Markwell Presents was founded by Brad Jennings and Steven Maxwell in Townsville in 2002. The pair had earlier worked together as teachers and in 2001 collaborated on their first original production, Blowout. Written and directed by Jennings, Blowout was staged at James Cook University. The first production staged under the Markwell Presents partnership was Advanced Screening (2002, Dance North Theatre). Once again written and directed by Jennings, the production also marked the company's first use of integrated video into the live performance. Advanced Screening was also commended as the most outstanding project for 2002 by the Thuringowa RADF committee.
In 2003 Jennings and Maxwell co-wrote, directed and produced Loose Ends, a contemporary drama for adults at The Dance North Theatre. During the development period for that production the pair decided to focus their artistic direction towards the use of integrated visual content within live performance as a means of extending the dimension of the stage drama. The term Cinematic Theatre was subsequently coined as a means of both a describing and marketing the style of continuous cinematic theatrical experience they wanted to present. Markwell Presents relocated Brisbane in 2004 and was officially registered as a company around the same time. The first production to be staged in the Queensland capital was a reworked version of Advanced Screening at the Brisbane Powerhouse. That same year Jennings and Maxwell produced another original work titled 06:27 Part 1 at The Loft (Queensland University of Technology).
2004 also saw the introduction of the company's schools program. The first Artist in Residence program was arranged with Villanova College. A number of workshops were also presented. The following year the company produced four new original works beginning with a new production of Blowout (a commissioned co-production with Villanova College); followed by Two Parts (Metro Arts), a play about young people dealing with parents separation and supported by Relationships Australia; What Simon Said (The Loft), a three screen surreal romantic comedy starring David Collins of the Umbilical Brothers; and a new digitally enhanced production of Advanced Screening (Judith Wright Centre).
Since 2006 Markwell Presents has written, produced and/or co-produced numerous productions for a number of theatre companies and community theatre projects. To 2010 these include a fourth production of Advanced Screening (Ipswich Civic Hall, 2006), the world premiere production of David Williamson's (q.v.) Strings Under My Fingers (q.v., La Boite Theatre Co, 2006), and programs for The Sunshine Coast Regional Council's Shout Out Loud Festival, Qld Theatre Company at the Newcastle and Central Coast Drama Festivals, and the State Library of Queensland's Young Writers Day Camp.
Markwell Presents has worked closely with a variety of Queensland-based organisations, including Backbone Youth Arts, Brisbane City Council's Central Library, Brisbane Powerhouse's Powerkids, Metro Arts Independents program, Zen Zen Zo, the Queensland Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre. It has also been engaged by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to film and editing Electronic Press Kits and television commercials for the ABC Classics album releases.
