McCorkle, Mark

PERSONAL:

Married; has children.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Danny Greenberg, William Morris Agency, 1 William Morris Pl., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

CAREER:

Writer, producer. Story editor for television series, including Bonkers, Disney, 1993—; Aladdin, Disney, 1994-95; and Think for Themselves, American Broadcasting Company (ABC), 1997—. Story editor and executive segment producer of "Find Out Why," One Saturday Morning, ABC, 1997-98; executive story producer and editor of Hercules, Disney, 1998-99; executive producer of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, United Paramount Network (UPN), 2000-01, ABC, 2001; creator, executive producer, and story editor of Kim Possible, Disney, 2002-04; character creator for Lilo and Stitch: The Series, Disney, 2003.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS FOR YOUNG ADULTS

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Jasmine Jones, Downhill, Disney Press/Volo (New York, NY), 2003.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Rich Mintzer, The Kim Possible Files, Disney Press/Volo (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Bob Schooley) Kim Possible Cine-Manga, Volumes 1-7, TokyoPop (Los Angeles, CA), 2003-2004.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Marc Cerasini, Monkey Business, Disney Press/Volo (New York, NY), 2004.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Scott Ciencin, Tweeb Trouble, Disney Press/Volo (New York, NY), 2004.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Jasmine Jones, Royal Pain, Disney Press/Volo (New York, NY), 2004.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Scott Ciencin, Game On!, Disney Press/Volo (New York, NY), 2005.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Acton Figueroa, So Not the Drama, Disney Press (New York, NY), 2005.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Jacqueline Ching, Cloned, Disney Press/Volo (New York, NY), 2005.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Scott Ciencin, Masters of Mayhem, Disney Press (New York, NY), 2005.

(Series creator, with Bob Schooley) Marc Cerasini, Grudge Match, Disney Press (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Bob Schooley) Liar of Kudzu, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2007.

TELEPLAYS; WITH BOB SCHOOLEY

The Super Mario Brothers Super Show!, syndicated, 1989.

"20,000 Leaks under the City," Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, syndicated, 1989.

"Partners in Slime," "Busters in Toyland," The Real Ghostbusters, ABC, 1989-1990.

(With Mike Medlock) Swamp Thing: The Animated Series, Fox, 1991.

New Kids on the Block Christmas Special (animated), ABC, 1990.

"Slightly Dinghy," Goof Troop, USA Network, 1992.

Great Minds Think for Themselves, ABC, 1997.

(And creator and executive producer) "Crush," "Tick-Tick-Tick," "Bueno Nacho," "Ron the Man," "Low Budget," "Queen Bebe," "Ron Millionaire," "Rappin' Drakken," "Gorilla Fist," "The Cupid Effect," "Mathter and Fervent," Kim Possible, Disney, 2002-2007.

SCREENPLAYS; WITH BOB SCHOOLEY

(Story) The Return of Jafar, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 1994.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Walt Disney Home Video/Buena Vista Home Video, 1996.

(Additional material) The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Walt Disney Home Video/Buena Vista Home Video, 1998.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2000.

Kim Possible: The Secret Files, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2003.

(And creator, executive producer, and story editor) Kim Possible: So the Drama, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2005.

TELEPLAYS; WITH OTHERS

(Story editor) "Garden of Evil," "Much Abu about Something," "Forget Me Lots," "Lost and Founded," "Moonlight Madness," "Rain of Terror," "That Stinking Feeling," "Caught by the Tale," "Elemental, My Dear Jasmine," "The Game," "Snowman Is an Island," "The Animal Kingdom," "The Sands of Fate," "The Citadel," "The Secret of Dagger Rock," "In the Heat of the Fright," "The Wind Jackals of Mozenrath," "Shadow of a Doubt," "Smells Like Trouble," "The Way We War," "Opposites Detract," "Shark Treatment," "A Sultan Worth His Salt," "Love at First Sprite," "The Lost City of the Sun," "Seems Like Old Crimes: Part 1," "Seems Like Old Crimes: Part 2;" Aladdin, Disney, 1994.

