Mark Elijah Rosenberg

Mark Elijah Rosenberg is the Founder and Artistic Director of Rooftop Films. Born and raised in New York City, Mark received his BA in Film Studies at Vassar College before returning to the City to translate his study of film into an artistic and curatorial career. In nine years, Mark has built Rooftop Films from an idea into a growing organization with a general operating budget of $150,000, a professional artistic staff of three, eight additional staff members, two interns, and dozens of volunteers.

As Artistic Director of Rooftop Films, Mark has brought over 1,000 films by more than 900 filmmakers to over 13,000 audience members. He has supported nearly fifty new and emerging filmmakers through the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund and Production Collective that he established. And he has forged collaborations with more than 20 film festivals, schools, and social service organizations throughout New York’s five boroughs and across the country, including Sista II Sista, Automotive High School, the Van Alen Institute, and Electronic Arts Intermix. Mark has published several articles on filmmaking and short films, including "How to Make a Film in Seven Days" and "How Long is a Short Film" in publications such as A Companion Guide to Rooftop Films magazine, The Zine Yearbook, and the Ms. Films DIY Guide. Mark has lectured on topics ranging from narrative devices in experimental films to the logistics of running a film festival, at places such as the Allied Media Conference, the Grassroots Media Conference, Univesity of Texas, Austin, Collegiate School. Skidmore College and Vassar College. Mark recently served on the Brooklyn Arts Council Grants panel for film and media. Mark serves on the Artists Advisory Panel for Fractured Atlas, a 501c3 Arts Service Organization.

An independent filmmaker in his own right, Mark has shot, directed, and edited over twenty films, including Heartbreaker, a reclaimed-footage music video; Unhappiness, a romantic, black comedy ghost story; I Nightly to Nothingness do Sing, an experimental travel narrative; The Man who Shouted Teresa, a modern-day, Manhattan-based adaptation of Italo Calvino’s short story of the same title; and Hide Your Kids While the Dogs Run Wild, a "home movie" about a puppy and a bag of chips. Mark recently completed work as a producer-editor on the WNYE television show IMNY, where he taught video production to New York City public school students and supervised production on twenty episodes. He is currently editing a feature documentary titled Gary and The Romans, about one man's struggle to self-finance an epic Roman gladiator film. His work has been screened as part of film festivals nationally and internationally.

Mark is also the coach and starting second baseman for the New York Giants of the Tri-Borough Baseball league, and the proud father of a dog named Rizzo.