Ben Younger

Ben Younger (born October 7, 1972 [http://au.movies.yahoo.com/Ben+Younger/biography/123159/biography/] in Brooklyn, New York) is a Jewish American screenwriter and film director. Younger was raised in Brooklyn and educated at Queens College, part of the City University of New York, where he studied political science. While at university, he started performing stand-up comedy. After leaving university, he set his sights on a career in politics, taking on a role as a policy analyst for the New York City comptroller's office, where he served as a legislative aide to Alan Hevesi. After that, he successfully managed the State Assembly campaign for Queens Democrat Melinda Katz, becoming, at 21, the city's youngest ever campaign manager. Despite his success, Younger became disenchanted with politics, and by 1995 started to seek a creative outlet that would rekindle the excitement he felt as a stand-up comedian. He wrote and directed one short film, "L & M", as well as working on a number of feature films as a grip, and directing music videos and commercials.

He is currently dating actress Vanessa Marcil. The couple live together in Brooklyn with Vanessa Marcil's son.

Films

"Boiler Room"

In the early and mid '90s he worked for a brokerage firm called Kensington Wells in Mineola, LI, and conceived the idea that went on to become his first film, "Boiler Room". He spent a few years there and based the background for his screenplay on Matt DiMicco, one of the supervisors at Kensington at the time. DiMicco was Italian and had a crush on a sexy black sales assistant named Gail Kennard. These influenced to the point, the characters of Nicky Katt "DiMicco" and Nia Long "Kennard". The federal judge aspect of that film was based on one of the principals of Kensington was avoided jail because his own father was a retired judge from LI and had many connections to get his son, Adam Levy out of jail. "Boiler Room", which he also directed, was released in 2000. A corporate drama in the mold of "Wall Street" and "Glengarry Glen Ross", with colorful dialogue that some critics compared to David Mamet [http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/nash/b/boilerroomthe1.html] [http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/2541/] , the film exposed the shady world of "chop shops" (underground brokerage firms), and starred Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nicky Katt, Jamie Kennedy, and Ben Affleck.

"Prime"

Younger's second film, "Prime" (2005), is a romantic comedy about the relationship between a young Jewish man and an older gentile woman. The film stars Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep. The movie was prominently featured in the HBO show "Unscripted" because Bryan Greenberg, star of "Unscripted" was also the male lead in "Prime". Younger appeared as himself in the episodes where the movie was featured.

Other projects

In addition to his film projects, Younger has been published in "The New Yorker", and has sold TV pilots to ABC and FOX.

Filmography

Film & Television

* Army Wives
* 2005 "Prime"
* 2000 "Boiler Room"

horts

* "L & M"
* "Maestro"

External links

*
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=272203&mod=bio "New York Times" biography]
* [http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/movies/features/1850/ Bard of the Boiler Room - "New York Metro" feature]
* [http://au.movies.yahoo.com/Ben+Younger/biography/123159/biography/ "Yahoo!" biography]
* [http://emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=438 The Prime of Ben Younger]
* [http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Ben+Younger/ Interview at SuicideGirls.com]