Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ben Kurzrock. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ben , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Recently, my comedy team Probably A Cult finished our first feature length film, directed by my creative partner Griffin Davis. The film is a rock-mockumentary called “Counting In”, exploring the life and current whereabouts of rock-n-roll’s mysterious legend Steve Staccato, the world’s greatest at counting to four before any song begins. We originally dove into the project as a short film, then stumbled into it being feature length when we discovered how many more characters and angles we wanted to develop.
Griffin and I started Probably A Cult in 2017, a collective mostly focused on sketch comedy and short films, with occasional live shows. Throughout the years, we’ve worked with a wide variety of filmmakers and comedians, many of whom are our closest friends. It was very special to bring our friends, family and collaborators together for something bigger than anything else we’d ever executed before, all while still maintaining the spirit of sketch comedy and improvisation at the foundation of everything we do creatively.
We’re very proud of how this movie turned out, and are excited to share it with the world.
Ben , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a comedy filmmaker that writes and directs sketches, short films, pilots, cartoons, podcasts and features.
After starting my creative career in various post-production jobs at digital comedy companies, as well as a writing job at Turner’s Super Deluxe, the bulk of my experience has been on SpongeBob. I started as a SpongeBob Production Assistant in 2019, eventually working my way up to being a Production Coordinator on all three SpongeBob TV shows at once. By 2020, I entered the writer’s room as a Script Coordinator on the spin-off shows, which eventually led to writing, voice directing, and podcast producing work across the SpongeBob Universe (SpongeBob, Patrick Star Show, Kamp Koral, YouTube, Tonies Audiobook, NFL Slime Time Specials, The Bikini Bottom Super Bowl, Kids Choice Awards, Tik Tok) . I have learned more from my years on the Sponge than anything else in my creative career, and am extremely grateful for the experience.
While working on SpongeBob, I’ve continued to run the sketch comedy group I started at UCLA, which evolved into an experimental filmmaking collective called Probably A Cult. Between my work with Super Deluxe, SpongeBob and Probably A Cult, I am lucky to have a wide variety of creative and technical experience, which has allowed me to stay busy doing what I love.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I want to continue creating a large library of comedy throughout my entire life, each project a reflection of my experiences moving through time.
I love looking back at old projects, and thinking about where I was in life when they were made, what I was feeling, and whatever may have inspired their concepts.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Buy tickets, go to shows and spread the word!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.benkurzrock.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benkurzrock/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@probablyacult
