Mark Holland is a London-based director whose work focuses on crime, psychological thrillers, and horror. Before moving into directing, he built a career working in film as a performer, stunt performer, and action specialist, contributing to numerous UK and Hong Kong productions, including large-scale studio features.
This hands-on background gives his directing a distinctive foundation: a deep understanding of performance, physical storytelling, screen violence, and how tension is constructed on set and on screen. His work is shaped less by spectacle and more by realism, atmosphere, and psychological pressure.
As a director, Mark is drawn to stories about people under extreme stress — morally, psychologically, and physically. He is interested in characters pushed into corners, the cost of violence, and the slow build of dread that comes from consequences rather than chaos.
His aim is to create genre films that are grounded, intense, and unsettling — thrillers and horror stories that feel emotionally real, physically authentic, and psychologically resonant.
I’m interested in stories about pressure — what it does to people, what it reveals, and what it breaks.
Because of my background in action and performance, I’m very aware of how violence, threat, and fear actually work on screen. I’m not drawn to stylized spectacle for its own sake — I’m drawn to tension, dread, and consequence.
Crime, psychological thrillers, and horror are the genres that best allow you to explore character through stress. I want my films to feel grounded, uncomfortable, and emotionally honest — stories that stay with you because they feel real.