Samantha Stevenson-Berkowitz
Producer

Born in Bombay, India, Samantha began working on her father’s Bollywood and Television film sets at the age of 8. Since then, she attended Lawrence University, majoring in English Literature, with a minor in Anthropology. After completing her education, Samantha began working in Chicago, as the Producer at Lakeshore Productions and i-cubed, Inc., among other notable companies. In 2005, Samantha produced the independent feature film Before We Were Turtles. Her other credits include: Stranger than Fiction, The War Tapes, The Trouble with DeeDee, Drunk Boat, Dirty Work, Chameleon Street, Nice Bombs, and Crime Fiction. Samantha’s other work includes commercials and corporate videos for Anheuser Busch, GE, Goldman Sachs, Bally Total Fitness and Marlboro.

Samantha currently lives in Los Angeles and works with for clients in both LA and Chicago. Most recently, Samantha post-supervised and associate produced Half-life by Jennifer Phang (Sundance 2008).

Ben Berkowitz
Producer/Director

Ben Berkowitz is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute Chicago. His first critically acclaimed directorial debut Straightman, which has been a top DVD seller since its release in 2002, was co-written with his Benzfilm Group partner, actor Ben Redgrave. Straightman won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at Outfest 2000. Berkowitz also produced Rockets Redglare! (Sundance 2003) with actor Steve Buscemi, also featuring Matt Dillon and Willem Dafoe. The Iraqi documentary Nice Bombs was produced by Benzfilm, along with legend Studs Terkel and funded by The Playboy Foundation’s Kristie Hefner and Robert Deniro’s Tribeca All-Access Film Program.

Berkowitz is set to direct the latest Benzfilm screenplay, Polish Bar, a drama set in Chicago, which will be produced by Effie Brown’s Duly Noted, Inc. Berkowitz is currently developing the feature documentary project, Black Jews, about the African-American Jewish experience in Chicago, New York, and Israel and is a co–producer on Jennifer Phang’s directorial debut Half-life ( Sundance 2008). His newest script Walking in Los Angeles, is being co-written by Phang, Redgrave and Berkowitz.