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.
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.
