A man with short dark hair and a beard, wearing a dark purple button-up shirt, standing indoors with light-colored curtains behind him.

Mark A. Williams is a writer-director and retired U.S. Army Major who served 23 years as a combat engineer before turning to filmmaking. Based in Sumter, South Carolina, he founded MAWilliams Films, a disabled veteran-owned production company focused on independent features with strong visual storytelling and practical effects.

Williams's feature debut, Mary's Lake (2025), is a supernatural camp slasher inspired by the classic tradition of Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13th. The film has earned seven festival awards to date, helping establish his voice as a filmmaker who blends character-driven emotion with crowd-pleasing genre craft. His influences include John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, and Tom Savini, and his work favors an '80s-era tactile aesthetic updated with modern pacing.

Committed to his community and to mentoring new artists, Williams collaborates with local theaters and regional crews to build sustainable, South Carolina-based productions. Upcoming projects include the WWII psychological thriller Wolf: 1945, the funeral-home chiller Open Casket, and Mary's Lake 2. He lives in Sumter with his wife, Lindsay, and their two children.

A graphic logo for Mark A Films Williams featuring a blood-stained director's clapboard and stylized text.

MAWilliams Films is an independent, veteran-owned production company dedicated to bold, character-driven stories told with grit, heart, and cinematic craft. Founded in Sumter, South Carolina, the studio creates films that balance crowd-pleasing genre entertainment with strong visual storytelling and practical effects.

The company’s mission is twofold:

  • Create memorable, independent cinema that embraces retro inspiration while pushing modern storytelling forward.

  • Build community and opportunity by partnering with local talent, theaters, and businesses to foster a sustainable South Carolina film industry.

From supernatural slashers to psychological thrillers, MAWilliams Films is committed to making movies outside the Hollywood system—where resilience, vision, and collaboration turn challenges into cinema.

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Tenebris Pascua Podcast
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WIS 10
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