Mark Brodie, MA ’00
Photo by Derek Palmer, MA ’20
mark brodie, ma ’00, executive-in-residence in Communication Studies, is a digital media, marketing, and technology expert whose extensive experience spans the globe. A member of the Emerson faculty since 2018, some of his current projects include the SmartPhone StoryFest, Rediscover Rosarito Film Festival, and Center for Nonprofit Communications.
1.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Sitting by the firepit sharing stories with family and friends.
2.
If you could study any field aside from your own, what would it be?
International relations.
3.
Whom do you most admire?
The late journalist Ernie Pyle.
4.
What are three adjectives you’d use to describe Emerson?
Creative, innovative, bold.
5.
Where is your favorite spot at Emerson?
8th floor Walker Cafe—the home to Comm Studies.
6.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
People don’t remember what you said; they remember how you made them feel.
7.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Vanquishing generations of bad male parenting.
8.
What is your greatest regret?
Not coming into academia earlier in my career.
9.
Who are your favorite writers?
Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Stephen Ambrose.
10.
What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the last year?
The Penguin Lessons.
11.
If you could have dinner with one person—alive or dead—who would it be?
Photographer Robert Capa.
12.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Freezing time.
13.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee.
14.
Beach or mountains?
Mountains.
15.
Broadway or Hollywood?
Hollywood.
16.
If you could spend 48 hours in any city around the globe, where would you go?
Gothic Quarter, Barcelona.
17.
What song are you most embarrassed to love?
“Show Goes On” by Taylor Goyette.
18.
You’re stranded on an island. What three possessions would you not be able to live without?
It all depends on the type of island. But if we’re talking deserted tropical island, then:
A drone to get epic aerial establishing shots—during golden hour, of course.
My trusty old Sony A7 III, so that this ordeal looks more cinematic than Cast Away and becomes an award-winning documentary.
A solar-powered projector to host the island’s first film festival for the crabs and seagulls.
19.
What is your motto?
Carpe diem.
20.
What’s the best thing about Emerson?
The best thing about Emerson is that we live our values and embody our motto, “Expression Necessary to Evolution.”