Our company founder, television director Mark Mardoyan, started M & M television back in 1984 with his wife Chris. Thirty-three years later, in 2017, they started Multicam Specialists.
From the age of 10, Mark always took interest in his father’s 8mm film camera. He would watch the world through its viewfinder and film SFX shots, creating his own short movies. In 1983, he found him self as a store manager for an electronic store, where he would take the cameras from display and shoot videos with them. Soon after, customers hired him to shoot music videos and television commercials for them.
Mardoyan had his first chance at directing in 1984. Using a multi-camera unit, he shot a concert at a venue that was known back then as The Hollywood Palace. Using three Ikegami HL-79s, he captured the concert while telling a great story.
From there, his career as a multi cam director started.
Almost weekly, there was a band or a musician that would ask Mardoyan to tape their live concert. Soon after, he realized how much money was being spent on renting production trucks and fly-packs for each project. In order to save money, with the help and approval of his wife Chris, they decided to build and purchase their own equipment and that was the beginning of M & M Television as multi cam system provider.
Currently Mark and Chris, the perfect yin-yang couple, continue to manage M & M Television and Multicam Specialists. For every project, they meticulously go through each and every component of the system required for each show, cleaning, organizing and packing the truck for delivery.
“It’s a 34-year tradition that sets us apart from other rental houses. Nobody can take care of your gear and clients like you can,” said Mardoyan.
“In our business, almost anyone can buy gear and put it up for rental and start a business, but it’s not only about great equipment and inventory. First, it’s about how to take good care of the gear so it doesn’t create issues on a show. Second, have the knowledge to know what to offer your clients in order to get the most value for their budget. Third, look out for your clients, making sure they have all the right tools to accomplish their goals. Sometimes they are misinformed about what lens or camera they should get from you, so a good part of what we do is take time with our clients and explain the differences to them.
“And finally, our crew, our team, we surround our selves with some of the most experienced engineers, technicians, and camera operators. After all, it’s their hard work that makes us all look good and keep our clients coming back time after time.”