Film
Ben Shapiro directs, produces and photographs documentary films. His feature documentary Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters premiered at SXSW, following by theatrical release (NY Times "Critics Pick"). Brief Encounters had international screenings and broadcasts from Australia to South Africa. Shapiro is currently completing a documentary about legendary drummer-composer-activist Max Roach, co-directing with Sam Pollard.
As a documentary cinematographer he has worked with directors Barbara Kopple, Albert Maysles, Sam Pollard, Katy Chevigny, Ben Hedin, among others. He photographed PBS American Masters programs Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides and Cab Calloway Sketches, the PBS/NEH series Picturing America Onscreen, and Surviving West Point for National Geographic. His commercial work includes spots for BBDO and a range of corporate clients. Shapiro was co-producer and cinematographer of the PBS special Hitmakers: The Changing Face of the Music Business, and the documentary Paul Goodman Changed My Life. His film Home Across the Water, about the Gullah communities of Georgia and South Carolina, received an AFI First Prize, screened widely including the Museum of Modern Art. He was a regular contributor to three Peabody Award-winning series for WNET-TV/PBS: City Arts, City Life, and Egg: The Arts Show. |