In the 1990’s, Ben began working as a special effects makeup artist on independent and commercial productions in the southeast. After college, he moved into to directing, creating local commercials, promos, PSA’s and short films. In 1996 and 1997, his regional work began winning awards, and more regional advertising and PSA work followed. And then…
In 1997, Ben was asked to join the 5-person team to make “The Blair Witch Project.” Taking the title of Production Designer, he worked to create the immersive atmosphere for the landmark indie blockbuster, fabricating much of the legend of the Blair Witch, which became the content of the website, and creating the iconic “stickman” symbol that was central to the film. He returned to write “Curse of the Blair Witch,” an hour-long SyFy special presented as a documentary about the "real" story of the Blair Witch legend, later writing and directing “The Burkittsville 7” for Showtime and “Shadow of the Blair Witch” for SyFy.
Ben working on the house seen at the end of “The Blair Witch Project”
In 2004, Ben formed Visible Man Productions to focus on special projects which tend to walk the line between content and advertising. That year he wrote and directed the mocumentary “The BPRD Declassified” for Sony and Revolution Studios to market the release of Guillermo del Toro's “Hellboy” for FX Network, and in 2005 he directed a series of award-winning webisodes produced for Audi’s “The Art of the Heist” campaign.
Ben, John Lithgow, and team watching playback on the set of “John Lithgow: Stories by Heart.”
For 9 years, Visible Man created branded content, found footage, fake commercials, subversive advertising, and webisodes for a variety of entertainment projects including “The 4400” (USA Networks), “True Blood” (HBO), “The Colony” (Discovery), “Homefront” (THQ), “The Ruins” (Paramount Pictures), and “John Lithgow: Stories By Heart.”
In 2009, he directed the critically-acclaimed sci-fi/horror film “Alien Raiders” for Warner Brothers. In 2016 “Future Boyfriend,” a sci-fi romantic comedy Ben directed and was an official selection at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Working with Carlos Bernard and Keith Hudson on the set of "Alien Raiders"
With a passion for theater, Ben has directed numerous plays including “Baal” by Bertoldt Brecht, “Richard III” by William Shakespeare, “Occupation” by Ken Ferrigni, and Kurt Vonnegut's “The Sirens of Titan” adapted by Stuart Gordon as well as serving for two seasons as co-artistic director for the Sacred Fools Theater Company in Hollywood.
Cinematographer George Feucht, Ben, star/producer Emily Bell, Writer A. Vincent Ularich, and star/producer Ron Morehouse at the Tribeca premiere of “Future Boyfriend.”