Ben Immanuel

The global theme in March is 'local', and our presenter will be actor, writer, director, and teacher Ben Immanuel.

Immanuel has over 100 screen credits and more than a dozen awards, including the 2013 UBCP/ACTRA John Juliani Award for Outstanding Achievement. He’s starred in films that have screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Berlin International Film Festival, and directed award-winning, theatrically released features Down River and Moving Malcolm, plus the recent Are We Done Now?. His television work includes directing Robson Arms for CTV and developing original series for Canadian networks. Since 2002, he’s been the founder and director of Haven Acting Studio, where working pros and up-and-comers train in rigorous, no-shortcuts craft.

Each month we ask our presenters some probing questions to give us a deeper glimpse into their life and relationship with creativity:

How do you define creativity and apply it in your life and career?
I can’t define creativity, but I can say that it has defined me. In life and career, I am what I create, for better or worse.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration or energy?
The deeper the wound, the more I need to create something and the better the result will be. When I have attempted to create purely to entertain or make a buck, I have failed quite miserably.

What’s one piece of creative advice or a tip you wish you’d known as a young person?
Learn the difference between being able to take constructive criticism and allowing someone to dump their personal baggage on you in the name of art.

Who (living or dead) would you most enjoy hearing speak at CreativeMornings?
Too many to choose from, but whoever it would be, I would want the speaker to be disarmingly honest, openly vulnerable, and genuinely grateful for the opportunity to engage with the audience. And they have to be funny! Perhaps (on a good day) Richard Pryor would fit this description.

What keeps you awake at night?
I am kept awake at night by work I have not done, trauma I have not processed, things I cannot control, and food I have not digested.


What are you proudest of in your life?
Haven Acting Studio, the home base that I founded and have kept thriving for over 2 decades, is my most on-going, meaningful contribution to my community and in turn, society as a whole. I am also proud to be doing the on-going work to break certain cycles of behaviour in order to become a more aware and less reactive person.

What was the best advice you were ever given?
I can’t say what’s the best advice, because I have been blessed with so many great teachers in my life, but when I was a competitive amateur boxer, I was beaten by the same opponent in three consecutive bouts, each time worse that the last. After the third defeat, I walked across the ring, my nose broken, and asked his coach, “What’s your secret?” He looked me square in the eye and said, “No secret, son. Hard work.”

What has been one of your biggest Aha! moments in life?
Perhaps it sounds cliché or corny, but when I learned to truly love and validate my “inner child” and stopped expecting other people to do that for me, everything changed for the better.