Ben Young is an award winning writer/director who began his career acting for screen at the age of 12.
He completed a Bachelor of Arts at Curtin University in 2003 and a Master of Screen Studies at the WA Screen Academy in 2005. He has since directed music videos, commercials, fashion film, and written and/or directed series television.
His 2016 feature film debut HOUNDS OF LOVE was funded through ScreenWest’s West Coast Visions, produced by Factor 30 Films starring Emma Booth, Ashleigh Cummins and Stephen Curry. It had its world premiere at the 2016 Venice Film Festival, picking up a prize for Best Actress in a Debut Film (Venice Days), and received 9 2016 AACTA Award nominations including Best Film, Best Direction and Best Actress for Emma Booth’s performance.
Ben’s second film EXTINCTION premiered on Netflix in 2018 starring Michael Peña and Lizzy Caplan, produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman for Good Universe.
For television Ben’s directing credits include two new dramas, both filmed in Western Australia; POPULATION 11 for Jungle Entertainment and STAN, along with the second season of the acclaimed drama from Warner Bros Australia/Easy Tiger THE TWELVE for Foxtel starring Sam Neill and Frances O’Connor. Previous television directing credits include eps 5 & 6 on Netflix’s first Australian produced production CLICKBAIT for Tony Ayres Productions and episode 8 on THE WILDS: 2 for Amazon from creator Sarah Streicher.
Ben’s third feature film, DEVILS PEAK starring Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright and Hopper Penn, produced by Griff Furst, Josh Kessleman and Robin Wright for Curmudgeon Films was released theatrically in US in 2023. The screenplay was written by Robert Knott, after David Joy’s novel Where All Light Tends To Go. DEVILS PEAK opened the Revelation International Film Festival.
Ben is based in Perth, Western Australia.
