Ben Rock is an American film and theatre director, based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Rock's career was launched when he served as production designer on the independent sensation ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...

'' made by fellow University of Central Florida graduates

Daniel Myrick Daniel Myrick (born September 3, 1963) is an American film director, most famous for horror films, especially for co-directing and writing the 1999 psychological horror ''The Blair Witch Project'' with Eduardo Sánchez. They won the Independent ...

, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie and Michael Monello. Rock created the infamous "stick man" symbol that became synonymous with the hit film.

Biography

Following the success of ''Blair Witch'', Rock wrote three and directed two television specials in the

mocumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

format, ''Curse of the Blair Witch'' (which Rock served as writer), an
''The Burkittsville 7''
an
''Shadow of the Blair Witch''
which Rock wrote, produced, and directed promoting the release of the sequel, '' Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'' that many deemed better than the film itself. For over a year, Rock served as consultant on all the tie-in books and games for the Blair Witch franchise, which included The Blair Witch Files series of books. He frequently directs TV or viral internet projects that are considered "Branded Content" or are somehow a part of marketing, including The B.P.R.D. Declassified, a marketing project for the ''

Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers ...

'' movie that aired on

FX Networks FX Networks, LLC, is a company consisting of a network of cable channels plus a production company and a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content segment of The Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of 21st Century Fox, the compan ...

and a series of short action films for

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

's online campaign

The Art of the Heist The Art of the Heist (aka Stolen A3 or Art of the H3ist) was an advertising campaign and an alternate reality game created to promote the Audi A3. The promotion In order to promote the new A3 model in 2005, Audi, instead of featuring the car at a s ...

, a series of viral internet videos for ''

The 4400 ''The 4400'' (pronounced "the forty-four hundred") is a science fiction television series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with BSkyB, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network in the United States and Sky ...

'' and ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

''. Rock's first feature film as a director, ''

Alien Raiders ''Alien Raiders'' is a 2008 American science fiction horror film, starring Carlos Bernard, Rockmond Dunbar and Mathew St. Patrick. The film is Ben Rock's first feature film as a director. The film was produced by Daniel Myrick, John Shiban, and To ...

'', was released by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

and

Raw Feed Raw Feed was a label of Warner Premiere, the direct-to-DVD division of Warner Home Video, that focused on releasing horror films, many of them unrated, that were geared mainly towards mature audiences. History In March 2006, it was announced Joh ...

in February 2009. The film stars

Carlos Bernard Carlos Bernard Papierski (born October 12, 1962) is an American actor and director, best known for his role as Tony Almeida in '' 24'', which he played from 2001 to 2006, and then reprised again in 2009, 2014 in '' 24: Solitary'' and 2017 in '' ...

Rockmond Dunbar Rockmond Dunbar (born January 11, 1973) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Baines on the NBC series '' Earth 2'', Kenny Chadway on Showtime family drama ''Soul Food'', and Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin on the Fox crime drama '' ...

, and

Mathew St. Patrick Mathew St. Patrick (born March 17, 1969) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Keith Charles on the HBO drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001−05). Previously, Patrick appeared as Marcus Taggert in ''The Young and the Restless' ...

and is produced by

John Shiban John Shiban is an American television writer and producer. He worked in both capacities on ''The X-Files'' and its spin-off ''The Lone Gunmen'', ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', ''Smallville'', ''Supernatural'', ''Legend of the Seeker'', ''Breaking Bad' ...

and

Tony Krantz Tony Krantz (born June 16, 1959) is an American film and television producer, writer, and director. Krantz started his career in the American entertainment industry as an agent, spending 15 years at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). He started the ...

. He is also the director of the award-winning short films ''The Perfect Candidate'' by frequent collaborator

Jenelle Riley Jenelle Lynn Riley (born September 26, 1982) is an American screenwriter, actress, journalist, and producer. Riley wrote the 2015 short film ''Warning Labels'', directed by Jennifer Morrison, and is the host of ''Variety''s ''Actors on Actors'', ...

