Back in 2016 we were working on a little comedy short. (I’ll never forget this shoot because one of our Arri 1K lights exploded during production!) We invited a few kids on set who had expressed some interest in video production. One of those kids was 15 year old Ben Wiersema.
Ben had been acting in school plays and was curious about the video production process. As sparks flew from our lighting rig, I guess a spark ignited in Ben as well. Ben continued acting and went on to Columbia College to study screenwriting and video production.
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Fast forward to 2021. Real Video was putting together a commercial and was looking for some actors. Ben came to mind and we cast him for one of the roles. While sipping LaCroix and snacking on Welch’s fruit snacks in between takes, Ben mentioned he was looking for an internship as he entered his senior year at Columbia.
We brought Ben on as an intern and he crushed it! The whole team at Real was blown away by his creativity, organization and his hunger to continually learn and grow. We decided to offer Ben a part-time position as our Associate Producer before his internship was over.
We couldn’t be more excited to have Ben on staff at Real while he finishes his degree and we look forward to what the future holds.
As with all new employees, we sat down with Ben for an interview…
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RVP: First off, welcome aboard, and thanks for taking the time to tell people about yourself. So starting off— what are 3 things I should know about you in order to understand you better?
BW:
- It’s hard for me to put into words how much I love movies. Making movies. Watching movies. All of it. At 10 years old, I would bike around my neighborhood with an iPod 5 and a broken tripod to make random short “films.” Most, if not all, of those masterpieces will never see the light of the day. I’ll make sure of that.
- I’m always looking to improve myself.
- I have a sticker of the Queen of England on the back window of my Toyota RAV-4. If you ever spot one of us, feel free to ask how she got there.
RVP: So what’s inspiring you right now?
BW: This has been a pretty dope movie year in my opinion.
Films like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and Mad God have all blown me away.
It’s hard for me to turn off my critic brain sometimes, but never have I ever seen so many movies in a year that I can’t help but just ogle at.
I’m extremely grateful.
It’s all new and exciting to me, and I hope that feeling sticks with me for a long time.
RVP: What excites you most about being an associate producer?
BW: I’m only 21 years old, so being able to help write scripts, prep shoots, work on sets, and give feedback on edits for a production company is something I’m still wrapping my head around.
I’m extremely grateful. It’s all new and exciting to me, and I hope that feeling sticks with me for a long time.
RVP: What excites you most about joining the Real Video team?
BW: The endless supply of LaCroix in the fridge…
Oh, and working with some amazingly creative peeps; a few that I’ve known for a long time and others that I met only a few months ago.
There’s plenty of opportunity for me to grow creatively and professionally here at Real, and the community here makes it a blast. I dig it.
RVP: What is some free advice you have to give?
BW: We create because there is Someone who created us. The gifts and talents you have are completely intentional.