Mark has worked in documentary films as a cameraman and assistant cameraman, and a Producer/Director of television programs. His camera credits include National Geographic's Series Geographica, the BBC-TV's Hotshots, Wildlife On One's Great White Shark and CBS-TV's A Day in the Life of Country Music. Mark was assistant cameraman (receiving additional photography credit on the BBC-TV version) on the National Geographic Special Great White Shark which won an Emmy for outstanding achievement in cinematography. His most recent National Geographic work was as Director/cameraman on the scout for a future special on Easter Island. Atkins has also worked as a Producer/Director for Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, where he produced the informational spot, "ALS for Boca West," which won the Crystal Award for Excellence and the Exceptional Service Award from Fire-Rescue. Atkins also received fire combat training from PBC Fire-Recue.

Atkins helmed Night Orchid at the age of 26 while still an undergraduate at the University of Central Florida. His previous short films often had a crew of one or two people and Atkins always did the camera and lighting, and editing. Mark stated, "I wanted to leave film school with as many skills as possible. I felt that doing everything myself was the best way to learn." On Night Orchid, in addition to writing and directing, Mark scheduled the production board, scouted locations, storyboarded, edited, even did sound recording in some instances. Atkins: "In post production I edited, did foley, dialogue editing and even my own negative continuity."

The filming of Night Orchid was a new experience for Mark having been used to a crew of one and moving up to a crew of forty-six. Atkins: "We worked with Valencia Community College film students as our crew. They were in their second semester of film school, and I was on my first big set. It was a great learning experience. We were both green, but we pulled together and pulled it off. I think it was a very valuable experience because most film students leave school without working on a industry-style shoot. There is a big difference between filming with a small crew of friends and shooting with a crew of fifty people. Making short films on my own gave me the confidence that I can create a lot with very little, and working with a large crew gave me the knowledge that I can handle a big production. At times however, during Night Orchid, I would run off and shoot something with just the actors and the director of photography, just the camera and me recording sound. It helps having a background where you can shoot quickly on your feet." With the exception of the director of photography and gaffer, the Night Orchid crew consisted entirely of students from Valencia Community College's Motion Picture Technology Program.

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