Jack of all trades Mark Duplass will be sharing his extensive knowledge as a producer, director, actor, screenwriter, and author with Santa Clara students as the 2022-23 Sinatra Artist-in-Residence. Duplass made his mark in the film world through his Emmy-winning Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country and openness about his struggles with mental health.
The Sinatra Chair allows performance artists from across the country to collaborate with SCU faculty and inspire students about the different avenues of the arts. Previous Sinatra Chairs like actor BD Wong and musician Rhiannon Giddens had students think critically about the arts by contextualizing their work through real world issues like racism and immigration.
As Sinatra Chair, Duplass will have many valuable lessons to share on his creative process and journey from music to filmmaking. His past speaking engagements and work have focused on finding inspiration as an independent artist and highlighting underrepresented members of his industry. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Duplass and his wife, Katie, founded the Friends & Family Bank, which provides loans to people underrepresented in the business world to help them build generational wealth.