This week, Justin chats with Ben Steinbauer, Emmy award-winning film, television, and commercial director, and cofounder of The Bear, a production company and creative studio based in Austin, Texas.

Ben shares his journey on becoming a documentary filmmaker with the breakout hit, Winnebago Man, starting a successful production company, and navigating the industry from Austin to LA, and back. He shares about his deeply collaborative philosophy on filmmaking and his commitment to giving to back to the next generation of filmmakers.

We dig into:

How a mixture of ambition, timing, and the early days of YouTube helped shape his creative path
His own podcast, Doc Walks, which he co-hosts with Keith Maitland. (We highly recommend it.)
Why building a core team and growing together over time is essential to a sustainable creative career
Humility as a key ingredient in the creative process
What it really means to create stories that resonate beyond trends

Ben also reflects on how the most impactful work doesn’t come from chasing what’s popular, but from exploring what is personal, specific, and deeply interesting to you.

If you’re looking to make richer, more layered work and build a creative life that lasts, this episode is for you.

Links:

Shoutouts from Ben & Justin:

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From CRY, a Creative, Production, and Post house based in New York City.

Brought to you by CRY www.filmcry.com

Intro mixed by Micheal Hartman - michaelhrtmn4@gmail.com