By Brianne Hintze

Scarier than a “boo” and more frightening than walking dead people, Milwaukee movie director Mark Borchardt’s horror films reflect like a mirror on his real life experiences. Inspired by his all-time favorite film, Dawn of the Dead, he delved into filmmaking because the camera became a tool for creating new realities.

Born on the northwest side of Milwaukee, 37-year-old Borchardt came from a party neighborhood where many teens dropped out of school while others just drank. Borchardt gained more from his neighborhood in the late 1970s than expected. He found his creative spark.

“[Milwaukee in the 1970s had] a certain language, a certain interaction so colorful that I know I will never experience that again. Only ghosts and remnants of it from time to time,” Borchardt says.

In 1980, when Borchardt was 14, he bought his first camera from someone in his neighborhood for only $40. It was a “Super Eight camera that didn’t even focus, and I was on my way,” he says.

Right after purchasing the camera, Borchardt made his first film, titled, The More The Scarier. The movie is a three-minute short film edited all in camera, which, to Borchardt’s credit, means no editing at all.

His youth had such an impact on his life that today he draws from his childhood experiences. Borchardt still lives in Milwaukee and has many of the same friends he associated with in his youth.

“It is an interesting thing because that actually dictated my whole outlook on life,” Borchardt says. “I feel that I was blessed to be a part of it back then.”

Borchardt gained notoriety in 1999 with the release of American Movie, directed by Chris Smith, which documented the making of Borchardt’s horror film Coven.

Smith approached Borchardt in 1995 at the UW-Milwaukee after a works-in-progress course he headed. Smith’s American Movie was not planned. The idea for the film just simply happened. “Dude said ‘Hey man, I got some rolls of film left over from my last movie. Mind if I follow you around for a couple weeks?’” Borchardt says. “I said ‘Yeah man, please do follow me around.’ That two weeks turned into two years.”

American Movie won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 1999.

The film also gave Borchardt more notoriety at the same time people were calling him a “success” – a word he did not think applied. Borchardt is quick to say that it is not a documentary about him but rather a documentary he just happened to be in. He does not define his success by money or fame. Borchardt does not see himself as a famous filmmaker. He just considers himself a man who makes films.

“There are two versions of success. The most common is that A) you’re making a lot of money and B) a lot of people know you,” Borchardt says. “Success to me is control of your life, and that control brings happiness and peace of mind. So when people say congratulations on your success, I think ‘You don’t know [anything]. I was just crying in the corner an hour ago.’”

Borchardt makes films his own way, which means setting his own deadlines. Borchardt above all believes in the craft of storytelling. Drawing from his immediate experiences in life, Borchardt makes his movies on his own timeframe and when he feels inspired to create. In a business where movie executives want directors to churn out more movies faster, Borchardt’s creative timeline posed a problem. This problem was easily solved in 1982 and officially around the late 1990s when Borchardt started his production company, Northwestern Productions, in Milwaukee. He only produces his own films. “It, in essence, is me,” Borchardt says.

Owning his production company also gives Borchardt license to create his style of films. Borchardt says he is living his dream, and there is no way he would relinquish any of his creative freedoms.

“I’m at odds with everyone. Most people [make movies] for commercial entertainment,” Borchardt says. “Most people make movies about movies. I have nothing in common with them. I make what I write, what I film. It directly correlates to my life.”

Borchardt’s state of mind connects with his creativity and filmmaking. Factoring in his personal life is part of controlling his own film career.

“I don’t do films in a normal fashion. The progress of making a film directly correlates to my status of my personal affairs,” Borchardt says. “So when I have all these ups and downs, there is no film being shot.”

When creating a film like Borchardt’s upcoming horror film called Scare Me, a full-length color feature with a clip that premiered on MTV’s "The New Tom Green Show," he looks at how to create variations on life. Borchardt’s interest in Orson Welles gave him a sense of creating good camera angles and editing. He also learned there is a lot more to filmmaking than just holding the camera.

“I was exposed to the camera as a character, not camera as a recorder,” Borchardt says. “The camera was a living device. There is a definite difference between cinema and movies. Movies are just stupid entertainment. Just stupid, stupid, stupid. Cinema is motion, it’s intellect, it makes you feel. Listen, it provokes you to be.”

Although Borchardt is known for making horror films, he also believes any film must contain a provoking story and dialogue to connect with people. He cites Dawn of the Dead as a great example.

“It was most effective on me. Not the horror,” Borchardt says. “It was the atmosphere and the sense of romanticism. When I was a teen it was one of the indelible memories ironed into me.”

Borchardt uses these memories of his past to remind him to follow his dreams. For his life he just wants to maintain self-control and peace of mind. His vision for his film career is just as clear.

“There are a few films I want to make that I’ve always wanted to make and that’s it,” Borchardt says. “I don’t have any care about winning a reward. I don’t care about none of that. Do I tell other people about these films? Hell no,” Borchardt says.

Another certainty is Borchardt’s future and film career are in Wisconsin. Borchardt has traveled the world showing and explaining his films, and he always returns home to Wisconsin.

“Right here is where I hope to die in my sleep. This is where I’m living for the rest of my life,” Borchardt says. “I haven’t even skimmed the surface of Milwaukee.”

Perhaps having a production studio in Wisconsin is inconceivable to most Hollywood film producers, but to Borchardt there is no other way. In Wisconsin he finds inspiration in the details of his daily life and the people around him. To find his creative spark, all Borchardt has to do is look around him.

“Films happen every day. Films happen in what people say, what you see and every once in a while something really strikes me and I grasp it and develop it. That’s how films get started.”