Benjamin Jeffrey Steinbauer (born July 28, 1977) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and film producer. He directed the feature documentary ''

Winnebago Man ''Winnebago Man'' is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Ben Steinbauer. The film follows the Internet phenomenon created by a series of twenty-year-old outtakes from a Winnebago sales video featuring profane outbursts from a salesperso ...

'' (2009) and the documentary ''Chop & Steele'' (2022), which premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. Steinbauer was the director of the episodic television show '' High Hopes'' for Jimmy Kimmel's production company. He also directed the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

show ''Stories of the Mind,'' and the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

documentary series ''

Pink Collar Crimes ''Pink Collar Crimes'' is a true crime show that aired on CBS. The series focuses on real crimes committed by women and includes interviews with the suspects, victims, private investigators, police, and attorneys involved with the cases. Episod ...

.''

Early life and education

Steinbauer graduated from

Edmond Memorial High School Edmond Memorial High School is a public secondary school located in Edmond, Oklahoma, one of three high schools in the Edmond school district. It serves approximately 2,300 students. History The school was originally named Edmond High School b ...

in Edmond,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, in 1995. He then earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Theatre and Film from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in 2001, where he sits on the Professional Advisory Board of KU Film. While attending college, Steinbauer began his

filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

career by producing documentaries and music videos for Forty Minutes of Hell, Everest, and The Danny Pound Band. In 2002, he was a camera operator and editor on Bradley Beesley's documentary '' The Fearless Freaks'', that focused on the band

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

. In 2004, Steinbauer enrolled in the graduate film program at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. His pre-thesis film, ''The Next Tim Day'', received the Best Documentary Award at Cinema Texas. In 2006, he was awarded a

Princess Grace Award The Princess Grace Foundation – USA is a charity organization named after Princess Grace of Monaco, which supports emerging performers in theater, dance, and film in the form of awards, grants, scholarships, and fellowships. The Foundation hol ...

for Filmmaking for his graduate thesis film, which developed into the documentary ''

'' (2009).

Career

After completing his studies, Steinbauer served as a faculty member at the

and was named 'Teacher of the Year' by the Moody College of Communications. His documentary, ''

'' premiered at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

in 2009 and was theatrically released in the U.S. and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 2010. The documentary received praise from

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

. Steinbauer directed the short documentary Brute Force (2012), which premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

(SXSW) in 2012. In 2012, he co-directed Calls to Okies: The Park Grubbs Story (2015) with Bradley Beesley. The short premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in 2015 and was a

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

Staff Pick. Steinbauer produced and directed the short documentary ''The Superlative Light (2016),'' which was shot in both traditional 2D as well as in virtual reality (VR), and premiered at the SXSW in 2016. It was also featured in ''Short of the Week''. Steinbauer directed 5 episodes of the

series ''Stories of the Mind'' in 2016. His 2016 documentary, ''Slow To Show'', was acquired by

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

and was a Vimeo Staff Pick. After

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...

, Steinbauer worked with

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

to make ''Heroes From the Storm'' (2017), which was a

Staff Pick and selected for the U.S. State Department's

American Film Program The American Film Program is a Cultural Exchange Program provided by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Purpose The American Film Program singles out those videos that it views reflect core American prin ...

. In 2018, Steinbauer directed eight episodes of the CBS comedic docuseries ''

,'' hosted by

Marcia Clark Marcia Rachel Clark (' Kleks, formerly Horowitz; born August 31, 1953) is an American prosecutor, author, television correspondent, and television producer. She was the lead prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case. Early life and educatio ...

. Steinbauer's documentary Siren Song, which he co-directed with Berndt Mader, premiered at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. Steinbauer's feature-length comedy documentary ''Chop & Steele'', co-directed with Berndt Mader, premiered at the

in 2022. The film features

Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel is known for voicing Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', playing rowd ...

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, musician, beatboxer, and actor. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. He refers to himself as a "disinfo ...

, and

Bobcat Goldthwait Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait (born May 26, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, director, and screenwriter. He is known for his black comedy stand-up act, delivered through an energetic stage persona with an unusual raspy and high-pitched ...

and was released theatrically by

Drafthouse Films Drafthouse Films is an independent film distribution company based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2010 by Tim League, who had previously founded the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain. Drafthouse has released a variety of films since its incepti ...

in spring 2023. Steinbauer was the director of the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

Original comedy series, '' High Hopes''. Steinbauer co-owns the production company The Bear, founded in 2007, with writer and director Berndt Mader.

Awards and nominations

In 2005, Steinbauer was awarded the Princess Grace Award for Filmmaking for his graduate thesis film, which developed into ''Winnebago Man''. Steinbauer was named "one of the best emerging Texas filmmakers of 2009" by ''

'' for ''Winnebago Man''. ''Winnebago Man'' won Best Documentary at the

Sarasota Film Festival The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-long ...

, an Audience Award at the CineVegas Film Festival, Audience Top 10 at Hot Docs Film Festival, the Founders Prize at the

Traverse City Film Festival The Traverse City Film Festival was an annual film festival held at the end of July in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival was created as an annual event in 2005 to help “save one of America's few indigenous art forms—the cinema". The event ...

, and Best Documentary at the

Edmonton International Film Festival The Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF) is a nine-day film festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, hosted at Landmark Cinemas at Edmonton City Centre. It is supported by and partnered with Telefilm Canada, Government of Alberta, Alberta ...

. ''Winnebago Man'' was also in the official selection for IDFA and

Sheffield Doc/Fest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest; abbr.Sheffield International Documentary Festival or SIDF) is an international documentary Film festival, festival and industry marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The festiv ...

. The Austin Film Critics Association named ''Winnebago Man'' the Best Austin Film for 2010. Steinbauer's 2012 film ''Brute Force'' won Best Documentary Short at Sidewalk Moving Pictures Festival in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and screened at the

New Media Film Festival The New Media Film Festival® (NMFF), established in 2009 by Susan Johnston, is an annual event held in Los Angeles that honors stories worth telling by embracing the fusion of storytelling and technology. The New Media Festival features multiple ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Filmography

*''

'' (2009) *'' Slacker 2011'' (2011) *''Brute Force'' (2012) *''Documentary Subjects Wanted'' (2013) *''Calls To Okies: The Park Grubbs Story'' (2015) *''Slow To Show'' (2016) *''Stories of the Mind'' (2016, 5 episodes) *''The Superlative Light'' (2016) *''Heroes From the Storm'' (2017) *''

'' (2018, 8 episodes) *''Siren Song'' (2019) *''Chop & Steele'' (2022) *'' High Hopes'' (2022, 6 episodes)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbauer, Ben Film directors from Kansas Living people 1977 births People from Wichita, Kansas Princess Grace Awards winners University of Kansas alumni American documentary filmmakers American television producers