Sky High, Buena Vista, 2005.

Also story editor for the animated series Bonkers, Disney, 1993—; Think for Themselves, ABC, 1997—; "Find Out Why," One Saturday Morning, ABC, 1997-98; and Hercules, Disney, 1998-99. Some sources note that McCorkle worked on the screenplays for Big Sir, New Line Cinema; Enchanted, Buena Vista; and Hip Hop Nanny, Buena Vista.

SIDELIGHTS:

Mark McCorkle is a writer and producer for both film and television. He most often works with his partner, Bob Schooley, and together the team has written for and created a number of series for television, with a particular focus on programming for younger viewers that is often animated. They started working for the Walt Disney Company, where their initial projects were for shows spun off of existing animated films—either theatrical releases or made-for-television productions—and wrote episodes and specials for projects such as Bonkers, Aladdin, Hercules, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Real Ghost Busters. Interested in writing something original, McCorkle and Schooley took advantage of the fact that their division was looking to do just that—produce a brand new original series that was not based on a previous Disney project or any other source material. They came up with the idea of a teenage secret agent called Kim Possible. Kim, as her last name suggests, can do absolutely anything. As a sort of opposite character for Kim to have as a side kick, McCorkle and Schooley came up with Ron Stoppable, who is also appropriately named. Ron is Kim's best friend in the series, and as the show progresses there is a hint of relationship potential for the characters as well. The show concept was popular with the executives and soon the new animated series was in production. In an interview with Jay Allen for the Parent Dish Web site, McCorkle explained: "It just snowballed from there. We got very lucky."

"Kim Possible" became a popular, well-rated television series for the Disney Channel, and McCorkle and Schooley were called upon to sketch out, write, and produce season after season. In addition, spin off material has appeared in relation to the show, including novelizations of some of Kim's adventures—mostly written by other authors, but based on the characters and situations that McCorkle and Schooley created—and full-length feature films, such as Kim Possible: So the Drama.

Although the series is aimed at younger viewers, McCorkle and Schooley became aware that they also had their share of older fans as well. When asked by Jay Allen about how they handle the mixed viewership, McCorkle remarked: "We don't put in a lot of adult references. Instead, we try to do a sitcom-style dialogue rhythm—the fast-paced, witty speaking that adults respond to. As a result, our scripts are about five pages longer than most scripts coming out of the studio."

McCorkle and Schooley have also branched out into writing original novels for younger readers. Liar of Kudzu, which was published in 2007, tells the story of Pete Larson, whose nickname is Liar, and how he reacts when the striking young Justine moves to town and he immediately falls for her hard. Pete is anxious to impress Justine, and it looks like he just may have an opportunity to do that when a spaceship crashes in the nearby woods. Pete, Justine, and Pete's friend Bobby Ray Dobbs—the class science geek—go to check out the wreckage. Unfortunately, the government is on top of things and swiftly clears away any sign that the spacecraft was ever there. Or almost every sign. The kids find a mysterious CD that was overlooked. When it turns out to hold newspaper articles about events yet to happen, it starts to look like they may be able to change to future by preventing various tragedies. Except that Pete is nicknamed Liar for a reason, and soon learns there are disadvantages to having cried wolf in the past. Carol Schene, reviewing the book for School Library Journal, remarked that "while the plot elements certainly challenge the characters and create some tension, the suspense is not always sustained."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Boys' Life, August, 2007, "Read All about It: There's Still Time to Get in Some Summer Reading," p. 7.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 2007, April Spisak, review of Liar of Kudzu, p. 384.

New York Times, June 7, 2002, "A Superhero as Retro as She's Cool," p. 27.

School Library Journal, May, 2007, Carol Schene, review of Liar of Kudzu, p. 142.

ONLINE

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (March 20, 2008), author profile.

Parent Dish,http://www.parentdish.com/ (January 13, 2006), Jay Allen, "Kim Possible's Creators Speak: An Interview with Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley."