really important story about the drag community in New York City. It debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival.
I’m responsible for the physical execution of all of our shows. I work under Leah, who is the executive vice president of production. Being in film and TV production may sound glamorous, but it is not always. Every time we sell a show or a movie or a documentary, I will work to get the show up and running, and I’ll hire a team to put in place. Some shows I’m a lot more involved with than others. I stay very close to a lot of our documentary work, which I just naturally love. My job is really about facilitating a project from its inception to delivery, and making sure everything is done on schedule, on budget, and safely.
Watch the trailer for Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry. Video courtesy Apple TV+
Let’s talk about the Billie Eilish documentary.
All the credit on the film goes to Billie and her family. It’s her story that made this film journey such an incredible one. We were lucky enough to be able to be a part of it and to be able to help support [director] RJ Cutler’s vision to create what I think is a really cool piece of work.
It took a lot of effort to make it feel like there wasn’t a lot of effort put in—it’s that fly on the wall type of documentary work. We started filming with Billie before her first album came out. To be able to watch that arc of an individual is quite impressive. On one hand, this is the story of a superstar in the making, but that superstar is a teenage girl who is growing up and becoming a woman. That’s a really delicate sort of balance to strike in telling her story, and we had a responsibility to make sure that she was portrayed in a way that was authentic. I think we did that. I hope people agree.
“On one hand, this is the story of a superstar in the making, but that superstar is a teenage girl who is growing up and becoming a woman. That’s a really delicate sort of balance to strike in telling her story, and we had a responsibility to make sure that she was portrayed in a way that was authentic. I think we did that. I hope people agree.”
Matador takes on projects that run the gamut, from documentaries, to TV series, to digital projects for brands and companies.
One thing I like about Matador is that while we’ve become this large company and we work on some major projects, we also work on some cool, boutique things. We did some work with American Ballet Theatre this past year, for example. That’s what also makes it interesting. It’s nice that we’re able to work with some smaller organizations to help them get their messages out there. And in some cases, we’ll also come on board films that may have been started but that haven’t been able to be finished. We provide the support and the resources to help finish telling these stories. Sometimes these are first-time filmmakers and they just don’t have the know-how, and we’re able to provide that.
How did COVID impact your work?
It’s been a wild year. It’s a weird thing to talk about overcoming the challenges of COVID when there’s been so many deaths from the virus in the US and around the world, and it’s such a sad, horrible thing. Our COVID protocols on our productions were very intense, and I’m happy to say that we’ve been able to go this entire time without people getting sick, without massive shutdowns, which I think is a huge accomplishment for us as a company and really a tribute to the dedication of our team.
We shot the Go-Big Show in Georgia last year, and we were one of the first big shiny stage shows back in production. We took over an entire arena, a convention center, a hotel, and created a bubble for the crew. But, it’s a competition show, so there were more than 40 contestants, including backups, that we had coming through too. Those contestants had helpers and assistants. Some of them had animals involved in their acts, and we had to keep the animals somewhere safe. And it was a matter of how do we maintain that safety level while having all these moving parts? Before, if we needed to hire a pyrotechnics person to come in for a very specific pyrotechnics thing, then we just hired them and they came in. In this case, you have to hire them, bring them in, test them, and then they have to be in quarantine for four days. Then, if they get through quarantine COVID-free, they are in the bubble and they can work. That’s how it was for every new person we brought on board.
How have things changed from when you first started in the industry? There are a lot more streaming services now, for instance.
There are just way more buyers out there. Matador is a content studio, and we produce content, happily, for anyone, whether it’s a cable network, a broadcast network, or a streamer or digital service. So, honestly, it means we’re busier than ever. We know the next couple of years are going to be incredibly busy, and that’s exciting. I’m up for the challenge as we try to scale our studio.
The other thing that our industry is tackling is building diversity—and every day it’s a question of how can we do more, how can we do better? I know it’s something that a lot of industries are grappling with, but we have this responsibility as content producers to have diverse crews and produce diverse content. I don’t mean to sound so PR-y here, but I am truly proud to be working with a company like Matador, and our parent company, Boat Rocker, who are committed to creating diverse content and engaging in diverse hiring, and who put their money where their mouth is. This is an important focus for our industry right now. We have a long, long way to go, but it’s good that we’re asking how we can do better every day.
What was it like establishing yourself in the film industry?
After I walked at Commencement in May 2008, I actually did an extra semester in the BU Los Angeles program that fall. That was a really critical stepping-stone for me. It was basically navigating LA and the industry, but on training wheels. We were still living in the dorms, but we had internships during the day. We would take classes in the evening with industry professionals.
I was an intern at a production company called Strike Entertainment, where I did script coverage. During that time, I actually planted the seeds for one of my first gigs. I worked in the same building as the mail room for the office for Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. I was a big fan of that show, and I remember talking to the guy in the mail room once, and he said that he could introduce me to someone who worked in Larry David’s office. She apparently was from Boston, so we had that connection. He introduced us, and we just kind of kept in touch over the next year. Almost a year to the day after I first met her, she referred me to one of my first jobs in LA, where I was the assistant to the showrunner and director on The League, which was a show on FX.
That extra semester really helped me to solidify a network out here, which was so important because it felt like there was a BU safety net. We weren’t just moving out here on our own. There was a big community out here, and that was really important.
What advice would you give to current students who are thinking of pursuing a career in film production?
To do it. I think the first biggest roadblock can be your own self. Since I’ve graduated from BU, I’ve recommended to a lot of people to make the jump. It’s easy to get caught in the “someday” or “maybe” thing, like, “When I save X amount, then I’ll move to LA.” I really recommend just making the jump. There’s never been a better time to get into the industry. There’s so much work. It’s important to have the mindset that it’s going to work out. Get into that committed mindset. BU students have a fantastic network out here. You aren’t out here on your own.