Marc was born with a congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. His first surgery was at age 4 on 7/7/77. The second surgery was during the summer between Marc's junior and senior year of high-school. Marc wrote about his experience and the short story that emerged was selected into a national visual and performing arts competition that also helped secure a college scholarship to New York University. At the age of 27, for his 3rd open heart surgery, Marc documented the entire experience on video and the award-winning feature documentary, Open Hearted, was created.
Marc Ostrick's lifelong mentor and cousin, David Milch, always preached that the purpose of art is "to turn the pain of the past into the future tense of joy.".
