Acting Mastery was established to provide actors with an inspiring set of regular classes designed to empower them. We take a simple, straight-forward approach to the acting process and combine it with a set of the most practical tools actors can rely upon in any situation — whether in front of the camera, on stage or in the all important audition room. Our goal is to inspire each actor to back themselves, while continually striving for excellence in their work.
THINK WELL OF YOURSELF WHILE LEARNING TO SAY THEM BETTER.
As a Coach
Ben is a passionate, inspiring and highly regarded acting coach. He has been privately coaching since 2008 and teaching since 2010. In addition to Acting Mastery, Ben has taught extensively at NIDA, Screenwise, The Hub Studio and AMAW Sydney. He has also taught directing for the BA program at AFTRS.
His clients have booked roles on a myriad of film, television, commercial, and theatre projects, including Thor: Love & Thunder, Shang-Chi, Nine Perfect Strangers, Maid, The Wilds, Fauda, Young Rock, Mr. Inbetween, Clickbait, Bump, Eden, Dive Club, Australian Gangster, The Secrets She Keeps, Fires, Wentworth, New Gold Mountain, Strangers, Hacksaw Ridge, The Water Diviner, Australia Day, Stargate: Origins, Ash vs The Evil Dead, Charmed, Longmire, Nashville, Evermoor, Love Child, Romance on the Menu, Home & Away, A Place to Call Home, Puberty Blues, Cleverman, Sisters, Pulse, Blue Murder: Killer Cop, Wonderland, Anzac Girls, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Upper Middle Bogan, General Hospital, Ronny Chieng: International Student, Doctor Doctor, Here Come the Habibs, The Letdown, Tomorrow When the War Began, Friday on My Mind, Deadhouse Dark, Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am, and The Principal, as well as productions for the Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir Street, QTC and The Malthouse.
Ben is an award-winning director, writer and actor. He is an acting graduate of the Atlantic Theater Company, New York, where studied under David Mamet, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, and Clark Gregg, among others. He is both a directing graduate and a screenwriting graduate of the Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS) in Sydney AFTRS. He was awarded both the Kenneth B Myer Scholarship for Exceptional Talent and the Foxtel Scholarship for Exceptional New Talent. His work has received over twenty-five awards.
Ben has directed film, television, and theatre, both in Australia and the US. His short film Emily was nominated for the Foreign Film Award at the Student Academy Awards and by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in Los Angeles and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards. He is the first Australian to be nominated for the Student Oscars.
Emily won a host of other awards at festivals around the world including in the US, Europe and China. It also screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Cinephiles section.
Ben and his wife Holly recently launched SquireRose Studios, a production company dedicated to producing exceptional film and TV content. They have just raised financing for their first feature film.
Ben directed, co-wrote and co-produced the half-hour comedy pilot, BedHead for ABC, based on the ABC iView web series of the same name.
The original web series recently won 4 awards LA Web Fest 2016, out of 8 nominations. Ben was awarded Outstanding Direction in a Comedy Series and was nominated for Outstanding Writing and Best Comedy Series. Ben and his fellow co-writers were nominated for an AWGIE Award by the Australian Writer's Guild for the original web series. The web series was commissioned by ABC and Screen Australia as part of their Fresh Blood initiative. Out of the 24 Fresh Blood web series that aired on ABC iView, BedHead was the highest rating by over a hundred thousand views. The web series also aired on ABC1 opening a Best of Fresh Blood special hosted by Will Anderson.
Ben directed, co-wrote, and co-produced the MTV drama pilot Deadbeat Dads, after winning MTV/Optus ONE80PROJECT along with two of his colleagues with their trailer for the potential series. For the first time in the competition's history, Ben and his colleagues took out all three awards: the Judge's Choice, the Public Vote, and Best Student Entry.
Ben co-wrote the upcoming animated half-hour children’s film Dimitri World for Fox & Co. Animation which deals with the issue of climate change. It will be released in 2024.
As a commercial director, Ben has won two Silver Telly Awards for his ads for TMGM and Manscaped. He has also directed campaigns for Microsoft, TEDx, The Australian Open, DiDi, AMP, Pilot, Murdoch Books, and more. He is currently repped by STORY MACHINE.
With Manual Pictures, Ben conceived and directed an online viral hoax for the charity OzHarvest. It featured the Australian celebrity chef and MasterChef judge, Matt Moran. The video attracted the attention of the news media and reached over 4 million people in Australia and around the world in less than 48 hours, raising awareness for OzHarvest and the issue of food waste. The campaign won a Bronze Pencil at the AWARD Awards for advertising and was nominated for the prestigious Sabre PR Awards in Singapore.
Ben's documentary, Chrysalis was awarded the Shark Island Prize for Documentary and has screened at multiple festivals around the world.
He has directed 5 plays both in Australia and in New York, including Clifford Odets' Waiting for Lefty, Harold Pinter's The Lover, and David Mamet's Oleanna.
As an actor Ben has appeared in over 30 plays, including productions Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir Street and Off-Broadway in New York City; in film and on Australian television. His theatre credits include A Hard God (STC), Powerplays (Belvoir), Stuff Happens (as AD to Neil Armfield), Men (Melbourne & New York Fringe, directed by Brendan Cowell), We Are The Himalayas (Sydney Fringe), Black Codes, A Man for All Seasons, and An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein (Darlinghurst Theatre). He’s also performed improv as part of Sydney Fringe with the improv troupe, The Magnificent Finger-Gunners. Film credits include Everything in Between, Crushed, Reunion and the award-winning Nineteen. His television credits include the US TruTV comedy pilot Happy People Suck, In a Woman's World (ABC), All Saints (Seven) and Love My Way (Fox 8). He has been fortunate enough to work alongside Jacki Weaver, Claudia Karvan, Rose Byrne, Garth Davis, Neil Armfield, Edward Albee and Barrie Kosky among others. Michael Hauge, the prestigious screenwriting expert from LA mentored Ben on his first feature film script.
In addition, he has also trained with Larry Moss, Patsy Rodenburg, Anthony Meindl, Miranda Harcourt, Kim Farrant, Kristin Linklater, Darren Gilshenan, Upright Citizen's Brigade, Second City, Improv Theatre Sydney, Scott Sedita, Steve Kaplan, Gregory Berger-Soebeck, and Greg Apps among others.
Ben spent three and a half years living and working in New York, two years in Los Angeles, and currently resides in Sydney. Born in Mexico, he holds dual Australian and American citizenship.
