Ben Makinen - Movies, Photos & Biography

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Ben Makinen - filmmaker, executive producer, writer, director, composer. Founder of Bmakin Film ltd and the International Modern Film Alliance (IMFA). Makinen is a voting member of the GRAMMYs Recording Academy, Producers and Engineers Wing.

With over 40 years professional experience in film, television, theatre and music production, Makinen enjoys a collaborative reputation throughout an international community of multi-media clientele.

Ben is (2023) currently in post-production with his second feature length music doc We Are Here: Women In Jazz examining today's gender gap found in jazz, and the obstacles women face in a male dominated industry with revealing personal stories and performances from many of today's top international jazz musicians and educators including Grammy Award Winners The Manhattan Transfer, Dianne Reeves, Endea Owens and newly French knighted chevalier Veronica Swift!

Makinen is also writing his first action packed screenplay in which which James Bond meets Mission Impossible in Bali - the Island of the Gods.

His first feature length film, JazzTown, is an award-winning documentary exploring the music and lives of his early Colorado mentors who shared the stage with greats such as Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.

Makinen's follow up to JazzTown is the award-winning short doc Who Killed Jazz. An unflinching action packed showdown with the elephant in the room, Who Killed Jazz examines the socio-economic forces keeping jazz musicians working at the poverty level.

Ben began working professionally as a drummer in 1980. He has worked as a music producer and composer since 1990. Makinen began making short films with his company Bmakin Film (experimental, narrative, investigative journalism and documentary) since its formation in 2001. Ben teaches and conducts jazz workshops and has also been a guest speaker in film studies classes teaching acting and filmmaking workshops.

Ben's short - Anthropocene - is an Official Selection at the EFPalooza 2019 Film Festival. His music video Alone At Sunset won Best Sound Design in the 2019 Nederland International Film Festival and is a 2021 Official Selection of the Anotolia International Film Festival. His music video Hypomania is also an Official Selection at the 2021 Anatolia International Film Festival and is a Finalist in the 2021 4th Dimension International Film Festival.

In June of 2019 he was hired as the band videographer for Denver-based gamelan Tunas Mekar's 2-week Indonesian tour across the island of Bali . There he met his current wife on set: he asked her to marry him one week after meeting her. They have recently celebrated the 3rd birthday of their son Matteo.

Ben founded the International Modern Film Alliance (IMFA) in 2020 as a way to develop and nurture filmmakers who lack access to resources and instruction. The IMFA's mission statement is, "to teach and promote the art of storytelling through the marriage of music and film."

Ben Makinen leads IMFA workshops for children and young adults in Bali, Indonesia while collaborating with local film production companies and is looking to raise funds and awareness to continue building creative collaborations between the US and Indonesia.