born in chicago, illinois, mark romanek has directed numerous award winning music-videos for such diverse artists as: fiona apple, audioslave, beck, david bowie, johnny cash, coldplay, eels, macy gray, janet jackson, michael jackson, mick jagger, jay-z, lenny kravitz, madonna, nine inch nails, no doubt, iggy pop, red hot chili peppers, r.e.m., linkin park, keith richards, and sonic youth.

romanek’s music videos have received numerous awards, including over twenty mtv awards, three grammys, a country music association award, and three billboard music awards. two of romanek’s music videos have become part of the permanent collection of new york's museum of modern art.

in 1997, mtv presented him with its video vanguard award for his overall contribution to the medium. it was the first time this award was presented to a filmmaker. (previous recipients have included michael jackson, madonna, peter gabriel, david bowie, and david byrne.)

mark has also directed many tv spots for such clients as: apple, nike, calvin klein, american express, espn, saturn, acura, and cirque du soleil.

more recently, mark directed the feature film, one hour photo, from his own screenplay. the film stars robin williams, connie nielsen, michael vartan, and eriq lasalle. one hour photo had its world premiere (out of competition) at the 2002 sundance film festival. the film received the prix du public, prix premiere, and the prix du jury awards at the 2002 deauville festival of american film.

romanek is currently developing several feature film projects, most notably a cold case, which will be based on the non-fiction best seller by new yorker magazine journalist philip gourevitch. the film is to star tom hanks, and will be produced by universal pictures and playtone productions.