Benjamin Budd is a multi-talented and award-winning screenwriter, recognized for his expertise in crafting narratives that seamlessly blend drama, comedy, action-thriller, and Transcendentalism elements. His extensive background spans various fields, including conflict, crime, academia, geopolitics, Fine Art, and more.
Throughout his career, Ben has pursued his passions in film, talent, comedy, and writing, achieving notable success in contests such as the Nicholl and the Page International. In addition to his work in film and television, he has also explored international interests, building on his undergraduate degree in the Arts and early experience in collaborative advertising environments.
Ben's academic pursuits have taken him to Britain, where he earned a Master's degree in International Relations, focusing on irregular conflict and crime in post-conflict zones. This experience laid the groundwork for his writing features for a US film company.
In 2013, Ben accepted a teaching position at a local grade-school in Kurdish Northern Iraq, where he spent two years living without security in Erbil, witnessing the fall of Mosul and the attack on the nearby Ministry of Justice. During his time in the region, he traveled extensively, visiting Kirkuk, Halabja, Diyarbakir, Sulimaniyah, and other areas.
Ben's experiences in the region have been marked by several close calls, including surviving a car-bomb and small arms fire near the US consulate in Ainkawa on April 17th, 2015.
In addition to his writing, Ben has also pursued ad hoc country risk analysis and consulting on extremism and media, focusing on the constitutive nature of epistemic identity. He has been published and has delivered papers on this topic, including a presentation in London.
Ben has also pursued high-risk security credentials in South Africa, volunteering on nightshifts in a mobile ambulance through the Cape Town shantytowns, where body armor was compulsory. He has taught Hostile Environment Awareness Training to deploying humanitarians, including a well-known A-list actress, and provides remote production security to media crews, such as during the Kenosha, WI unrest.
In 2025, Ben was a guest speaker at a program at Leiden University's campus in The Hague, Netherlands, where he worked with postgraduate students using creative writing to visualize future warfare.
