BEN YOUNGER
Date of Birth: October 7, 1972
Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Ben Younger graduated from the City University of New York with a B.A. in political science. He worked on several successful campaigns for various politicians, but became disillusioned and turned instead to filmmaking. He began writing and directing short films, and worked as a driver on the indie film Walking and Talking (1996).
He also worked as a grip on the TV movie New York Crossing (1996) and began directing music videos and commercials. Younger wrote and directed his first feature length film, Boiler Room (2000), starring Ben Affleck and Giovanni Ribisi, based on an experience he’d had five years earlier. He was approached to work as a stock broker, with a promise of huge payoffs. Knowing that the firm was crooked, he spent a year investigating underground brokerage firms on Wall Street before writing his screenplay. The film won the Jury Special Prize at the Deauville Film Festival and was nominated for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards.
After directing "sub-stories" for The Hire, a series of short BMW Internet commercials, Younger wrote and directed his second feature film, Prime (2005), starring Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman.
Filmography:
Prime (2005)
Boiler Room (2000)