Bennie Woodell spent his childhood watching 80's action films like Rambo, Predator, Commando, Young Guns and Terminator. His love for action cinema lead him to explore Hong Kong Cinema. He has over 800 Hong Kong films in his collection. Every year he strives to watch one movie a day. He lives by the motto "To become a great movie maker, you need to be a great movie watcher".
Originally intent on becoming an actor, Bennie Woodell studied theater in High School. He first notion the idea of becoming a Director when he watched John Woo's The Killer and Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2006 with a BA Film/ Video Directing. His films have a blend of Hong Kong Action and French New Wave which are influenced by the works of Directors Wong Kar Wai, John Woo, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Johnnie To, Chang Cheh, Wes Anderson, Robert Rodriguez, Chan-Wook Park, Takashi Miike, and Jackie Chan.
Bennie Woodell has Directed 6 Feature Films. His film The Sad Cafe won Best Dramatic Feature at the Action on Film Festival in 2011. He recently won Best Dramatic film for Love Meet Hope featuring Edward Asner (Pixar's Up, Elf, Mary Tyler Moore) . Je T'aime, Au Revoir Premiered at the Action on Film Festival where it won Best Dialogue, which features William McNamara (Copycat, Chasers). The Sad Cafe, Fast Zombies With Guns, and The Long December are available on DVD and Streaming.
Bennie Woodell was raised in Antioch, IL and is the only son of Ben and Liz Woodell. He currently resides in Studio City, CA.
