About Us

Dark Landings is a group effort, and —

For the record, Dark Landings – the Short is our first production.

We are fortunate to have Director Sandra Scragg, producer Bry Troyer, mentor and consultant Wally Lane, and many more on board for this project.

Bry and Wally are essential team members, but Sandra managed to keep track of Mark’s new episodes, ideas, and constant “tweaks” and re-writes while they were preoccupied with other projects, some of which won awards. Sandra envisioned Bry Troyer as our producer before bringing in our fearless social media coordinator and production intern, Ayla Carda. Mark can only claim credit for Wally’s involvement.

So kudos to Sandra Scragg—actor, casting agent, and Director.

Ayla Carda, Sandra Scragg, and Mark Sawyer During a Zoom Meeting

Director - Sandra Scragg

Sandra, who was born in South Africa and traveled abroad with her diplomat parents, now resides in the stunning Pacific Northwest with her spouse, two children, and cherished golden retriever. She speaks seven languages and has a BA degree in modern languages specializing in French literature.

Background and Career

At age 6, Sandra began performing on stage and continued well throughout her formative years. Sandra resumed her career in theater, began teaching drama, and developed into an award-winning competition coach after retiring from a lucrative profession as the operations manager of a significant cruise line hotel to spend more time with her kids. She fell in love with casting during this period.

Ten years later, Sandra began her acting career in film, and today she has over 35 movies, commercials, industrials, TV shows, and new media projects to her credit. She also started working as a casting associate with Nike Imoru, CSA. Now, she owns a casting company and enjoys assisting indie and emerging filmmakers in elevating their works with effective casting.

Casting Experience

Casting is an essential and crucial part of the creative process of producing a film. When you nail your casting, your project is 50% there in terms of talent, making the director’s job even easier. Casting is mainly instinctive, and Sandra gets very excited when she recognizes the ideal candidate’s magic for a specific role because that is what it is—pure magic.

Director

Dark Landings – the Short was Sandra’s first as the Director of a fully-funded professional production. Part of her success in this was due to her wide experience in many aspects of film-making and with stage productions. We look forward to the great things that will flow when she has the full series to work with.

The Sacred Mountain Arunachala in Southern India—A Favorite Destination of Mark

Screenwriter & Series Creator - F. Mark Sawyer.

Mark Sawyer got into screen-writing because Wally Lane saw something in some of his books. Now his screenplays are winning awards and Dark Landings – The Short has been made. All this brings big smiles indeed.

Career

Along with his screenwriting, Mark has produced and directed promotional and educational videos for Buddhist Temples, children’s schools and orphanages, and Ajatananda Ashram in Rishikesh, Northern India.
In 2011, Mark attended Darin Scott’s professional film director’s course. “It was excellent. I’d recommend it to anyone just getting into filmmaking,” he said.

Mark said, “My years as a military policeman and studying martial arts have really helped me in creating realistic and exciting law enforcement and fight scenes in Dark Landings and my other screenplays. Having an ex-pro boxer like Wally Lane looking over my shoulder hasn’t hurt, either.”

Traveling Experience

Mark has lived in and traveled through most of western Europe and to much of Asia, including years in Japan and South Korea, and many long visits to Thailand, Bali in Indonesia, and to “always fascinating” India. The writer and producer has also visited “Hemingway country” in Africa, aboriginal Australia, and has spent winters in Alaska and Norway.

Ironically, Spain and Mexico are where he has come closest to Argentina thus far. But if Dark Landings: The Episodic is picked up after the short film receives positive reviews, a journey to Buenos Aires to capture b-footage for the episodic, to really meet the “Grandmothers,” and to conduct additional research would very much be in order.

Education

Mark holds majors, minors, and certificates in History, English, mid-level Math, and Technical Communications, in addition to an MBA and a graduate degree in Education focused on Writing and Editing. He comments, “All of my history studies, in school and out, have been hugely important in getting my screenplays ‘right.’”

Mark adds, “I’m only F. Mark Sawyer here because if you type in Mark Sawyer, what happens? Often Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer pop up for pages before you find me! So, to help myself be found, I moved my middle initial to the front.”