Meet Ben Weiland | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Weiland and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I was interested in telling stories about exploration and adventure, and specifically searching for undiscovered waves in the Arctic regions of the planet. As I started traveling and writing for Surfer Magazine I realized that it was something I could do full time, so I quit my office job to be a filmmaker full-time.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
One of the most surprising things to me was to find out that my passion for surfing and exploration could lead to creative work that would one day become my job. I didn’t compromise what I was interested in, and made sure to keep a tight focus on what I was pursuing. The journey has never been certain or easy, but the challenge has definitely been worth it. I wouldn’t change a thing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would recommend taking a week or two to explore Iceland. The Ring Road is an amazing route that will take you past some of the most amazing scenery on the planet. Iceland is a really special place to me. The people, the landscape and the surf is like nowhere else. It’s not uncommon experience four seasons in one day. It’s that variety that continues to draw me there.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I was inspired by my grandpa Bill Weiland when I was a kid. After he retired, he was an alpine climber who bagged peaks in the Himalayas, Andes, and lost his toes to frostbite on Denali. He would return with a photo slideshow of his adventures. Our family would head into his basement and he would takes through the slides and tell the stories behind each photograph.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benweiland/?hl=en
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/triceratronautomaton
Other: https://vimeo.com/benweiland