Gregory Benson is an American comedian, actor, and director. His production company, Mediocre Films, creates comedic
short films
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
, generally for
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
. He is a frequent director for ''
The Guild''.
[Mediocre Films profile](_blank)
at YouTube
History
Benson graduated from
W. T. White High School
Warren Travis White High School is a public secondary school in Dallas, Texas (USA). W. T. White High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District.
The school, named in honor of the Dallas schoo ...
in 1986. Eventually he moved to California, where he has since appeared in several television commercials. Benson is a sometime member of the
ACME Comedy Theatre
The ACME Comedy Theatre is an American sketch comedy and improvisational theater located near Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on La Brea near Wilshire's "Miracle Mile".Bronstad, Amanda (2002)Laughing matter: M.D. Sweeney has turned a bug fo ...
improv troupe in Hollywood, where he first worked with writer/actor
Wil Wheaton
Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...
, who has since appeared in a variety of Benson's projects.
[April MacIntyre]
Wil Wheaton interview: A Gorgeous Tiny Chicken C Spot
," Monsters and Critics, May 29, 2008.
He started making videos in 2005, initially hosting them on his own Mediocre Films website.
[Tommy Garrett]
"Nothing mediocre about Greg,"
''Canyon News'' (Laurel Canyon, CA), April 20, 2008. Eventually he moved his distribution from his own site to YouTube, where within one month, "Greg Hits Hollywood", one of his shorts, was featured on the site's home page.
[Kellie Hwang]
''The Arizona Republic'' (Phoenix, AZ), March 28, 2009. The video and its sequels feature Benson interviewing strangers as a pretext for hitting them with his microphone to see "what people will put up with just because they want to be on TV, or even just YouTube."
Since then, he has become a popular YouTube comedian, number 47 on the list of most subscribed comedians on YouTube. His most popular video as of early 2009
was episode 1 of the ''
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show
''Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show'' is an internet comedy talk show parody starring a Japanese character called Kiko. The video series debuted on YouTube in 2007 and was created by husband-and-wife team Greg Benson and Kim Evey's production comp ...
'', which was selected to be featured on YouTube shortly after being posted February 25, 2007, and subsequently drew nearly 2 million viewers. The series later was picked up by
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
,
who continued the show through two seasons on YouTube as part of its "C Spot" lineup; one reviewer for ''The Times'' of London described it as "Pee-Wee Herman meets Monty Python via the hyperkinetic madness of Japanese television."
[Nigel Kendall.]
The Web watcher: Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine; Mediocre Films,"
''The Times'' (London, England), June 16, 2008.
Benson's most prominent directing credit is his work on the Internet series ''
The Guild'', on which he worked again with his wife, Kim Evey, producer of ''The Guild, '' as well as creator and performer of the ''Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show''.
He also portrayed one of the passengers on the short Docudrama "The Flight that Fought Back". He and his wife, Kim, adopted a baby boy named Charlie in January 2016.
Awards
His first video, "Coming Home", was chosen by
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
customers as one of the top five videos of the Amazon/
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
's short films division.
["Beginner filmmaker wins Amazon Theater/Tribeca Film Festival Short-Film Competition with his second film: Jack Paccione, Jr. took second place in inaugural competition last July with his first-ever film,"](_blank)
Business Wire, November 3, 2005: ''"Other finalist films included ... 'Coming Home,' written, directed and produced by Greg Benson: Inspired by Woody Allen, Spike Jonze and Monty Python, this comedy was based on a dream and shot in one evening with a budget of $10. No one expects to come home to this."''
His short "Phone Call to God" was chosen for second place in the best comedy division at the 2006 Evil City Film Fest.
Retrieved January 21, 2008.
"
The Guild", which Benson Directed the second half of season 1, has won several awards including 2007
YouTube Awards
The YouTube Awards (also known as the YouTube Video Awards) was a promotion run by the video-sharing website YouTube to recognize the best user-generated videos of the year. The awards were presented twice, in 2007 and 2008, with winners being vo ...
(Best Series), 2009
Streamy Awards
The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The formal ...
(Best Series, Best Comedy Series), 2012
IAWTV Awards
The IAWTV Awards is an annual event hosted by the International Academy of Web Television, currently based in Los Angeles, that honors web series creators and talent in more than two dozen categories.
History
The IAWTV Awards are hosted annuall ...
(Best Comedy Web Series)
''Retarded Policeman''
''Retarded Policeman'' is an American
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
comedy web series written, directed, and edited by Benson, and based on an idea by his wife, producer and performer, Kim Evey. Scott Perry, Josh "The Ponceman" Perry's brother, has worked on the series.
The videos are uploaded on YouTube under the channel MediocreFilms.
Synopsis
The fictional series follows learning impaired Officer Ponce (Josh "The Ponceman" Perry) as he pulls over members of the public.
Theme song
The following is the lyrics to the 8 second long theme song played at the start of the video. Episode 15 had a rock remix of the theme song performed by Dave Days.
''He is a cop'',
''And he's learning impaired,''
''He's the retarded policeman! (that's me!)''
Episode list
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Greg
American male comedians
21st-century American comedians
Film directors from Texas
Living people
Male actors from Dallas
American male YouTubers
Comedy YouTubers
Prank YouTubers
YouTubers from Texas
YouTube channels launched in 2006
Year of birth missing (living people)