Mark Bailey

Mark Daniel Bailey was born on November 21, 1968, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. He was raised in the nearby town of Summit, New Jersey. Bailey completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Vermont, graduating in 1991. He further pursued a master's degree in English at Georgetown University.

In 1997, Bailey relocated to New York City. He began his writing career in 1999. Bailey was married to Rory Kennedy, a filmmaker and the youngest child of former U.S. senator and attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, on August 2, 1999. Their wedding took place at the mansion of Vardis Vardinoyiannis; the event was postponed from its original date following the plane crash of John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Lauren Bessette. Bailey and Kennedy have three children: Georgia Elizabeth Kennedy-Bailey (born September 30, 2002), Bridget Katherine Kennedy-Bailey (born July 4, 2004), and Zachary Corkland Kennedy-Bailey (born July 16, 2007). In 2013, the family moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Los Angeles, California.

Bailey is a film producer and writer, primarily known for documentary films. He owns Moxie Films with his wife. The company produces documentaries for various broadcast and cable networks, including Netflix, HBO, PBS, A&E, National Geographic, Showtime, Discovery Channel, MTV, TLC, Lifetime Television, the Oxygen Network, and the Sundance Channel, as well as for educational foundations and philanthropic organizations.

His notable films include "Last Days in Vietnam" (2014), which reconstructs the final days of the American presence in Vietnam and was nominated for an Academy Award; "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing" (2022), produced and co-written by Bailey, which premiered at Sundance and ranked highly on Netflix; and "The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari" (2022), about the 2019 eruption of Whakaari in New Zealand. He also co-wrote "The Trial of Alec Baldwin" (expected to release in 2025).

Bailey's earlier work includes "American Hollow" (1999), a documentary about an Appalachian family, which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Primetime Emmy; "Pandemic: Facing AIDS" (2003), a five-part series about global AIDS, which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination; and "Ethel" (2012), about Ethel Skakel Kennedy, which received five Primetime Emmy nominations and earned Bailey the Humanitas Prize.

He co-wrote "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" (2007), a documentary about the prisoner abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, which won an Emmy for best nonfiction special. In 2011, Bailey was hired by Marvel Studios to write a script for the "Black Panther" film, though the final screenplay was developed by others, and the film was released in 2018.

Bailey has authored three books illustrated by Edward Hemingway: "Of All the Gin Joints: Stumbling Through Hollywood History" (2014), a collection of anecdotes about Hollywood figures with cocktail recipes; "Hemingway & Bailey's Bartending Guide to Great American Writers" (2006), blending cocktail recipes and literary stories; and "Tiny Pie" (2013), a children's picture book coauthored with Michael Oatman, featuring a recipe contributed by Alice Waters. Additionally, Bailey edited "Nine Irish Lives" (date unspecified), a compilation of stories about Irish Americans impacting U.S. history, and "The Tibetans: A Struggle to Survive" by Steve Lehman.

In 2016, Bailey launched a line of plush toys called Tiny Headed Kingdom, comprising animals and related merchandise.

Bailey's recent projects include the documentary series "The Synanon Fix" (2024) for HBO and "The Trial of Alec Baldwin" (2025). His work has received various awards and nominations, including an Oscar nomination for "Last Days in Vietnam," Emmy nominations for multiple documentaries, and the Humanitas Prize for "Ethel."

External references include his official website and IMDb profile.