BENZO is the MAN! [Archive]

Peter Mosiman

10-15-2009, 01:07 PM

For those of you in the MIDwest (or anywhere really) who have not had the awesome pleasure of working with Andrew Benz (owner of #557), you are missing out.

Benzo helped me out on a project I am co-DPing with Matthew Rivera (stills posted below) where we needed to do some slow motion stuff (a cookie jar shattering) so I called up Benzo and we went out to his and his partner Jordan Baldera's studio and BTW Jordan is a baller, and just "shot some really cool looking shit" ha.

Andrew is extremely generous with his time and his RED to let me and Matthew shoot with him...He is also a hilarious motherfucker so thats a bonus in my book :D. Just wanted everyone to know that they should all make it a point to work with this guy at some point or another.

Cheers!

Also, thanks to Tom and Brent who also donated their time to the shoot.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_pQhH5y91DGk/Std-FoZJUgI/AAAAAAAAAEo/0NeL16bT6-s/s640/IMG957923.jpg
Kat Rothstein (my producer), Matthew Rivera is hidden in the dark, and Myself
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pQhH5y91DGk/Std-FltHUgI/AAAAAAAAAEs/9a_2OvsTYyQ/IMG958930.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pQhH5y91DGk/Std-FkSntvI/AAAAAAAAAEw/zxpum7VbBWA/IMG951272.jpg
Here's a still from the cookie jar breaking(ungraded, straight out of RA!)...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pQhH5y91DGk/Std_o5JF55I/AAAAAAAAAE0/KW-dYtRaKN0/s720/cookie%20jar.jpg

David W. Jones

10-16-2009, 02:26 PM

I'll bet he'd like some sushi as a thank you.

Matthew Rivera

10-17-2009, 05:40 PM

Great time with Benzo. I would have to agree with Peter. If any of you guys get a chance to shoot with Benzo, jump on it! Good times.

Brian Liston

10-18-2009, 02:51 AM

He is indeed the shit. Just don't let him near your girlfriend, or boyfriend, or beloved family pet. ;)

David W. Jones

10-18-2009, 07:08 AM

He is indeed the shit. Just don't let him near your girlfriend, or boyfriend, or beloved family pet. ;)

Indeed!

So what's the word from Madison?
I do voice work on occasion for a few businesses around the Madison & Stevens Point area.

Jason H

10-18-2009, 07:58 AM

Hi anyone,

whats the Andrew Benz contact info? I am a local red guy in milwaukee and the midwest. Have done a TON of red shoots as a Red Tech/data manager/video assist/post guy and would like to send him my contact info. Thanks.

check out my sites

video/data

http://point-blank.tv/

red looks

http://rojolooks.com/

color correction/dailies/LTO back up

http://thecoloringroom.com/

my email is

jason@point-blank.tv

THANKS!

Peter Mosiman

10-18-2009, 11:09 PM

Brian Liston

10-19-2009, 02:50 AM

Indeed!

So what's the word from Madison?
I do voice work on occasion for a few businesses around the Madison & Stevens Point area.

Things are cool here in Madison! Well, with exception to the weather that is more frikin cold. PM me with a link to your reel. I do Post VO stuff all the time.:cheers2:

Brent Yontz

10-19-2009, 01:09 PM

I had the great pleasure to work with Benzo this summer at the Telluride International Film Festival in Colorado. I was commissioned to photograph a documentary on the 2009 Student Symposium program and right away decided I would like to use the RED One for the production. I called Benzo and said, "it's going to be crazy, we're going to be camping in the mountains, in the cold, in the rain, in the mud, with very little sleep, but we're going to get some amazing footage." Benzo was up to the challenge immediately and did everything in his power to make the process as smooth and professional as possible. Benzo and myself photographed over 10 hours of footage featuring time lapse photography of the mountains, the festival, people, rivers, everything we could possibly shoot, in addition to interviews for the symposium with the students and filmmakers Ken Burns and the amazing Werner Herzog.

