R.I.P. Producer J. Mark Travis

J. Mark Travis, producer of theatre, film and television and former chief of staff to pastor Dr. Gene Scott of University Cathedral, died at age 61 after a short illness. He passed away Christmas morning at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, where he served in a leadership role or on the Foundation Board for over 20 years.

Travis began his career as an agent representing a number of prominent music composers, including Don Ellis and Jack Nitzsche. His interest in music led him to convert a Mormon Church in Salt Lake City into a state of the art recording studio, where his client Jack Nitzsche recorded the Academy Award winning score for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Travis then segued into film production 1975, teaming up with Bill Sargent and film producer David Permut. Together they video-taped a one-man stage production, Give ‘em Hell Harry!, in front of a live audience. The production starred James Whitmore as President Harry Truman, and when every studio turned it down for distribution they released the film themselves, only three weeks after taping the show. Whitmore went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and the film grossed $11 million on a $100,000 negative cost. The trio then produced the most successful comedy concert in history, Richard Pryor: Live in Concert. Filmed on two consecutive nights, the film was self distributed after studios turned it down. It grossed $32.5 million. Afterwards, Travis went on to stage and film other shows including Sammy Davis, Jr. in Stop The World, I Want To Get Off.

Travis left the business for two decades to become chief of staff for Dr. Gene Scott Pastor of the University Cathedral, the largest Protestant congregation in downtown Los Angeles and one of the first television ministries. Among other things, Travis oversaw the salvaging and restoration of the historic Los Angeles Downtown Library, known for its notable art and architecture. Travis returned in 2008 to team with Permut to develop The Lifeguard, Ronald Reagan and his Story, a one man play to be staged and filmed in front a live audience, the same strategy as on the two previous stage to film hits. First Lady Nancy Reagan attended a workshop of the show at the Geffen Theater in Westwood CA, and referred to the play as a gift.

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