Documentary Director/Producer/Writer/Professor Ben Shedd makes science and technology films & videos, including two IMAX immersive dome documentaries, with an emphasis on environmental stories.
Ben’s film and video productions have received dozens of awards, including a Peabody Award/Shared for the NOVA PBS Science documentary series [where Ben was Associate Producer on the very first NOVA program in 1973] and an Academy Award Oscar, Best Documentary Short Subject 1978 for his first independent production THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR, the filmed-as-it-happened story of creating the first successful human-powered airplane in human history. He produced the Make-A-Wish film STAR WAITERS video which was selected from 13,200 wishes granted in 2009 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America’s Infinite Wish Award, its top award for the wish project that best brought a community together to grant a child’s wish.
Ben Shedd’s films and videos have been funded by several non-profit and government foundations, including production grants from the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation USA, the National Endowment for the Humanities USA, Public Television Funders, the Polaroid Foundation, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Idaho.
In parallel with his production career, Ben has taught cinema production courses at 11 universities, colleges and art schools since 1979, specialising in teaching and mentoring about immersive VR & giant screen dome productions.
He is currently writing an immersive dome movie for science museums and online about climate and ways to visualise and care about our atmosphere, the invisible yet very real and dense molecular air we swim in and breath in every day. https://benshedd.com
