Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Steinbauer.
Hi Ben, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Hi! Thanks for your interest. My name is Ben Steinbauer and I am a director, producer and showrunner living in Austin, Texas. I studied filmmaking as an undergraduate at The University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!) and then moved to Austin to become part of the indie filmmaking scene. My brother from another mother, Bradley Beesley, gave me my start by hiring me to help make The Flaming Lips documentary, The Fearless Freaks. After that, I worked as an assistant editor at a post-production company called 501 Post, which edited TV campaigns for Southwest Airlines, Walmart, PGA, etc. I was an independent documentary filmmaker barely scraping by and was amazed to discover that many of my favorite film directors also made commercials! Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, Errol Morris, and others practiced their craft and made additional money directing ads for big brands. I sensed an opportunity.
From there, I went to grad school at UT in the Radio-TV-Film Department, which is where I met my friend and business partner, Berndt Mader. We quickly realized that we shared a love of 80s movies and Rodney Dangerfield quotes and became fast friends. While in school, I would get calls from producers asking me to shoot or edit something and I knew that if I ever said no, they would stop calling. I also knew I wouldn’t always be available, being in a graduate program, so I teamed up with Berndt, and that’s how our company, The Bear, started.
17 years later, we have made five feature films, countless shorts, and scores of commercials. Today, we have an incredible team led by our Executive Producer, Elizabeth Spiva. She has 20+ years of experience working with directors, agencies, clients, post houses, and production companies. Under her leadership, The Bear has grown leaps and bounds. We specialize in commercials and branded content for iconic brands and have produced projects with our friends Richard Linklater, David Gordon Green, the Austin Film Society, among others.
As a company, we are dedicated to fostering directing talent and have a roster of strong storytellers. Like the city we call home, our work is eclectic and diverse and we love to tell stories with humor and heart. Working with talented young filmmakers and helping build their reels in commercial filmmaking has been very gratifying. We want our years of experience and strong brand identity to help foster the next generation of talented directors, just like people helped us when we were coming up.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Yeah it’s all been a breeze. We’ve managed to dance between the raindrops for 17 years. Kidding… Anything worth doing will be challenging, and running a creative business is no exception. Over the years, we have had to adapt to an ever-changing marketplace as the film and advertising industries evolve to include new platforms that want shorter-form content. We’ve made everything from feature films and half-hour branded documentaries to 30-second broadcast spots and even 6 second social media ads. In our minds, it’s all storytelling, so we’ve been able to roll with the punches and provide a valuable service to our clients, no matter the platform or time frame.
Thanks for sharing that. Can you tell us more about your work next?
Sure! I have a new workplace comedy doc series coming out as a Hulu Original, called High Hopes. Jimmy Kimmel is an Executive Producer and I was the showrunner and director. It follows Slava, Mishka, and their hilarious employees at their Hollywood-based cannabis dispensary – MMD – as they navigate the pitfalls, pleasures, and potpourri of potheads that come with running one of the fastest-growing cannabis companies in California. It plays like a real live version of The Office or Parks and Rec and I’m very proud of how funny it turned out.
I also have a new doc series about a con-man that Bradley Beesley and I are developing with Kimmelot and Campside.
The Bear has tons of projects in the pipeline, including a feature length documentary about the satirical news source, The Onion, new work for the US Air Force, a claymation music video for Rainbows Are Free, a doc series for Texas.Gov, and a social campaign for Capital One.
What are your plans for the future?
In the future, I am excited about continuing to grow our roster of directors at The Bear. We have a diverse slate of talented young filmmakers with strong cinematic visions hungry for new work. We are also increasing The Bear’s film and television arm and are learning how to work with AI. The future looks bright and we’d love to Bear down on a project with you!
Contact Info:
- Website: thebear.us
- Instagram: @thebear.us
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/us
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-bear/about/?viewAsMember=true
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheBearUS
