Brian Benson is a filmmaker who has inspired and baffled me for many years now, when I heard he was coming to HOME Cinema I jumped on the opportunity to meet him, we spoke a lot on creative ridiculousness, Benson makes exaggerated over the top productions, he also teaches filmmaking back home in America, He spoke of his experience within the filmmaking world and how he learnt “You have to give yourself permission to make a piece of shit, then you’ll make films your really proud of”.
Benson covered topics from how he was originally insecure about being a part of his own work to how the “Technology (Kit & Software) can be forgivable but a bad idea never is”, you must always be able to translate what you want. Benson also touched how a film is created 3 times, and in 3 stages this is something I’ve heard a few times (Writing, Shooting and Editing). He shared some secrets on how to keep your budget Low on travel, he explained he usually shoots at 8-9 locations ensure all locations are within the Neighbourhoods close proximity and radius, never using fancy locations, He went on the say he would rather have a good cast.
Benson's last Film cost around 25 Thousand Dollars, The evolution of his films started when Benson began taking simple ideas and running with them, he would often look at other scripts and interpret certain aspects into his own thing. He spoke directly to the producers for a while expressing “If you get a No ask again, or ask in a different way”, “In a film you either have actors or you don’t. You either have a film or you don’t”.
Benson Originally Started Out his Journey performing at Drag Shows and then moved on to showing his work online, Eventually he worked his way up to Film Festivals, although when applying for film festivals he was hit with the realisation that they were concerned over Body Image and Fat shaming within his work, he stated “I now feel the responsibility”. Eventually he spoke of his own students and how when he showed them his films it changed the dynamic, allowing them to bond on a new level where they learn from one another.
