Mark Piznarski obit

Mark Piznarski, Director of Milestone ‘Gossip Girl’ Episodes, Dies at 71

As a teen-drama specialist, he helmed the pilot of that series and the ones for ‘Veronica Mars,’ ‘Everwood’ and ‘Relativity.’ He worked on ‘My So-Called Life’ as well.

 He was not on the list.

Mark Piznarski, the much sought-after pilot director who helmed the first episodes of series including Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars and Everwood, has died. He was 71.

Piznarski’s name was listed in an “In Memoriam” section in the latest DGA Monthly issue, and a spokesperson for the guild said that he died April 4. The Hollywood Reporter reached out to his daughter, Lauren, who said the family did not want to participate in an obituary.

A teen-drama specialist who started out on My So-Called Life, Piznarski helmed 14 episodes of The CW’s Gossip Girl across all six of its seasons, including the 2007 pilot; the shocking 100th episode, “G.G.,” which premiered during season five in January 2012; and the series finale, “New York, I Love You XOXO,” which bowed in December 2012.

In 2004, he directed the first two installments of the Kristin Bell-starring Veronica Mars, created by Rob Thomas for UPN, and Christopher Lowell’s character on the show, Stosh “Piz” Piznarski, is named for him.

He also helmed the pilots of ABC’s Relativity in 1996; the WB’s Everwood in 2002; Fox’s Still Life in 2003; USA’s In Plain Sight and The CW spinoff 90210 (developed by Thomas) in 2008; and ABC Family’s The Lying Game in 2011.

For the big screen, he called the shots on the romantic drama Here on Earth (2000), starring Chris Klein, Leelee Sobieski and Josh Hartnett, and the coming-of-age tale Looking for Sunday (2006), starring Michael Weston and Katharine Towne (he co-wrote that as well).

Born on July 7, 1954, Piznarski attended Downers Grove South High School in Illinois and the University of Northern Colorado, then spent a couple years at Columbia College in Chicago, which helped him land an assistant-director gig on Edward Zwick’s About Last Night (1986), filmed in the Windy City.

In 1994, he made it to network television by helming four episodes of the only season of ABC’s acclaimed My So-Called Life, executive produced by Zwick for his Bedford Falls Co. Up next, he directed and executive produced on the only season of Relativity, created by Jason Katims.

Piznarski guided six episodes of ABC’s NYPD Blue from 1995-2003 and five installments of NBC’s American Dreams from 2003-05 and worked with Katims again on NBC’s Friday Night Lights in 2006 and CBS’ Pure Genius in 2016.

Piznarski also helmed the 1999 NBC miniseries The 60s; telefilms including 2010’s Sundays at Tiffany’s, starring Alyssa Milano; and episodes of Once and Again, Crisis, Madam Secretary, the Thomas-created iZombie and, for his last credit, Riverdale in 2018.

Survivors include his son, Michael.

Director

Riverdale (2017)

Riverdale

6.4

TV Series

Directordirected by

2017–2018

2 episodes

 

Rose McIver in iZombie (2015)

iZombie

7.8

TV Series

Director

2016–2017

2 episodes

 

Juan Diego Botto and Michelle Dockery in Good Behavior (2016)

Good Behavior

8.0

TV Series

Director

2016

2 episodes

 

Augustus Prew in Pure Genius (2016)

Pure Genius

7.2

TV Series

Director

2016

1 episode

 

Mark Povinelli in Mad Dogs (2015)

Mad Dogs

7.5

TV Series

Director

2016

1 episode

 

Octavia Spencer, Dave Annable, Charlie Rowe, Ciara Bravo, Griffin Gluck, Nolan Sotillo, Zoe Levin, and Astro in Red Band Society (2014)

Red Band Society

7.9

TV Series

Director

2014

1 episode

 

Téa Leoni in Madam Secretary (2014)

Madam Secretary

7.8

TV Series

Director

2014

1 episode

 

Gillian Anderson, Dermot Mulroney, James Lafferty, Rachael Taylor, Lance Gross, Max Schneider, Halston Sage, Stevie Lynn Jones, and Adam Scott Miller in Crisis (2014)

Crisis

7.1

TV Series

Director

2014

3 episodes

 

The Selection (2012)

The Selection

7.1

TV Movie

Director

2012

 

Penn Badgley, Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, Leighton Meester, Jessica Szohr, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick in Gossip Girl (2007)

Gossip Girl

7.5

TV Series

Director

2007–2012

14 episodes

 

Daisy Betts and James Wolk in Georgetown (2011)

Georgetown

6.0

TV Movie

Director

2011

 

The Lying Game (2011)

The Lying Game

7.3

TV Series

Director

2011

1 episode

 

The Quickening (2010)

The Quickening

6.6

TV Movie

Director

2010

 

Alyssa Milano, Ivan Sergei, and Eric Winter in Sundays at Tiffany's (2010)

Sundays at Tiffany's

6.5

TV Movie

Director

2010

 

H.M.S.: White Coat

6.9

TV Movie

Director

2010

 

Tim Matheson, Ivan Sergei, and Shiri Appleby in To Love and Die (2008)

To Love and Die

6.0

TV Movie

Director

2008

 

