User:Benjprod/Mark Benjamin

Mark Benjamin,  is an American documentary producer and director/cameraman.

Since the early 1970s, Mark Benjamin has built his reputation through an allegiance to film and television. As a director, producer and cameraman. Benjamin’s credits include numerous independent films, eight Bill Moyers documentaries, six National Geographic films and films for ABC, CBS, NBC, HBO, TBS, and the Discovery Channel. Benjamin received his first filming assignment in 1973 as a combat cameraman in the Sinai Desert for NBC’s coverage of the October war in the Middle East.

Most recently he executive produced, directed and shot the Sundance Channel series  Brick City with executive producers Forest Whitaker and Marc Levin. Brick City received a Peabody award and is nominated for a 2010 Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Non Fiction Film Making. It was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Benjamin is currently at work on Brick City season two. In 2009 Benjamin directed the documentary, Why We Fight Now, produced by Frank Capra, Jr. in association with the U.S. Army Special Forces/Green Berets and inspired by the classic World War II documentary "Why We Fight". He co-directed, produced and photographed the 2000 feature Jails, Hospital, Hip Hop, the film adaptation of Danny Hoch’s acclaimed one-man play. With longtime collaborator Marc Levin, Benjamin co-directed and shot The Last Party, a 1993 political documentary starring Robert Downey Jr. His 1977 film Jerusalem Peace was part of the New Directors series at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Benjamin along with Jamie Lustberg, his documentary partner/wife, directed, produced and shot the television documentary, "Going Home" broadcast on HBO, and "School’s In" for the Disney Channel. Together Benjamin/Lustberg produced and directed numerous Emmy™ award winning films for PBS’s series EGG, the Arts Show, which won a Peabody in 2002.

Benjamin has lensed several feature films with director Marc Levin, most recently Protocols of Zion. Their other collaborations include SLAM, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for best dramatic film at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and the Camera D’Or at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival; the comedy 'Whiteboys', starring Danny Hoch; Blowback; and the feature Brooklyn Babylon. Benjamin was also the cameraman and lighting designer on the 1987 cult classic, Mondo New York, and he has been the second unit cinematographer for noted directors such as Oliver Stone, William Friedkin and Peter Bogdanovich.

Additionally, Benjamin has shot hundreds of television documentaries, including 10 Emmy™ nominations and Awards. Notable credits include Discovery Channel’s “CIA: America’s Secret Warriors,” winner of a Columbia DuPont Award; HBO’s "Prisoners of the War on Drugs," "Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock," winner of a Cable ACE award for best documentary, "Texas Death Machine," "Thug Life in D.C.," and "Soldiers in the Army of God" and one Martin Scorsese's, The Blues' episode.

Benjamin has also worked extensively as a director/cameraman on numerous award winning national television commercials, and won the International CLIO Award in 1998.

Festivals and awards
2010   EMMY AWARD nomination - "BRICK CITY" - Ex-producer, Director

2010   PEABODY AWARD - "BRICK CITY" - Ex-producer, Director

2010   FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS - Best Docureality programming -"BRICK CITY" - Ex-producer, Director

