Mark Grenside, born and raised in London, began his working career straight out of school at Lloyds of London, specialising in Kidnap, Ransom and Extortion Insurance. At 25 it was time for a career change and to dump the suit and tie, so he started his media career working for Jim Henson and The Muppets©. From that moment on he has been involved in Entertainment and nearly every aspect of it.
He went on to create and produce several television series and mini-series. At the same time, he started a music management company launching million seller artist Neneh Cherry.
In 2004 he arranged the US $250 million buyout of the Hallmark Channel International which was then successfully sold to NBC. He returned to producing a number of movies and mini-series.
He has recently morphed into a serial entrepreneur and is now a co-founder of seed to shelf CBD producer Dragonfly Biosciences (www.dragonflybiosciences.com) and a founder in two separate digital companies.
An unhealthy amount of time and money is lavished on a collection of classic cars that he has raced all over the world. In addition to his passion for cooking, he enjoys risk and has parachuted in New Zealand, scuba-dived in the Pacific, hang-glided in the Himalayas and even tobogganed down the Cresta Run. In nearly every case chasing after his wife who is utterly fearless! He is now writing the follow up to Fall Out, entitled The Bastion. In addition, he writes a humorous blog with subscribers in more than 40 countries. www.andanotherthing.com
He has two grown sons, two daughters-in-law, three grandchildren and lives in Malta with his wife, his classic cars and two French bulldogs.
Mark’s IMDB profile can be found here IMDB
Rugby School Floreat 2021 Magazine – Article
Rugbeians in Arts & Culture: Mark Grenside (SH 70–74)
– Facts About Me That Are Not Fiction –
I played with Sir Winston Churchill in a lift by myself when I was four years old.
I made a record with a band called The Insects when I was 13 years old. It was terrible.
At 25, I was invited to lunch at the classic Hollywood haunt, Chasens in Los Angeles. My host was a well-known producer. As we entered, the Maître D’ came up to my host to say Frank Sinatra was having a birthday lunch and extended an invitation for him and his guest to join his party. My host advised me to be cool and not to fawn or be star-struck. Mr. Sinatra was the epitome of graciousness and introduced himself, his wife Barbara Marx and the long table of famous people. The last person was a bald gentleman who resembled Mr. Magoo. “Last but not least Mark, this is Max Factor.” I lost it. “Max Factor,” I cried out. “There’s a Max Factor?!” Mr. Sinatra turned to my host “Who is this Limey who doesn’t blink at a table full of Hollywood Royalty but freaks out at meeting Max Factor?”
One morning I showed up to work at Jim Henson’s house which doubled as our office and found a man sitting with his feet up on my desk. I assumed he was Jim’s driver and asked him to take his feet off and wait outside. Jim then came into the room and said he was not going to the studio and did not need a driver. ‘The chauffeur’ was actually Steven Spielberg who had come for a meeting. Spielberg had the last laugh though. Six months later while queueing outside Beverly Hills Hotel valet parking, he leaned over to ask if he could give me a lift and should he wear his chauffeur’s hat!
I have scuba-dived since I obtained a licence at 16. My teachers were the crew of Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso during their downtime. Many years later I did a show with him and John Denver in Moscow.
One of my greatest passions is cooking. I love to host dinner parties and be with friends.
I have dual nationality, UK and Swiss, speaking fluent French and some German and Italian. My first TV series, 72 action half-hours called Crossbow, was about the adventures of William Tell and so a nod to my ancestry.
I am allergic to wool!
I have been fortunate enough to visit 119 countries. However, I still want to see Antarctica.