Benjamin Odell is an American writer, director and producer of independent films.

Biography

Early life
Odell was born in Philadelphia, and spent his childhood in the Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia. He studied creative writing and English literature at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY.


Career
From 1992 to 2000, Odell lived in Colombia, where he worked as a freelance journalist before becoming a Spanish-language television writer and screenwriter. He wrote or created a number of television series, including Castillo de naipes (1998), La mujer del presidente, De pies a cabeza, and Fuego verde (1998), which Odell co-wrote with American journalist Tom Quinn. In 1997, Odell wrote, along with Colombian filmmaker Sergio Cabrera, the political satire Golpe de estadio, which was nominated for a Goya Award in 1999, and was Colombia’s nomination to the Oscars in 2000.

From 2001 to 2004, Odell studied at the film division of the Columbia University School of the Arts in New York.

In 2006, Odell joined Panamax Films, which was founded by James M. McNamara, former CEO and president of the Spanish-language television network, Telemundo Communications.

The Spanish-language thriller, Sangre de mi sangre, also titled Padre Nuestro and directed by fellow Columbia Film School MFA Christopher Zalla, tells the story of a pair of Mexican immigrants in New York. The film—starring Jesús Ochoa, Armando Hernández, Jorge Adrián Espíndola, and Paola Mendoza—won the grand jury prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It was also an official selection at the San Sebastian Film Festival, the Miami International Film Festival, the Havana Film Festival, and the Pusan International Film Festival, as well as closing the Morelia Film Festival in Mexico. In May, 2008, the film was released by IFC Films, after which it received two Independent Spirit Awards nominations, for Best First Feature (for which Odell was nominated) and Best Screenplay.

In 2007, continuing his work with Panamax Films, Odell produced Ladron Que Roba a Ladron, which was released in the United States by Lionsgate. The New York Times called the Spanish-language heist movie an "effervescent comedy". This was followed by two Spanish-language films in 2008, Amor, Dolor y Vice Versa (an official selection to the Tribeca International Film Festival) and All Inclusive (official selection, Guadalajara Film Festival)

He also wrote Sin Memoria, a Televisa, Lionsgate co-production, scheduled for release in 2011.

Most recently he was an executive producer on the movie, "From Prada To Nada", a co-production between Lionsgate, Televisa and OddLot.