Ben Soffer
My interest in filmmaking originates from my grandparents, they are both artists and painters so from a very young age I was exposed to Museums, art galleries, and workshops. Although I have drawn and made art from a very young age I never imagined myself ever pursuing art as a profession. I’m no where near a film buff and if you ask me about an expressionist film from the 70’s I can almost guarantee that I won’t know what your talking about. In my group of friends however I was always the go to guy with any movie trivia questions (this is a blessing but mostly curse). My only avenue of expression was watching films, whenever I felt anxious or frightened or sad I always had movies to calm me down. For so long I was too afraid to ever attempt to create anything myself, I knew it existed but never thought it was possible for me. Soon my obsession became more than a therapeutic release. I stopped watching films and started studying them.
My main interest as a kid was no doubt soccer, I thought growing up that I’d be alongside Messi or Ibrahimovic by now. I was never the fastest, or most technical, but I was able to keep up because I could outwork my opponents/ teammates. I don’t say this to brag, but to express how hard I had to work just to be as good as the guy next to me. This taught me one of my first life lessons in work ethic: “If you aren’t the best, work harder than the best.” This is something that has stuck with me throughout my life thus far.
Film didn’t enter my life until my Sophomore year of college. I had just finished my freshman year at the University of Delaware, I was on track to graduate with a business degree and I was doing quite well in my classes. My soccer dreams were long shattered, mostly because of several surgeries due to injuries I suffered on the field and the fact that I was never good enough to make it to that next level. I was lost, this period in my life was my most unhappy by far. My friends and parents could see that I had no passion for what I was doing and they could tell it was affecting my psyche.
One day my parents brought me to a barnes and noble and sat me down to talk about what was going on. They asked me why I wanted to major in business, about how I was doing, and what my plans were for the future. In that moment I could only think about one thing, film. Deep down I always knew I wanted to make movies, but I never thought I’d be good enough or creative enough or smart enough. But in that moment of desperation I chose to jump. I told them that I wanted to transfer to Temple to pursue a film degree. Although at first this decision worried my parents, they could see how serious I was. So they supported me, even though I could tell they were just as scared as I was.
This brings us to where I am now: I’m in my senior year of college and through hard work and discipline I have reached a level of skills in film that I never thought possible. With each year I learn more and more about this medium and strive to absorb as much as I can. I have failed and I have succeeded but I finally feel like I’m where I belong. This internship at JTwo really feels like a milestone in my film career and I hope to learn as much as I can during my time hear.