Benjamin Meade's biography:
Benjamin Meade, the son of a Baptist inner city minister and a music teacher, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He immersed himself in music, movies, and philosophy at a young age and attended the Music Conservatory in Kansas City, where he studied piano, guitar, and woodwind instruments for six years.
As a teenager, Meade formed the musical ensemble "Tuck Point" with his two brothers. He was an Eagle Scout and, at 17, put himself through college by playing in rock bands and working at an auto repair shop while pursuing a degree in filmmaking at Central Missouri State University.
After graduating in 1977, Meade worked with Stan Brakhage in Boulder, Colorado, learning experimental film techniques and aesthetics. He then worked at Universal Pictures in Los Angeles but returned to the Midwest, where he struggled to find employment opportunities in the film industry.
Meade eventually took a job as a financial services consultant with New England Financial and remained there for nearly three decades. He became a partner at the firm at age 28 and spent his free time studying interests such as chiropractic, law, and earning a master's degree in American History and a Ph.D. in Film and Theatre from the University of Kansas in 1999.
Meade's passion for filmmaking never wavered, and he continued to make experimental films, including "Vakvagany" (2002),"Das Bus" (2003),and "American Stag" (2006). He also co-produced "Confederate States of America" (2004) and collaborated with crime novelist James Ellroy on "Bazaar Bizarre" (2005).
In the 2000s, Meade released several critically acclaimed films, including "American Music: Off the Record" (2008),"The Elders: Alive and Live in Ireland" (2008),and "Lifelong Roadtrip" (2009). He also produced "The Kansas City Murder Factory-Act 1" (2011) and a compilation of his short films, "Mentallusions: Radical Eclectic Films of Benjamin Meade" (2012).
Meade's work has been recognized by critics as "experimental documentary." He has also released music recordings, including "Town Topics" (2014) and "Laughing Crying Blues" (2017),a hand-painted camera-less 16mm film tribute to Stan Brakhage.
Outside of the arts, Meade founded Casas Por Cristo, a missions organization that builds homes for the poor in Juarez, Mexico. He is a retired Professor of Film and Digital Media at Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri, and a fellow at the Society of the Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Meade is the owner of Cosmic Cowboy Studio in Fayetteville, Arkansas, an analogue facility for group, solo, and film soundtrack recording and film and video production. His film company is Corticrawl Productions, and he has founded Cosmic Cowboy Records, LLC, a record label dedicated to showcasing marginalized musicians and new talent.
Meade currently resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with his partner Mary Gillcoatt-Crouch, and is working on his latest film project, "Cate Bros" Arkansas Rock & Soul Royalty.