Benzo and myself will be photographing a short film in March called "Nanuq," based off Eskimo mythology that combines live action and clay animation cinematography. We have planned a DI back out to 35mm film for festival use and I again am looking forward to working with Andrew.

If you have have the chance to work with Benzo, you are in for a professional and delightfully personal experience on set. I highly recommend him for his personality, professionalism and overall passion to educating and teaching people about not only the RED One camera and it's amazing capabilities, but for teaching people what it truly means to be a filmmaker and a damn good one.

Best,

-Brent

Brent Yontz
Director of Photography
(262) 945-7536
www.brentyontz.com
brentyontz@gmail.com

Emanuel A.

10-19-2009, 05:23 PM

I'm proud of my friend. I've always known these boards will have notice of his name even further. This is only the beginning. If I'd need a RED ONE for rent in any part of the world, I would contact this fellow first, that's for sure. Safer doesn't exist. Andrew's serial #557 is the best RED ONE deal anywhere. I have the information 100% accurate he has been wanted in Europe too ;-)

Matthew Rivera

10-20-2009, 02:21 AM

Andrew Benz

10-27-2009, 12:46 AM

Wow... I am very humbled by everyone's very kind words. Thank you very much.

All I can say is... that I understand that anyone can get a very nice Red Package from just about anywhere/anyone. But I genuinely care about the people and projects that come to me for my Professional services/gear. I strongly believe in client education and helping them get the very best from their projects. I always try to look at it from their perspective... Whether it is a talented kid who worked at Panera Bread for six months to save enough money for four days of intense production or the CEO of one of the most recognized names in the world genuinely needing to get his company's product and services across to the right clients in an uncertain economy... I greatly appreciate their business and work very hard to deliver more than they ever expected. In doing so, instead of a roster of clients, I have a list of amazing friends from all over the country who keep me very busy and involved in some amazing projects...

Enough of that right? Where are the goods! Haha...

Well, here is a video that I am very proud of and it just dropped on mtv2 and mtvmusic.com.

The youtube version looks much better than the mtvmusic.com version so here it is ya'll... Please enjoy and I will post this soon over in the shot on red section with details. Thank you everyone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhPwTjDHVVs

PS- I have a lot more to say about the Telluride trip soon... but I have 700GB of some of the some of the most talented filmmakers (Werner Herzog, Ken Burns, Alexander Payne and many, many more) in the world giving the most amazing talks on craft, life and what it means to be a filmmaker. This was shot by my good friend Brent Yontz and I am very thankful to him for the experience of a lifetime.

I feel very strongly about education (especially red education), so it meant a lot to me to be a part of that project, donate my camera package and services for a week... but it was also incredibly important to me that in a film festival where all the other cameras were banned for the Telluride Film Festival, that one of the few that was not... was a Red. Trust me... it got a lot of notice from some very big names who were very gracious with their time.

David W. Jones

10-28-2009, 06:05 AM

The location change seems to be agreeing with you. I'm very jealous.
I sense a renewed spirit and freshness that I wish I had. There was a time when I would have donated my time/talent/tools in the like, but I have become so jaded by local agencies beating you down for free work with the promise of paying work to follow, which of course never does. "Stn Wrd: can you do a 12 min narration for this super big client's retreat in Cancun for free, like you did for us last year? We promise more work this time, just like last".
I still take care of my good friends, but I have become such a :30 second commercial whore now that I feel I have lost the site that you have gained.
For those that don't know, Benzo has had to wade through some pretty deep feces at times to try to advance his craft. I know this because I still have to swim in that old pond full of shit that is oh so tasty. I'm trying to rekindle the spirit starting with my new van that will let me carry my full kit to any number of wonderful shooting locations around the natural state, so we'll see. At any rate, having worked with Andrew over the years, the one thing I can tell you about him that you might not know, is as much as he values his Red camera, he's not limited by it. He could tell a great story with with a tube of toothpaste and a playschool camera. And his best work is yet to come!

By the way, the music video was sweet.