Wondercon - Big Mouth - Mark Rivers Interview

Photo Credit: James Vallesteros

Mark Rivers - An American Treasure!
Mark was born and raised in Atlanta, GA where he spent the majority of his formative years watching sitcom reruns and listening to Rush albums. He took up the drums and, not surprisingly, his early bands all sounded like Georgia teenagers trying to play Canadian prog rock.

Mark learned a thing or two studying music at Georgia State University, then three more things at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, though he spent most of his time there hanging out with his aspiring comedian friends at Emerson College. He even had an Emerson dining hall card.

Somewhere in there Mark dropped out of Berklee to start a band called the Cavedogs which would eventually release several CDs on Capitol Records and tour the country exhaustively. Occasionally the band would team up with their comedian friends and perform music-comedy bits that at the time seemed hilarious, but would now probably be embarrassing. Nonetheless, Mark’s passion for comedy writing was born.

When the band broke up, Mark started a dog walking business!

One day Mark’s old friend David Cross called and hired him to write the theme song for Mr. Show with Bob and David. Sensing new opportunities, Mark saved his dog walking money and moved to Los Angeles where he has spent many years resisting the temptation to start yet another band and to pick up dog shit. Instead, Mark found work writing comedy and composing television music with a particular knack for comedy tunes and theme songs.

Mark has been a staff writer on several shows, including Robert Smigel’s TV Funhouse and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He has also created and produced the pilots Let’s Fish and Krog for Cartoon Network. He has composed music for Mr. Show, Parks and Recreation, Louie CK, Human Giant and lots, lots more.

Geddy Lee would be proud.

Big Mouth is about Teenage friends find their lives upended by the wonders and horrors of puberty.

BIG MOUTH
2018 TV-MA2 Seasons

Teenage friends find their lives upended by the wonders and horrors of puberty in this edgy comedy from real-life pals Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg.
Starring: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein
Genres: TV Shows, TV Comedies, TV Animated Comedies, Adult Animation
Creators: Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett

THE JBN TEAM INTERVIEW WITH MARK RIVERS
JOURNALIST: ERIK WERLIN
LOCATION: WONDERCON, ANAHEIM, CA
WONDERCON ― MARCH 23 - 25TH
INTERVIEW: MARCH 25, 2018

Video/Audio/Edit: James Vallesteros (@jamesvallesteros)

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