Mark Pontarelli's Dramas

Before vertical drama, Mark Pontarelli made his living on stilts, close to ten feet tall, entertaining crowds for Disney in Paris and Shanghai. He moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, fell into short-form drama through mobile-game ads, and has since stacked up dozens of titles, often the lead. The catch: a performer who loves comedy and keeps lobbying for more of it now anchors family melodramas like Daddy, Don't Let Us Drown! and Don't Hurt My Mommy, She Can't See! That is a lot of neglectful husbands and regretful fathers for a man whose stated on-set mission is making his scene partner break into laughter.