The scariest time for any college student is graduation: the life they’ve known for the past 3 or 4 years is ending, and ahead of them stretches an unknown future. Ben Stranahan, an actor, musician, and film producer for Tip-Top Productions, agrees. “I remember when I was preparing to graduate from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in LA,” he says. “I had spent three years learning everything I could about acting, and now it was done. I had my diploma, and Hollywood stretched before me. I was about to take my place among the countless people trying to make it in a brutal profession and make my own fate. I was going to have to sink or swim, and believe me, LA doesn’t have a whole lot of life preservers.”
Ben, who is a decent swimmer, by the way, went about making a career in Hollywood the old-fashioned way: through a ton of hard work. “I wish I could say everything happened overnight for me, but that’d be a big, fat lie,” he says. “I can’t tell you how many rejections I got as I went on casting calls and tried to find investors for the films I was making. If thick skin is what gets you through until you reach success, then mine is probably at least 6 inches thick.”
Ben persevered and kept networking as he made movie after movie and developed a reputation in LA as being an independent film producer who has talent, respect for those he works with, and an uncanny sense of what audiences are looking for in a movie. These days, he is giving them Monstrous, his thriller starring Christina Ricci, and is about to start Better Than Yourself, a highly anticipated mystery about four friends whose dreams inexplicably come true. As his resume grows, Ben’s ego remains in check. “I owe that to my parents,” he affirms. “They’re the ones who would remind me that no matter how successful I might get, I should stay humble.”
His parents, he continues, are artsy, too, and they were not surprised when teenaged Ben stepped out on a stage in his Aspen, Colorado, middle school and began acting in a play. “Yes, I got the showbiz bug early,” Ben says. “There’s nothing like having the audience’s energy to draw upon. Some people shrink from the spotlight, but something in me makes me step towards it.”
In high school, he explored filmmaking when he first used his phone to shoot a video of his peers. “That gave me a totally different perspective on the world,” he remembers. “I could tell that directing and producing movies would be a lot of fun.”
Life wasn’t all about films and acting, however. “I got into music and probably gave my parents a headache with all the time I spent practicing the drums. Fortunately for them, I was also into the piano, which I think both Mom and Dad appreciated. I had a blast playing in a band for five years.”
Senioritis hit Ben just like it did his peers. “I had the best plan: I was going to go to LA so that I could get started on my career in Hollywood.”
The first stop, however, was the Berklee College of Music. “Boston was clear on the other side of the country, but I knew that I could learn there from some of the finest musicians in the country,” Ben explains. “I was right. My time there definitely made me into the musician I am today.”
At the prestigious AADA, Ben especially enjoyed breaking down characters, scene study and learning accents, including Southern, Standard RP, New England, and Irish. “I also got good at stage combat, both armed and unarmed.”
When Ben finished his classes, he began building his career as an actor, producer, and musician. He has found success in particular as a movie producer, including 2016’s Mean Dreams, which starred Bill Paxton, Sophie Nélisse, Josh Wiggins, and Colm Feore. Ben says that one of his proudest moments was watching it premiere in 2016 at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and as a Special Presentation at TIFF. “Then it went on to be sold in over fifty countries and to be released theatrically in over ten countries. That was beyond amazing and very satisfying.”
One of his favorite movies to produce and act in was Population Zero. “That was a blast,” says Ben. “It was a psychological thriller and really took the genre in a different direction. Critics around the world liked it. I also enjoyed producing Calibre, another thriller, which was released on Netflix in 2018. That ended up being nominated for four BAFTAs, and it won for one: Best Actor for Jack Lowden. The night we won was incredible for all of us.”
Ben has also found success as a TV producer with The Midnight Anthology, starring Clancy Brown. Its pilot premiered at the New York Television Festival in 2015 and went on to win the Artistic Achievement and Best Director awards at the festival. Ben and The Midnight Anthology team are developing the remaining episodes of the series.
Ben turns thoughtful as he thinks back over key moments in his life. “I think so many of the best opportunities come when we are willing to go forward into uncertainty instead of allowing it to paralyze us or make us hesitate,” he says. “I have had my moments of doubt just like anyone else, but I think one reason I am here today is because I have kept on going instead of crumbling. When I have, I have found opportunities that have allowed me to take the next step up the Hollywood ladder. That’s why I am here today. Carpe diem!”