[ep 079] Marko Roth on the humanity of filmmaking & storytelling

Commercial & documentary filmmaker Marko Roth has the soul of a storyteller—there’s a depth of heart he brings to every conversation, and that depth shows itself in his canon of work. His short film Masque-19, a devastating story reflecting the increase in domestic abuse cases during the pandemic, was shortlisted at YDA Cannes Lions and won for Best International Short at the Sedona International Film Festival. He is also one-third of experimental audio visual group Touring, which will be doing its first installation at a major museum in Munich this coming summer. Born and raised in the suburbs of Frankfurt (where he still is today), Marko was a quiet and shy child who had many passions: all the sports, diving, and James Bond movies. His father was an engineer who frequently traveled, and his mother was a pharmacist—they met at 15-years-old and are still married to this day. Preparing him and his brother for the world was something his father took seriously, and instilling an entrepreneurial sense in them was what his mother taught them young. He first discovered filmmaking at 16-years-old, while on a high school exchange in Montreal. Buying his first camera once back in Germany, he began freelancing for a local radio station and the nightlife scene, before taking on an internship at a commercial film company in Hamburg where he learned the technical, while working on projects with Google, NGOs, and more. Freelance, though, called him back. In his early 20s, he was hired by a German travel agency to document his adventures around the world, from South Africa and Nepal to Greece and Morocco. Marko is now in the next phase of his creative path, with both his filmmaking and his foray into music with Touring. In this conversation, we explore growing up with career-driven parents; the different expressions of love in a family; how to stay humane in the commercial filmmaking industry grind; his creative process and blending the commercial & documentary worlds in his film style; the three years he spent traveling the world and what he learned for himself; how his new project Touring blends music and storytelling; advice for budding film directors; what he’s most proud of about his own journey; and much more.