ANGUS & RUTH BENFIELD
ANGUS BENFIELD directing HEAVEN
ANGUS BENFIELD is an Australian-born, multi-award-winning director, producer, actor and writer and is the Founder and Director of LA based film production and distribution company LAMA Entertainment and production company Bridge and Acorn Entertainment.
Movies have been a lifelong passion for Angus, starting in the industry as a production runner at 14, he later went on to train as an actor at The Actor's Centre at 20 and landed the lead role in Australian feature film Lex and Rory straight out of acting school.
Angus has since worked in all major departments of the film industry, as an actor, screenwriter, producer, director and distributor (theatrical & non-theatrical), as well as in financing. Angus has successfully managed multiple film production companies in the US, Australia and New Zealand along with working as a head of department at the New York Film Academy.
Angus began Bridge and Acorn Entertainment in 2017 and LAMA Entertainment in 2019 in Los Angeles, specializing in independent distribution and production, uniquely creating content from script to screen and producing noteworthy films with impacting messages that inspire and entertain. Producing films that have won multiple awards including Best Comedy Film, Best Feature, Best Drama, Best Gospel Feature, Best Narrative, Best Ensemble, Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Poster, Best Trailer, Best Original Score, Best Producer and Best Director.
Bridge and Acorn Entertainment and LAMA Entertainment’s films have been released theatrically and can be found on Amazon, AppleTV, Prime, YouTube, Tubi, Vimeo, Roku, PureFlix and many other digital platforms, with feature Trust having been viewed over 4.4 million times worldwide.
Angus was awarded Best Director at the Canadian International Film Festival in 2020 for feature film Heaven (Eric Roberts) and has directed feature films, The Keeper (2024), The Great Turkey Town Miracle (2023), Yellow Bird (Brian Doyle-Murray, Kathy Garver, 2023), Trust (2018) and Wait Up Harriet (2006).
Angus was awarded Best Producer at the Carpe Diem Awards in 2023 and the EEI Movie Awards in 2021 and has produced films The Christmas Letter (2024), Stan The Man (2024), The Post (2023), The Great Turkey Town Miracle (2023), The Deprogrammer (2023), Purgatory Station (Bob Gunton, Sean O’Bryan, 2023), Yellow Bird (Brian Doyle-Murray, Kathy Garver, 2023), and written and produced films Motorvation (Judy Norton, 2022), Heaven (Eric Roberts, 2020), High Rollers (2019) Trust (2018), and The Holy Roller (Mark Hadlow, 2010), as well as producing Meet Me in Miami ( Eduardo Verástegui Carlos Ponce, 2005).
Angus is also an accomplished, multiple award-winning and incredibly versatile actor, having acted alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood including, Eric Roberts in HEAVEN (2020), Julia Garner and Anna Chlumsky in INVENTING ANNA (2022), Bob Gunton and Sean O’Bryan in PURGATORY STATION (2024), Cameron Arnett in THE GREAT TURKEY TOWN MIRACLE (2023), Brian Doyle-Murray and Kathy Garver in YELLOW BIRD (2023), Judy Norton in MOTORVATION (2022), on CBS's NCIS: LA alongside LL Cool J, Eric Christian Olsen, Chris O'Donnell (2019) and in an Australian commercial with Cate Blanchett (2017).
Angus starts off January 2024 co-starring alongside legendary American comedians Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid in comedy THE CHRISTMAS LETTER and Angus Macfadyen, Doug Jones and Corbin Bernsen in thriller THE WEIGHT OF DARKNESS (March 2024).
RUTH BENFIELD is a New Zealand-born, accomplished singer/songwriter and artist and has worked in the music and film industry for over 28 years. Ruth is the co-founder and executive of LAMA Entertainment and Bridge and Acorn Entertainment. and founder of GLASS OF MILK RECORDS.
Growing up in a musical family, Ruth has always been passionate about the arts. Starting out working as an apprentice mosaic artist and photographer, attending the Australasian College of the Arts majoring in vocals and guitar and minoring in bass, drums and sound engineering. Ruth was nominated for best female vocalist at 19 at the BOP music awards and continues to work as a singer/songwriter, and exhibits her art.
Ruth has worked alongside Angus in the film industry, predominantly as a composer, music director, supervisor, producer, production designer, and marketing director, and is most passionate about championing little-known music artists for film soundtracks.
Ruth is the executive producer of The Christmas Letter (2024) and Stan The man (2024), producer, composer and music director of The Keeper (2024), The Great Turkey Town Miracle (2023) and Yellow Bird (2022), production designer for Motorvation (2022), music supervisor, composer and producer for Heaven (2020), music supervisor for Trust (2018), composer for The Holy Roller (2010), and composer for Wait Up Harriet (2006).