Welcome to Cassava Films, an independent film production company run by Mark Tapio Kines in Los Angeles, California.
Please also check out Mark's latest non-film project L.A. Street Names, about the origins of street names throughout Los Angeles County.
At the Academy Museum in front of a North by Northwest backdrop, June 2023
Development Updates
Closing Up Shop
To whom it may concern: As of June 2023, I have decided to stop updating this website. After finishing my last short Words to Live by four years ago, I just haven't felt inspired to make any new films. I don't find the process or the results rewarding anymore. And as far as this site goes, the List of 9 has… read more!
Beau Is Afraid
Movie Reviews
21st century abs in an 1880s drama
The List of 9
Nine Things That Will Take Me Out of a Movie Or TV Show
The suspension of disbelief is imperative when watching (or reading, or listening to) a work of fiction. This is how we can accept a fantasy about giant blue aliens in outer space but get irked when there's a plot hole. Even though I've directed films and thus I know how the sausage is made, I can still easily lose myself… read more!
Browse through over 400 Lists of 9 here!
Words to Live by
The Films
Words to Live by
A young woman heading out to a bar encounters a young man who asks her to talk him out of committing suicide. Starring Angie Kim, Armando Torres, Leandro Cano, Tricia Fukuhara, Ruby Park, Merrick McCartha, Cathy D. Tomlin, William Christian, Stacy Arnell. Producer: Jane Petrov. Director of Photography: Andie Ximenes. Editor: Cheryl Campsmith. Costume Designer: Stephen Boyd-Morales. Music: Hatem Elgenedy. Casting: Michael LaPolla.
… read more!