Ben Bryant

Ben Bryant has been in show business, in one way or another, since he was in college. Until 1971 he was a successful actor and singer in theatre, film, TV and director in theatre. In 1970, seeking to exercise his burgeoning interest in film production, he joined the award winning Group One Productions of Los Angeles as East Coast Vice-president. There he quickly developed his production skills on a multitude of projects ranging from two man second unit shoots to the filming of Carole King's Central Park concert (with twelve cameras and a New York union crew of over one hundred.) From '72 until '89 he worked in film and TV as a line producer, production manager and first assistant director. Based in New York, he has served in one or more of those capacities on over a thousand TV commercials and dozens of corporate films for clients including ABC-TV, AT&T, Continental Air Lines, Exxon, Ford, GM, Honda, IBM, IT&T, MacDonald's, Miller Beer, Nissan, Porsche-Audi, Proctor & Gamble, Suntory and Volkswagen. This work has been done in more than half the fifty states plus Jamaica and Canada. He also worked as either production manager or first A.D. on five dramatic films including theatrical features and TV movies. After years of operating in support of directors he decided to apply the skills learned from working with some of the best and, in '89, began producing and directing a weekly, half-hour TV show, "Love is the Power", as well as a series of multi-camera concerts, taped "live". In '90 he produced and directed the pilot for a TV series, "Auto Buyers Showcase". For the last 23 years he has been working solely in video and has produced and directed approximately 75 half-hour, multi-camera TV shows, over three dozen live concerts and several documentaries. He takes many projects from concept through completion; often writing, producing, directing, shooting and editing. June 2006 saw the completion of Elizabeth Hepburn's "Better & Better Series", a set of five DVDs for surgery patients and their caregivers which he directed and edited. As soon as that project was "out the door" Ben dove back in to "Birth of the Music Video", a documentary feature about the unheralded filmmakers who pioneered the form in the mid-60s. Ben has written two full length screenplays and a pilot script for a TV series. He has had several articles on editing and shooting published by Ken Stone's FinalCutPro web site and recently contributed a chapter to DVisionaries' new book "Transitions; Essays on the Craft Digital of Editing". A member of the American Film Institute since '75 and the Directors' Guild of America since '79, he holds a B.A. in Theatre & Music from Whittier College. "Three Stages: My Journey, Book 1" is Ben's first full length book. It begins with his Tennessee childhood and continues through his migration to Hollywood and eventual move to NYC where he successfully pursues a singing/acting career. The second part of his three volume autobiography, "Circumstances Beyond My Control: My Journey, Book 2" chronicles the years from 1972 into the early '90s with tales of his adventures as a producer. Book 3, "Waiting for Elizabeth" will follow sometime in 2014.