2009   NAACP IMAGE AWARD - "BRICK CITY" - Ex-producer, Director

2005   BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL - "PROTOCOLS OF ZION" - DP

2005   SUNDANCE - "PROTOCOLS OF ZION" - DP

2005   SLAMDANCE - "ON THE OUTS" - 2nd unit DP

2004   TRIBICA FILM FESTIVAL - "HOOKED" - DP

2004   TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL - "ON THE OUTS" - 2nd unit DP

2003   ACADEMY MOTION PICTURES & UCLA DOC FEST -"GOING HOME" - Director, DP

2003   VENICE FILM FESTIVAL – “THE BLUES” – Martin Scorsese / ex-producer - DP

2003   TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL - "HOOKED" - DP

2003   EDISON FILM FESTIVAL – Retrospective – Director / Cameraman

2003   SUNDANCE – "THE BLUES" – Martin Scorsese / ex-producer -  DP

2001   SLAMDANCE – Festival opening night film - Brooklyn Babylon" – DP

2001   HAWAII INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Brooklyn Babylon" – DP

2001   BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC –"Brooklyn Babylon" - DP

2000   URBAN WORLD FILM FESTIVAL – "Jails, Hospital & Hip-Hop" – Director / DP

2000   LATINO Film Festival – "Jails, Hospital & Hip-Hop" – Director / DP

2000   SANTA FE  Film Festival – "Jails, Hospital & Hip-Hop" – Director / DP

1999   National EMMY - HBO - "Thug Life in DC" - DP

1999   NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL - "SLAM"- DP

1998   CANNES FILM FESTIVAL - Camera D’OR - "SLAM"- DP

1998   SUNDANCE  Festival - "SLAM"- Grand Jury Prize Dramatic Feature – DP

1998   DuPONT COLUMBIA award for Broadcast Journalism  - "CIA" - Discovery - DP

1998   CLIO  AWARD - "SCREAM" - UFO Jeans - Director/Cameraman

1997   New York EMMY for series  - CITY ARTS -  WNET - 13 - Director - DP

1995   National EMMY - "Talking Sex" - HBO - post AIDS realities - DP

1994   International EMMY - "A Time of AIDS" - Ch-4 London / Discovery USA - DP

1994   ACE AWARD for best documentary  -  HBO - "GANG WAR"- DP

1993   MILL VALLY Film Festival - "The Last Party" - Robert Downey Jr. documentary – director - DP

1992   CLIO -"Try a Little Tenderness"- PSA for New York City - Director/Cameraman

1992   International EMMY -"Damned in the USA"- feature documentary - DP

1991   International FILM & TV Festival "Try a Little Tenderness"- PSA for NYC - Director/Cameraman

1990   SUNDANCE Festival - "Takeover" - documentary film about the Homeless - DP

1990   TELLY Award - "Try a Little Tenderness" - PSA for New York City - Director/Cameraman

1989   MONITOR Award - HDTV - "Badlands" - Rebo Studio - DP

1989   ACE AWARD - HBO "Drug Free Kid"  - with Mary Tyler Moore - DP

1988   National EMMY - "Bill Moyers Secret Government" -  DP

1988   AMERICAN Film Festival - Blue Ribbon - "Bill Moyers Secret Government" -  DP

1987   AMERICAN Film Festival - Blue Ribbon -  National Geographic "Atocha" -  DP

1987   MONITOR  Award - FRONTLINE - “Inside the Jury” -  DP

1986   CINE GOLDEN  EAGLE - National Geographic Explorer - Atocha-  DP

1986   HOUSTON Film Festival - Best Documentary Film - National Geographic Explorer - Atocha-  DP

1985   New York EMMY - CBS - "Wall Street Connection" - DP

1985   CINE GOLDEN EAGLE - PBS - Inside Story - DP

1984   NEW YORK Film Festival / Amer. Film Festival Blue Ribbon / Global Vill. Festival - Los Sures DP

1983   CINE GOLDEN / Peabody Award - "Puerto Rico" - TBS Portrait - Director/Cameraman

1982   MOMA Showcase - Cinema du Real - Paris  - Carnegie Hall Cinema - "American Zealot" - DP

1982   National EMMY - "Creativity with Bill Moyers" - Series - Producer/Director/Cameraman

1981   MONTE CARLO Film and TV Festival - NBC White Paper - "Crisis in Black America" - DP

1980   National EMMY - Bill Moyers’ Journal - Outstanding Program - "Evangelicals and the Right"- DP

1980   New York EMMY -"The New Immigrants Series" - 6 half hours - DP

1980   AMERICAN Film Festival - Blue Ribbon - "Women Inside" - Producer/Director/Cameraman

1978   CHICAGO Film Festival - "Jerusalem Peace" - Producer/Director/Cameraman

1977   MUSEUM OF MODERN ART - New directors - "Jerusalem Peace" - Producer/Director/Cameraman

1975   BASEL ART FAIR - "Cold Frame" -  Co-Director/Cameraman