Team

Joel Woodman
Director & Producer

Joel is an independent filmmaker living and working in Los Angeles. In 2013, he founded The Big Gray Mess. The goal of TBGM Media is to elevate previously unheard voices through allyship, empowerment and action. We believe that the solutions to our biggest challenges lie in the tolerance for honesty and our collective and individual capacity for empathy. We achieve this through the most valuable human currency we know of- storytelling. It’s through our stories we connect to other humans in the most profound ways. With our emotions, our knowledge and ultimately our value as people.

Joel and TBGM Media launched with a short film series to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. First with Echoes of Vietnam, the story of a group of Vietnamese refugees fleeing Hurricane Katrina, which premiered at the 2017 New Orleans Film Festival. Followed by Road to Reconcile, the story of U.S. veteran peace activists living in present day Vietnam and their battle to combat the tragic legacies that remain 40 years after the war ended. Fractured States is Joel’s first feature length documentary film.

Justin Benoliel
Executive Producer

Justin is an Executive Producer and Creative Director with close to 15 years experience in the film business. With a start in music videos his company has produced close to 300 videos with the likes of Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Frank Ocean, Drake, ASAP, Weekend, Sia, Travis Scott, John Legend, J-Cole and Vince Staples.  As his career turned to brands he has done campaigns for Apple, Beats by Dr Dre, and Nike. In 2014 a campaign for Beats by Dre yielded his team multiple Gold Lions at the Cannes Film Festival. To date Justin has won 5 Cannes Film Festival Awards as well as an AICP Award for best Production. Most recently, Justin was nominated for a 2019 Grammy for music video of the year.

BJ Levin
Executive Producer

BJ Levin is a two-time Emmy-winning showrunner, executive producer and development executive who most recently was showrunner of FX’s breakout hit HIP HOP UNCOVERED. He served as the senior vice president, development and original programming at NBCU and showrunner of VICE on HBO which garnered eight Emmy nominations over his four-season run, winning in 2014 for Outstanding Informational Series. Levin made his first documentary feature, No One Dies in Lily Dale, for Sheila Nevins and HBO and has served as executive producer, showrunner, producer and director for several networks including A&E, Bravo, BBC, Discovery, Food Network, HBO, MTV, National Geographic, TLC and VICELAND. At MTV, Levin won his first Emmy for producing Made.

Seth Goldstein
Producer

Seth is an independent film producer living in Denver, Colorado. In 2015, Seth founded Active Tone Media, where he has focused on stories that bring a voice to the voiceless. Seth has produced short films all over the world including in East Africa, Europe and across the U.S.