Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjámin de Bohun.
Hi Benjamin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My passion for film and arts started from a very young age and acted as an escape from the real world and the realities of life around me. Growing up between the United States and Hungary gave me the experience of meeting many people from diverse kinds of backgrounds and unique narratives which led me inspired to tell the stories of others and empower minorities whose voices are sometimes silenced in our conventional society. I got my first camera around 12 years old and immediately after that, I founded my independent entertainment studio, Ghost Studios, which is mainly a non-profit initiative based on preserving the traditions and heritage of the Hungarian countryside, which had never before been shared with anyone, therefore capturing it on the lens was very important to me. Empowering the voices of minorities has also been vital to me.
Last year I partnered with the You Belong Foundation in Hungary to document the experiences of the Roma minority as well as interview the girls translating Amanda Gorman’s poetry alongside organizing a summer camp for them. My documentary project on Nagyecsed as well as my experimental film based on the character transformation of Jadis in The Walking Dead using footage from the AMC series ended up getting selected to many international film festivals with critical acclaim, such as Los Angeles Youth Diversity Film Festival, Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, Lift-Off Film Festival and Gimpo International Youth Film Festival where I was selected as a Youth Board Director. As part of Ghost Studios, I have also begun a podcast series highlighting African and African-American musicians around the globe called The Power of Music. The debut episode featured Victoria Sethunya, an opera singer. A weekly initiative called Saturday Night Fever was also launched as part of my music archiving efforts and highlighting obscure musicians for the public. As a PhotoVogue photographer for the online publication of Vogue Italia, I edited photos and acted as a public relations coordinator for actress Ayaka Miyoshi who was in Netflix’s Alice in Borderlands for the 2023 Paris Fashion Week for the Alexander McQueen show. Traveling and growing up across Europe and Africa gave me a unique perspective of what it means to be human, to encounter so many different people from all shades of the spectrum, it truly continues to inspire me to tell heartwarming and moving stories that can touch the hearts and souls of audiences across the globe. I feel eternally grateful to have the opportunity to meet and work with many international professionals in the industry despite only being a high school student which further is a living testimony that anything someone puts their mind to can be accomplished.
Currently, I am in pre-production for my biggest project yet, featuring the most famous actresses in Hungary which I would like to officially announce with VoyageLA. The short film which is also going to act as my creative supplement for film schools across the United States is called Regression and is an avant-garde film that takes place in 1960s communist Hungary. The cast consists of Irén Bordán, who recently played the role of Vera Peschauer in the second season of Netflix’s Russian Doll alongside Natasha Lyonne. The other role will be played by Riana Emma Balla, the most notable child actress from Hungary who acted in titles like The Alienist and Jack Ryan. The film deals with complex themes and takes on an avant-garde tone in portraying the transcendence into the afterlife where finally the soul and consciousness are able to reunify and Irén can finally come to terms with past memories and suffering. Filming will take place during the summer and there is yet to be a release date announced but it is slated for submission for the Cannes Film Festival representing Hungary in the 77th edition of the historic event.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Moving back to the United States from Hungary right before high school was an exceptional challenge for me because at the time, I experienced intense culture shock not only because of the American school system but because of how different the general outlook on life was for most American people. Hungary, mainly because of its history and generational trauma, people generally tend to be more distant and isolated. In addition, just like it is the common experience of many other people in the industry, making your name, getting recognized and receiving media attention is really hard unless you have the right connections, similar to how it is when applying to elite colleges in the United States. Nepotism, sadly is something that tends to never fade away; no matter if you are more talented or have better ideas, the son or daughter of someone will always have the upper hand or higher chance to get a role or land themselves a name in the industry without much effort because of their position within society.
Despite this, I continue to partake in as many activities as I can outside of school. This year was also very hard for me to keep up with most of my schoolwork as an IB Diploma student and college student, alongside pre-production and writing the screenplay for my film. Even though it is only a short film, some people may think it is really easy, but in reality, even preparing for a project which may only last for around 5 minutes on screen requires a lot of preparation, how the scenes will be decorated, set-design, securing a cast, writing the screenplay, securing a location, arranging meetings, deciding on shots and color grading, which I have done on my own. Alongside this, I am also doing an internship with a Congressperson and I am doing independent research projects at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine. Throughout my life, I have always tried to maintain a very hard work ethic and high standards in order to reach my future goals.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have dealt with many different aspects of filmmaking and I also volunteer on the production team at Saddleback Church. Early on, I did videography for the Szentendre Sleepwalkers baseball team in Hungary as well as many short films throughout the years, especially focused on the Hungarian countryside, many of which are featured in the full-length documentary, Nagyecsed: The Documentary which will be re-released soon. I love creating new ideas for films and series in my free time; even though I do not have the budget to develop, but I intend to save them for the future. Even though I love filmmaking, I am still in high school as a full-time student; therefore I do not have much time outside of school to pursue other passions. In my free time, I love listening to music and writing poetry. I think mostly my vision will set me apart from many others and I tend to focus a lot on the small details as I tend to be a perfectionist. Even for my research project, I have gone on lengthy deep dives and years of research before even starting to write my paper.
What’s next?
I hope to gain admission to some of my top choices which include USC, UCLA, NYU, Harvard, Columbia and double-major in film alongside a communications or business-related field. After my film Regression is released, I hope to send it to many international film festivals, including some major ones. In the future, I hope to pursue being a film director, even writing some of my own original material alongside starting a couple of businesses. It would also be interesting to try out acting and modeling. In the distant future, I hope to start my own streaming service and also win an Oscar. Being a partner of Artist International Group and working with Be On Cloud has always been a dream of mine as I admire their work.
Contact Info:
- Website: ghstagcy.square.site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qq.benji/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ghstentmt/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-j-bowman-650631216/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ghoststudiosagcy.entmt.8481/featured
- Other: https://www.vogue.com/photovogue/photographers/293055
- GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/012c1e34
Image Credits
Bon Art Photography, Arnold Jerocki, Ron Adar
