hollywood & visual media — Ben Marcus Rules

While at Surfer Magazine, Ben dreamed up and produced The Surfer Magazine Surf Video Awards - the Oscars of surfing. A lot of work, but a lot of fun. He was involved with the Video Awards from 1996 to 2000, and they were a smash.

The Video Awards are still going, 20 years later.

Ben has worked with freelance publicist Gregg Brilliant on publicity notes for many major motion pictures, including Life of Pi, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, Better Call Saul, Lemony Snicket, Kong: Skull Island, Leatherface and many others.

Ben is a follower of the Pauline Kael/Anthony Lane school of omnipotent, funny movie reviews. Ben wrote this rather snide review of the new Point Break.

Ben lived in Malibu for eight years and kind of tripped over movie things, occasionally. He helped X Files producer Chris Carter do a photo shoot for a TV show he was pitching. Chris needed to photograph two women in wedding dresses who jumped off a bridge at night. No problemo, Ben hooked it up, with help from photographer Lucia Griggi and Griff Snyder's swimming pool with the window looking into it.

SHOT IT AND GOT IT: LUCIA’S POOL PARTY AT GRIFF’S

C____ C____ came by MAlibu Kitchen and said “I have to take a photo of two women in wedding dresses who juimped off a bridge at night.:” I said, “No problem! Shoot it at Griff’s and I know just the girl.” CC knew about the window into Griff’s pool and when I showed him the portrait Lucia took of Skip, he called her right away.

Griff Snyder RIP (19?? - 2018) Griff was one of the original surfboard and memorabilia collectors. This is he with some of his collectible surfboards, in front of the window that looks into his swimming pool. Cool!

R2D2 was down on his look on the hiatus between Star Wars movies, so Griff gave him some paying work to get back on his…. rollers.

Griff’s castle, overlooking Paradise Cove and the Gulley and the deep blue sea. Ten thousand square feet, 13 bathrooms, rented for six figures to Russian oligarchs and Mexican beer heiresses.

Griff with one of his collectible surfboards in front of his pool.

Lucia wasn’t sure how to shoot it. Hang lights up high and shoot it at night? Or shot day for night. She didn’t know, so she guessed.

Lucia checking out the pool. She bought some black plastic at Anawalt’s Hardware and hung it to shoot day for night.

Griff and Lucia and her assistant scoping the scene on a warm summer day.

Griff and John Ortiz and Lucia’s assistant plot the shot.

The models spent all day jumping into the pool with wedding dresses until they were turned into prunes.

Hair and makeup were challenged.

Elena O was there for water safety. And it just felt good to be in the pool.

One of many many dives.

The glass was high quality and crystal clear. A model says hello. She had a wardrobe malfunction soon after this.

Time for another dive.

I see you and you see me.

And after all that diving and splashing and clicking: She got it. Natural light. Cool.

For an indie movie called Broken directed by Alan White, Ben suggested Heather Graham sing a song at the end - the song that brought her to Los Angeles. They used that ending. He also let his cell phone ring not once but twice while they were shooting a scene. Big no no.

Ben has written a number of screenplays and pilots, including Malibu Fire, Bubblehead, Psychotic Reaction, Nine Sons in a Row, Live Like Jay.

One of those screenplays actually got made, although the producers he sent it to neglected to credit or compensate Ben. Long story, but the movie lost ten$ of million$ of dollar$ so no lawyer would take the case. Ben went to five different attorneys and they all said the same thing: "You got ripped off. You won't win."

Oh well, that's Hollywood. Ben's friends know he wrote it, anyway. And the movie bombed.