John B. Benitz

John has directed theatre in Boston, Off-Off-Broadway and in some of L.A.’s premiere theaters.  He directed the West Coast premieres of Borderlands, an original play about Bosnia, which was a Best Pick in the LA Weekly, and the Off-Broadway play Fortune’s Fools at the McCadden Theater in Hollywood, also an LA Weekly Best Pick and for which he won a Dramalogue Award.  He also directed What I Heard About Iraq by Simon Levy, which performed on college campuses, in theaters and performing arts centers in New York, California, Washington State, Montreal and at the famous LaMama Theatre in Manhattan.

John has performed Off-Broadway at Ubu Rep, the Odyssey and Fountain Theaters in L.A., Shakespeare Orange County and regionally at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, to name a few. He has been seen on film and television nationally. Most recently, he played the lead role in a new Discovery Channel series titled Proof of Life, as part of the Kidnap and Rescue series, which aired in April. He is a member of both SAG and Actors' Equity.

John wrote and directed the award-winning film Children of the Struggle, which was shown in film festivals across the country, featured on PBS, and seen in high schools and colleges nationwide. It was also recognized by the NAACP Film Commission for its true and poignant portrayal of the fight for black voting rights.

John received his BFA from Sarah Lawrence College and his MFA in Acting from Brandeis University. He is certified to teach the Chubbuck Technique of Acting, an acting technique used by award-winning actors Brad Pitt, Halle Berry, Charlize Theron, and Jim Carrey, among many others.

Most recently John directed the world premiere of If All the Sky Were Paper by bestselling author Andrew Carroll at Chapman University. This production was subsequently invited to perform at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in February as part of the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival as a representation of excellence in college theatre.