Meet Kenneth Benitez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Benitez.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I am an Emmy-winning creative, director and VFX artist who specializes in unique cinematic experiences through emotional imagery and advanced post techniques. Born in Louisiana, I graduated from LSU with a degree in communication studies. During my time there, I began creating motivational videos for the football program and eventually found my love for directing.

With roots in post-production and design at ESPN, today, I have over a decade of award-winning live action and animation direction. I have helmed work for BMW, NHL, NBA, Verizon, MD Anderson Cancer Center, United Way, Mahindra USA, Proctor and Gamble, American Heart Association, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Waste Management, and others. Since 2016, I have been working as writer/director of The Calling, an innovative short-form docu-series, which visualizes the artistic passions of talented artists. By fusing emotional stories with complex visuals, I continue to push the boundaries of film to create lasting experiences.

Please tell us about your art.
I have always felt the need to make things, to live a creative life. The trick was figuring out how to do it commercially and still maintain my voice as an artist. Filmmaking is a collaborative effort and for me, the challenge lies in maintaining a singular vision or statement while still collaborating with so many other artists and technicians.

I don’t have an agenda when I set out to make a film. Typically, what the film is trying to say is revealed during the process of creating it. Lately, my work has been heavily driven by single protagonists and their view of the world. I come into their world and essentially comment on it. I decide what we see and hear and ultimately what is important. I find that this creates a wonderful collaboration and really teaches me a lot about my perspective of the world. I hope that the audience gets a similar experience while absorbing the films that I make. Ultimately, the take away from my work should further prove how interesting, diverse, and beautiful this world that we inhabit can be.

Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?
My philosophy of being a working artist has always been about balance. When I began my career, I worked for production companies that had a lot of overhead. This financial burden gave the company no time to experiment with passion projects or personal work. If you are an artist and do not create personal work, you will not advance. I make it a point to focus on personal projects as well as commercial work. The great thing about personal work is that I have found clients that point to it and say we want that. Thus, further vindicating the importance of it.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be found on my website as well as on Vimeo.

Contact Info:

• Website: kennethbenitez.com
• Email: mail@kennethbenitez.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbenitez/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/_k_b___

Image Credit:
All images are created by me and my team.

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