After growing up in New York City, Ned Benson developed his interest in writing, film, and theater while attending boarding school in Massachusetts. During his years in Massachusetts, he first experimented with digital filmmaking. When he was accepted to Columbia in 1997, he decided to continue his studies in literature, creative writing and film under the tutelage of the Columbia faculty such as Richard Pena, David McKenna, George Stade, and the late Kenneth Koch. After graduating from Columbia University in 2001 with a BA in English and Film and some time abroad, Benson relocated as a newcomer to Hollywood and is an emerging writer, actor and director. He completed directing his first short film, Four Lean Hounds (2003), which he adapted from the short story by Maile Meloy. The film stars actress Mía Maestro (Diarios de motocicleta (2004) (aka "The Motorcycle Diaries", Frida (2002) and was produced by Robert Saitzyk. Mike Karz and Generate Media are producing his first feature film, which is currently casting, he has just finished another screenplay and is currently working on third. His array of influences veers from from Michael Mann to Paul Thomas Anderson, Hou Hsiou Hsien, Woody Allen, Jonathan Glazer, Stanley Donen, Robert Altman, to Michel Gondry. He has written short stories, a collection of poetry, and for the theater. He worked as an actor starting in theatre in New York at age ten, appearing in productions of "The Boys Next Door", "A Few Good Men", "The Iceman Cometh" among others off-Broadway and in Massachusetts. He has worked in seven films including Billy528 (2001) (Hypnotic Films), along with Imaginary Heroes (2004)_ (Signature Entertainment, filming September 2003), White of Winter (2003) (Sundance 2003), The Killing of Candice Klein (2002) (Sundance 2002), Urban Chaos Theory (2000) (NoDance 2001), The Venice Project (1999) (Venice Film Festival 2000) and The Debtors (1999). Benson's professional affiliations include WGA, SAG and Actors Equity. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
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