Ben’s extensive production background includes shows that have won 21 Emmys and an Oscar nomination. He cut his production teeth on the streets and stages of New York in the ‘70s, working as grip and gofer, then AD, Production Manager and Producer – of commercials, industrials and network television shows.
Besides ten years of daily network television production, Ben has more than 500 other productions to his credit. He has handled unruly crowds, detestable weather, surly unions, cantankerous stars and impossible budgets to get them on film or tape…and win practically every award in the business.
During the ‘80’s, Ben fed his soul by producing and directing a string of Emmy-award winning documentaries, delivering though-provoking and emotionally gripping programming on subjects ranging from hunger in America to euthanasia.
His first foray into motion pictures was at Disney/Touchstone, where he created and co-produced the Robin Williams megahit Good Morning, Vietnam. At ITC/Orion he mounted Without a Clue (Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley), and later produced and directed Nickel & Dime (Wallace Shawn, C. Thomas Howell) for RCA/Columbia, produced Hope Ranch (Bruce Boxleitner, Lorenzo Lamas, Gail O’Grady) for Discovery Networks and executive produced Cupid's Prey (Joanna Pacula, Jack Wagner) for Daybreak Pacific.
Recently, Ben has returned to the documentary world, writing and directing the feature/television documentary Taking the Hill: The Warrior's Journey Home on post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans. The film explores the issue and presents a variety of people who are helping the growing number of psychically wounded warriors returning home.
Presently, Ben is in production on a multi-part film on the subject of democracy around the world called The Mystery of Democracy, based on the work of Stanford University's Dr. Larry Diamond, and supported by an advisory board of democracy experts and academics from around the world. It will be produced in four languages and will be hosted by the member of a royal family.
Ellipse, 2010 - Executive producer. Short film. Drama. Le Chat est Mort, 2009 - Co-writer. Executive producer. Short film. Black comedy.
Taking the Hill: The Warrior's Journey Home, 2008 - Writer, Director. Feature/Television Documentary. Mother's Be Good, 2006 - Executive producer. Short film. Drama.
Hope Ranch, 2004 - Producer, Daybreak Pacific / Discovery Network, aired on Animal Planet. TV Movie. Drama.
Cupid's Prey, 2002 - Executive producer, Daybreak Pacific Films, distributed by Regent Entertainment. Feature film. Erotic Thriller.
Nickel & Dime, 1992 – Producer, director, co-writer. RCA/Columbia. Feature film. Comedy.
Listen Up: Young Voices for Change, 1992 – Producer, director, News
special, CBS television.
What Are We Doing to Our Children?, 1989 - Director, KTLA. Documentary.
Without a Clue, 1988 - Associate Producer, ITC, distributed by Orion Pictures. Feature film. Comedy.
Good Morning, Vietnam, 1987 - Creator & co-producer, Touchstone. Feature film. Comedy.
Dying with Dignity, 1986 – Producer & director, KTLA. Documentary.
Land of the Free: Home of the Rich, 1978 – Producer, director,
co-writer, KTLA. Documentary.
Card Sharks, 1978-81, TV Series - Associate Director, Game show.
Family Feud, 1976-81, TV Series - Associate Director, Game show.
Lynne's professional life began as a corporate banker, first with Continental Illinois and later with Banque Paribas in Los Angeles. Her specialties were leveraged finance and entertainment lending. As her passion for film grew, she began screenwriting and working in development, first as a freelance reader for NBC, CAA and Stan Rogow Productions, then as Development Assistant at Stan Rogow Productions and Development Director for television director and producer Peter Werner's company, A Joyful Noise Unlimited. During a five-year hiatus to spend more time with her children, Lynne worked part-time as the Director of Communications at Highland Hall Waldorf School.
In 2002, her screenplay Cupid’s Prey was produced, and just weeks before the start of principle photography, she was hired to complete a page-one rewrite of a TV movie for Discovery Networks, Hope Ranch. In 2003, Lynne returned to the entertainment industry full-time and in 2004 co-produced an independent feature, Cruel But Necessary, with writer/lead actress Wendel Meldrum and director Saul Rubinek.
In 2005, she tried directing for the first time with a student short entitled One Line, then wrote, produced and directed her own short film later that year, Mothers Be Good, completed in 2006 and screened at numerous festivals in 2006 and 2007.
In 2006, she co-wrote the feature Daybreak with its lead actor, Aram Rappaport. With Lynne to direct, the ensemble film attached stars Jennifer Tilly, Joe Mantegna, Alexa Vega, Kathy Baker and Armin Mueller-Stahl.
In 2007, Lynne worked in live theater for the first time directing the world premiere of Mark Troy's Paging Dr. Chutzpah at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre in Toluca Lake. This raucous comedy was a big hit, resulting in two extensions before finally closing in March 2008. In 2007/2008, she also produced, along with her Appleseed partner Ben Moses, the documentary, Taking the Hill: The Warrior’s Journey Home about ways of addressing post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans.
In 2008, Lynne's co-wrote, directed and produced a black comedy short film called Le Chat est Mort starring Elizabeth Perkins (Big, Weeds) , Peter Story and David Goldman, which won the Accolade Award of Excellence, premiered at the Sonoma International Film Festival as a featured film, and sscreened at the Salento Finebus Terre Film Festival in Italy, among other festivals.
From 2008 through 2010, she has had the pleasure of co-writing two English language scripts with the French film production company Bonne Pioche (March of the Penguins): a fantasy feature film called The Blue Book with director Christophe Lioud and Back to Africa (working title) with its director, Pierre Stine.
In 2010, Lynne also wrote, produced and directed her first French language project, a short film entitled Ellipse, currently in post-production. She is Executive Producing the documentary The Mystery of Democracy being written, produced and directed by her Appleseed partner, Ben Moses, and, in May 2010, is directing a staged reading in Paris of Colette Freedman's acclaimed play Sister Cities, translated into French by Maëlle Genet as Une ville, une sœur, in anticipation of directing the play sometime in 2011.
Ellipse, 2010 - Writer, Director & Producer. Short film. Drama.
Le Chat est Mort, 2009 - Co-writer, Director & Producer. Short film. Black comedy.
Taking the Hill: The Warrior's Journey Home, 2008 - Producer. Feature/Television Documentary. Mothers Be Good, 2006 – Writer, Producer, Director. Short Film. Drama.
One Line, 2005 – Director. Student Short Film. Drama.
Cruel But Necessary, 2005 – Co-producer. Independent feature. Drama.
Hope Ranch, 2004 - Page One Rewrite, Daybreak Pacific / Discovery Network, aired on Animal Planet. Drama.
Cupid’s Prey, 2002 - Original Screenplay, Daybreak Pacific Films,
distributed by Regent Entertainment. Erotic Thriller.
