Have people ever referred to you as a self-made success?
Not in those exact words but I’ve had a lot of people congratulate me for various accomplishments, which is very humbling, and it’s always a little awkward for me, because that’s not what I do it for. I do what I do because it’s in my soul to entertain, to tell stories, and to engage with an audience. I wouldn’t call myself self-made because I’ve had a lot of support from people that have believed in me and my craft.
What do you think it takes for someone to have success?
I think success is subjective. While I’ve done a lot, I’m not where I want to be. I’m always striving for the next thing, and I don’t know if that will go away. And from looking at peers and my own experience, I think that’s part of the recipe for success. You have to be grateful, but never satisfied. One accomplishment comes in, and the next day, it’s time to start working towards the next one.
At what point do you feel like you really crossed over from trying to doing?
The lines between trying and doing are blurred for me, because it takes effort to do anything. Sorry if that doesn’t answer the question, (laughs) but if I were to give a more straightforward answer, I’d say my firsts have felt like that. My first game show appearance called Skatoony in 2012, my first commercial for Beyblade Burst in 2016, my first true crime show Fear Thy Neighbor in 2016, my first animated show called Fireman Sam in 2018, my first stand up special called Mark Ricci: The Teenage Special on Amazon Prime Video in 2020, my first video to hit 10 million views in 2020.
Your fifth Spider-Man fan film is on the way, how excited are you for audiences to finally see it?
Man, we worked so hard on that film and really put everything on the line because we knew it was our last. Our audience is really going to be blown away by the extra level of production value, and the epic sense of finality. It will be especially satisfying to longterm fans of the series on Six Side Studios to see every loose end tied up.
Follow Mark Ricci on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/moviemanmark/ or subscribe to his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/moviemanmark