, ''The Meeting'', ''Hate of Date'', and ''Conversations'', starring

Curtis Armstrong Curtis Armstrong (born November 27, 1953) is an American actor and singer best known for playing the role of Booger in the ''Revenge of the Nerds'' movies, Herbert Viola on the TV series ''Moonlighting'', Miles Dalby in the film '' Risky Busines ...

. Rock worked as a makeup artist (special effects and regular) before pursuing directing. During this time, he worked with

Catherine Keener Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...

Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films ''Red Sonja'' and ''Rocky IV'', later retu ...

Sandahl Bergman Sandahl Bergman is an American actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as Valeria in the film ''Conan the Barbarian'' (1982), for which she won a Golden Globe and a Saturn Award. Early life Bergman was born in Kansas City, Missou ...

, Charles Napier, and

Leo Rossi Leo Rossi (born June 26, 1946) is an American actor, writer and producer. A character actor with over 100 credits to his name, he is known for his role as foul-mouthed EMT Vincent "Budd" Scarlotti in the 1981 horror film '' Halloween II'', a ...

. He often participates in

Instant Films In physics and the philosophy of science, instant refers to an infinitesimal interval in time, whose passage is instantaneous. In ordinary speech, an instant has been defined as "a point or very short space of time," a notion deriving from its et ...

, a 48-hour filmmaking challenge. He worked as a projectionist for the

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...

and the

Enzian Theater The Enzian Theater is a nonprofit arthouse movie theater located in Maitland, Florida. The theater hosts the Florida Film Festival and several other local film festivals. The name "Enzian" is the German word for gentian ''Gentiana'' is a ...

from 1996–1999, before relocating to

. Rock was also an Associate Editor for the independent filmmaking magazine ''Action'' and a contributing writer at ''

Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...

'' and ''

Creative Screenwriting Creative may refer to: *Creativity, phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created * Creative (song), "Creative" (song), a 2008 song by Leon Jackson * Creative class, a proposed socioeconomic class * Creative destruction, an economic ter ...

'' magazines. In 2010, he returned to theater to direct ''Baal'', the very first play written by famed playwright

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

, and again in 2012 to direct

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''Richard III''. Both plays were produced at Los Angeles'

Sacred Fools Theater Company The Sacred Fools Theater Company is a Los Angeles-based theatre company and nonprofit organization. Founded in January 1997, it's a member organization of the LA Stage Alliance. For 18 years the company resided at 660 N. Heliotrope in The Heliotr ...

, where Rock is a member.

Awards

Meeting Mr. Subian- Audience Award, Central Florida Film and Video Festival, 1995 1996 CFFVF Trailer - Golden Addy, 1996 1997 CFFVF Trailer - Silver Addy, 1997 Hate or Date - Audience Award at

for Best Film, Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Script and Cast Conversations - Best short and Best Actor (

) at Shockerfest, DIY Award at Hypefest, Finalist Award at

GenArts GenArts, Inc. was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based developer of visual effects software for the film, broadcast and advertising industries. A majority of traditional video content such as movies, commercials, television shows, newscasts and mu ...

Shorts in the Park, Cinematography award at Just Another Film Festival New Orleans Chapter of

- Bronze award at

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

Personal life

He is the son of former

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

area

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to te ...

Alan Rock. Attended

Winter Park High School Winter Park High School (often simply abbreviated as WPHS) located in Winter Park, Florida, United States is one of nineteen public high schools in Orange County. Winter Park High School is a International Baccalaureate school and delivers Advan ...

with comedian

Billy Gardell William Gardell Jr. (born August 20, 1969) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Gardell played Chicago police officer Mike Biggs on ''Mike & Molly.'' He also had a recurring role as Billy Colivida on ''Yes, Dear'' and appeared in a dozen e ...

and screenwriter Darren Fischbach. Rock is married to

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...

producer Alicia Conway, and they frequently collaborate on creative projects including Conversations and Hate or Date.''Hate or Date''
/ref>

References

External links

*
Official website
on The Grave Plot Podcast {{DEFAULTSORT:Rock, Ben Living people Film directors from Los Angeles Year of birth missing (living people)