Shenae Grimes-Beech, Michael Steger, Dustin Milligan, AnnaLynne McCord, Jessica Stroup, and Tristan Mack Wilds in 90210 (2008)

90210

6.2

TV Series

Director

2008

2 episodes

 

The Verdict

8.6

TV Movie

Director

2008

 

Mary McCormack in In Plain Sight (2008)

In Plain Sight

7.4

TV Series

Director

2008

1 episode

 

Connie Britton, Kyle Chandler, Timothy F. Crowley, Blue Deckert, Brad Leland, Jesse Plemons, Louanne Stephens, Minka Kelly, Zach Gilford, Adrianne Palicki, Aimee Teegarden, Taylor Kitsch, Kate Krause, Gaius Charles, Scott Porter, Kate Melton, Derek Phillips, Stacey Oristano, Omaka Omegah, and Sarah Kate Allsup in Friday Night Lights (2006)

Friday Night Lights

8.7

TV Series

Director

2006

1 episode

 

Looking for Sunday (2006)

Looking for Sunday

7.3

Director

2006

 

Soccer Moms

7.9

TV Movie

Director

2005

 

Will Estes, Vanessa Lengies, Gail O'Grady, Brittany Snow, and Tom Verica in American Dreams (2002)

American Dreams

7.7

TV Series

Director

2003–2005

5 episodes

 

Hank Azaria, Blythe Danner, Oliver Platt, Paget Brewster, Andy Comeau, and Anton Yelchin in Huff (2004)

Huff

7.9

TV Series

Director

2004

1 episode

 

Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars (2004)

Veronica Mars

8.3

TV Series

Director

2004

2 episodes

 

Dennis Franz, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Jacqueline Obradors, Charlotte Ross, Henry Simmons, and Gordon Clapp in NYPD Blue (1993)

NYPD Blue

7.8

TV Series

Director

1995–2003

6 episodes

 

David Keith, Jensen Ackles, Jeanette Brox, Susanna Thompson, and Audrey Marie Anderson in Still Life (2003)

Still Life

8.0

TV Series

Director

2003

1 episode

 

Treat Williams, Gregory Smith, and Emily VanCamp in Everwood (2002)

Everwood

7.6

TV Series

Director

2002

1 episode

 

Sela Ward and Billy Campbell in Once and Again (1999)

Once and Again

7.8

TV Series

Director

2001–2002

2 episodes

 

Ultraviolet

5.5

TV Movie

Director

2000

 

Josh Hartnett, Chris Klein, and Leelee Sobieski in Here on Earth (2000)

Here on Earth

5.2

Director

2000

 

Julia Stiles in The '60s (1999)

The '60s

7.0

TV Mini Series

Director

1999

2 episodes

 

Astoria (1998)

Astoria

6.3

TV Movie

Director

1998

 

The Player (1997)

The Player

5.9

TV Movie

Director

1997

 

David Conrad and Kimberly Williams-Paisley in Relativity (1996)

Relativity

7.9

TV Series

Director

1996–1997

6 episodes

 

Peter Horton in Death Benefit (1996)

Death Benefit

6.0

TV Movie

Director

1996

 

Claire Danes in My So-Called Life (1994)

My So-Called Life

8.4

TV Series

Director

1994–1995

4 episodes

 

Producer

Gillian Anderson, Dermot Mulroney, James Lafferty, Rachael Taylor, Lance Gross, Max Schneider, Halston Sage, Stevie Lynn Jones, and Adam Scott Miller in Crisis (2014)

Crisis

7.1

TV Series

co-executive producer

2014

12 episodes

 

The Selection (2012)

The Selection

7.1

TV Movie

executive producer

2012

 

Daisy Betts and James Wolk in Georgetown (2011)

Georgetown

6.0

TV Movie

executive producer

2011

 

The Lying Game (2011)

The Lying Game

7.3

TV Series

executive producer

2011

1 episode

 

H.M.S.: White Coat

6.9

TV Movie

executive producer

2010

 

Tim Matheson, Ivan Sergei, and Shiri Appleby in To Love and Die (2008)

To Love and Die

6.0

TV Movie

producer

2008

 

Shenae Grimes-Beech, Michael Steger, Dustin Milligan, AnnaLynne McCord, Jessica Stroup, and Tristan Mack Wilds in 90210 (2008)

90210

6.2

TV Series

executive producer

2008

1 episode

 

Mary McCormack in In Plain Sight (2008)

In Plain Sight

7.4

TV Series

producer

2008

1 episode

 

David Conrad and Kimberly Williams-Paisley in Relativity (1996)

Relativity

7.9

TV Series

co-executive producer

1996–1997

16 episodes

 

Writer

Looking for Sunday (2006)

Looking for Sunday

7.3

Writer

2006

 

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Jim Belushi, and Elizabeth Perkins in About Last Night (1986)

About Last Night

6.3

second second assistant director: Chicago

1986

 

Thanks

Leo Postel in Killer Raise (2013)

Killer Raise

6.4

Short

thanks

2013

 

Self

Bisoux à Paris!

5.0

Video

Self

2011

 

Exposing Gossip Girl: Making Episode 418

Video

Self

2011