editorialteam
Film producer, actor, and musician Ben Stranahan is a tough guy to catch up with. We play phone and email tag for a while, trying to nail down a time to talk, but Ben is still wrapped up with producing his latest film in beautiful Idyllwild. I agree to meet him near his shoot in the mountains, where he is finally able to break away for a cup of coffee in a local restaurant. While it’s clear he’s tired from all the hubbub of the production, he’s also jazzed.
“I love shooting films!” he announces, setting down into the booth with a flourish. “It’s stressful and my brain goes a mile a minute, but what a rush it can be. The crew is great, the actors are even better, and it’s just gorgeous here. I don’t know how I sleep at night with everything that I have to do, but man, to see it all coming together is awesome.”
Ben, as you can tell, is the kind of guy who excels under pressure. Known in Hollywood as the man who can get it done, whatever “it” may be, he runs to solve problems that make others race away as fast as they can. He laughs at the idea. “Maybe,” he admits, thinking about it, “but that’s part of the fun, don’t you think? Diving headfirst into the details of producing a movie without losing your sanity is a challenge, but there’s no experience like it.”
Ben has been enjoying the special challenges of showbiz ever since he was a kid. “I grew up in an artsy family,” he says, downing a cup of coffee and pouring another in the same breath, “so to no one’s surprise, I found myself on a stage during middle school. I don’t know what the part was – I’m sure it wasn’t anything too memorable – but I do remember this: the adrenaline that went right through me when I walked out and saw the audience. That was it. I was an actor, and I hammed it up, probably too much in retrospect.”
Ben leans back in the booth, relaxing and casting his mind back over his journey to Hollywood. “I think, though, what really sealed it was high school. Isn’t that when so many of us discover our passions? I found mine when I picked up a movie camera and looked through it. When you have the heart of a director or producer, everything changes when you look through the camera. Trees are no longer just trees: they’re part of a setting and can be used to make people feel something. The sun, the weather, the buildings – whatever it is, it just looks different from behind a camera, and I was fascinated.”
Life wasn’t all about acting and producing, however. “I got into music and probably gave my parents a headache with all the time I spent practicing the drums. Fortunately for them, I was also into the piano, which I think both Mom and Dad appreciated. I had a blast playing in a band for five years.”
Senioritis hit Ben just like it did his peers. “I had the best plan: I was going to go to LA so that I could get started on my career in Hollywood.”
The first stop, however, was the Berklee College of Music Summer Program. “Boston was clear on the other side of the country, but I knew that I could learn there from some of the finest musicians in the country,” Ben explains. “I was right. My time there definitely made me into the musician I am today.”
Ben was then thrilled to be accepted at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. “I’ll never forget when I saw my acceptance letter with my dad standing right beside me,” he states, looking outside the cafe window and watching a family pass by. “That was huge. It was a major step toward me getting what I wanted: a career in Hollywood and the performing arts. I couldn’t wait to get out there and start taking classes. I spent three years learning everything that I could. As an actor, I especially enjoyed breaking down characters and learning accents, including Southern, Standard RP, New England, and Irish. I also got good at stage combat, both armed and unarmed.”
When Ben finished his classes, he began building his career as an actor, producer, and musician. He has found success in particular as a movie producer, including 2016’s Mean Dreams, which starred Bill Paxton, Sophie Nélisse, Josh Wiggins, and Colm Feore. Ben says that one of his proudest moments was watching it premiere in 2016 at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and as a Special Presentation at TIFF. “Then it went on to be sold in over fifty countries and to be released theatrically in over ten countries. That was beyond amazing and very satisfying.”
One of his favorite movies to produce and act in was Population Zero. “That was a blast,” says Ben. “It was a psychological thriller and really took the genre in a different direction. Critics around the world liked it. I also enjoyed producing Calibre, another thriller, which was released on Netflix in 2018. That ended up being nominated for four BAFTAs, and it won for one: Best Actor for Jack Lowden. The night we won was incredible for all of us.”
Ben has also found success as a TV producer with The Midnight Anthology, starring Clancy Brown. Its pilot premiered at the New York Television Festival in 2015 and went on to win the Artistic Achievement and Best Director awards at the festival. Ben and The Midnight Anthology team are developing the remaining episodes of the series.
Now, as a producer for Tip-Top Productions, Ben is having the time of his life. “I don’t think this job will ever get any easier,” he admits, “and it’s for damn sure I won’t ever enjoy these 4:00 a.m. wakeup calls. Even so, look where I am! I’m in one of the most beautiful parts of California, working with incredibly talented people to make a film that I can’t wait for the audience to see. I could not be happier with how my life is going.”