Ben Foster (born June 7, 1984) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. He has directed two

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, ''Strings'' (2012), awarded on the US Festival circuit, and ''Time Trap'' (2017), held its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival in May 2017.

Life and career

Foster was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, and raised in Austin, Texas. During highschool he attended classes at the

Austin School of Film The Austin School of Film, also known as The Austin School of Film @ Motion Media Arts Center, is an art, film and technology institute through non-profit, Motion Media Arts Center and is located on Tillery Street in Austin, Texas. The Austin Scho ...

He further pursued his education at

The Maine Media Workshops The Maine Media Workshops (formerly the Maine Photographic Workshops) in Rockport, Maine is an international non-profit educational organization offering year-round workshops for photographers, filmmakers, and media artists. Students from acros ...

, where he studied under actor Barry Primus. He attended the Radio, Television, and Film program at The University of Texas at Austin, where he met Mark Dennis. The two began collaborating on a number of shorts, and ultimately began production on ''Strings'' during Foster's senior year of college. ''Strings'' was directed by Foster and Dennis. They also share producing, and editing credits on the film. ''Strings'' played a number of film festivals, including the Hollywood Film Festival and

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...

. It won Audience Awards at the Breckenridge Film Festival,

White Sands International Film Festival White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, and Silver City Film Festival. The film is distributed by The Orchard. In 2015, Foster and Dennis re-teamed to make ''Time Trap'', a time travel adventure film, described as being reminiscent of the early-80s adventure movies, following a group of kids into a cave where time passes differently inside than on the surface. ''Time Trap'' world premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in May, 2017. Foster lives in Los Angeles, where he also produces and directs commercials.

Awards and nominations

''Strings'' (2011)

*Breckenridge Festival of Film: Winner Audience Award *White Sands International Film Festival: Winner Audience Award *Route 66 International Film Festival: Winner Best Thriller *Long Island International Film Expo: Winner Best Director (with Mark Dennis) *Long Island International Film Expo: Nomination for Best Feature *Long Island International Film Expo: Nomination for Best First Feature *Tulsa International Film Festival: Nomination for Best Feature *Tulsa International Film Festival: Winner Best Director (with Mark Dennis)

''Time Trap'' (2017)

* Seattle International Film Festival: Nominated Futurewave Youth Jury Award, Best Feature Film *Hollywood Film Festival: Winner Jury Prize, Most Innovative Narrative feature (with Mark Dennis and Pad Thai Pictures). IMDb

References

External links

*
''Strings'' Movie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Ben Living people Moody College of Communication alumni Artists from Austin, Texas 1984 births Film directors from Texas