THE
BEAR
In Their Own Words.
"I love the art of storytelling and believe that stories are necessary to be able to make sense of the world. I love how movies blend music, literature and art, and can be such visceral and communal experiences."
- Ben Steinbauer, Indiewire
- Ben Steinbauer, Indiewire
"What we're doing, in juxtaposing and interweaving this fictional stuff with the documentary stuff, puts the audience in a new territory. That was the challenge, but also the beauty of it."
- Berndt Mader, Lights Camera Austin
- Berndt Mader, Lights Camera Austin
“The Bear are a unique blend between Werner Herzog and Mel Brooks - it’s just as natural for them to find the soul of a story as it is the humor. It says a lot about someone that can walk away from an intense and emotionally invasive project and become lifelong friends with the subject. Rarely do you find that kind of compassion from filmmakers hell bent on capturing the truth.”
- Scott Ballew, Head of Content, Yeti
A Few Trailers.
Slow To Show.
"I am attracted to characters who express themselves in extreme ways."
"I wanted to see how the people at the Tejano Super Car Show pushed their own boundaries of expression, so I pulled together a group of filmmaker friends and drove to Odessa in search of the most intriguing characters we could find."
- Ben Steinbauer, The New York Times
5 Time Champion.
"Quiet, well observed, a bit quirky, regionally distinct and aware of human complexity."
- The New York Times
"Writer-director Berndt Mader evidences a generosity of spirit toward his characters."
- Variety
Winnebago Man.
"One of those thrilling instances where reality grabs a filmmaker by the lapels and drags him (and us) to unexpected places."
- AV Club
"One of the funniest documentaries ever made!"
- Michael Moore
"Absorbing and thought-provoking."
- IFC
Booger Red.
"The characters and atmosphere are rich here; the benefit of the narrative hybrid is that the film saves us from the graphics, text and voice-over that might be required to glue a traditional talking head documentary together."
- The Film Stage
"An explosive example of cinematic 'new journalism'; Booger Red is a remarkable piece of hybrid filmmaking."
- Austin Chronicle
Calls To Okies.
"This was almost like finding a Bigfoot story. These guys were 16 or 17 year old high schoolers calling people and pretending to be old okies, really involving them in an improv comedy situation that was so imaginative and outside the norm that it gave both the caller and prank caller this moment of levity and break from monotony from living in small town Oklahoma."
"When there are artists or musicians who break that mold, they do it in sort of a spectacular way because they have to be really, for lack of a better word, evangelical about being an artist or oddball in this place."
- Ben Steinbauer, Lights Camera Austin
The Superlative Light.
"Unlike most documentaries, The Superlative Light is viewable in 2D as well as in 360 degrees of virtual reality."
"While most VR content is experiential rather than story driven, Steinbauer and his team wanted to create something different. They pushed themselves to make both versions of the story as narratively dynamic as possible."
- Vice
Directors. Writers.
Biography.
If you were to ask them what film set they wished they'd been on, they'd probably say Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man or Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School. Founded by Berndt Mader and Ben Steinbauer, The Bear is a sometimes coffee, sometimes tea swilling, appetizer loving, directing collective based in Austin, TX. Their Emmy-Award winning work combines wit, heart, and their own Austin-infused aesthetic to create something wholly original and beautifully human. If they weren’t on set or out in the wild filming a story, you might find them playing baseball with
the Texas Playboys (which happens to be ground zero for the sandlot baseball revolution), or discussing their appreciation of their favorite Maudes (Maude Lebowski, Maude from Harold and Maude…Bea Arthur's Maude). Features, commercials, short films, they’ve done it all and keep finding more to do. Whether they’re connecting us to an artist working in neon or a Winnebago salesman having a tough day they do it with passion, grace, and maybe even a pun or two.
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NY
Lisa Mehling
President
Pat McGoldrick
VP / Executive Producer
212-431-3434
Lisa Mehling
President
Pat McGoldrick
VP / Executive Producer
212-431-3434
LA
Michel Waxman
Executive Producer
323-935-8030
Michel Waxman
Executive Producer
323-935-8030
