Mark Vicente has come to be known as the Defector due to the critical role he played during the final chapter of NXIVM’s days. It was this dogged determination to undo the organization that had wronged so many of his friends that led ultimately to the arrest of Keith Raniere.

Mark made his debut on earth in South Africa, 1965 where he grew up until eventually making his way to the USA in the 90’s. Having been drawn to the camera from the age of four Mark found himself enthralled by the world of cinematography and went on to shoot for Disney at the ripe young age of 26 Prior to joining NXIVM he produced a variety of films and was involved in a range of film projects over the decades.

Mark Vicente’s involvement in NXIVM in the early days was one of pure chance, he unfortunately received a recruitment email from Barbera Bouchey which he responded to. This prompted an initial “sales pitch” of the program to Mark, at the time Mark Vicente was like the rest of us soul searching and that call of course, must have felt like a golden ticket.

Quickly Mark began to work his way up the stripe path, after absorbing the content provided to him by NXIVM and feeling it’s transformative effect on his life he began down the road towards becoming Keith’s “guy”. 

Once Mark met Keith, and bore witness to his direct influence and sway within the organization and the possibilities behind it was no wonder he fell prey to Keith.

Mark became close friends with Keith while filming Keith, and thus ended up with one of the rarest and most direct forms of contact any of the members had as he not only got to observe Keith in his natural state but was working with him to mould his image.

For Mark his unique glimpse of the inner workings of NXIVM gave him the opportunity to see firsthand the destruction being wrought upon the lives of the DOS members. After his wife left the organization Mark’s world view of NXIVM began to fall apart. 

One by one as he began to speak with the members and uncover more and more information his quest of capturing Keith’s legacy transformed instead into the orchestration of Keith’s downfall.

Alongside the help of Sarah, his wife Bonnie and the rest of the DOS survivors and NXIVM members he worked tirelessly to hammer in the final nails in Keith’s coffin, the evidence and testimonies he provided proved critical in the coming case.

From out of the rain into the sunshine is how Mark’s journey at NXIVM ended, while the damage done and the time lost while caught up in the whirlwind of NXIVM will never be recovered Mark can rest easy knowing he played a critical role in exposing the truth within NXIVM and DOS.

Happily, after the defection him and his wife are living out their days free from Keith’s control.

Mark continues to produce films & is actively available for hire.