C R E A T I V E
Writer | Director
[screen + stage]
Tel Benjamin is an AACTA award-winning actor, screenwriter and director based in Sydney, Australia.
Tel was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award in 2023 for his role in All His Beloved Children (KXT). Additional theatre credits include: Beyond Therapy (Epicentre Theatre), School for Scandal (New Theatre), Fracture (New Ghosts Productions), The Taming of the Shrew (Montague Basement), GR8 Skin (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Osama the Hero (Tooth and Sinew), The Telescope (Red Line Productions), Air (Old 505 Theatre), Extinction of the Learned Response (Belvoir), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged (Precipice Creative), Whitely (Opera Australia), and Marriage of Figaro (Opera Australia).
Film and TV credits include: After the Verdict (Nine), Les Norton (ABC), Growing up Gracefully (ABC), and Dead Scientists (Beyond Productions), The Great Gatsby (Bazmark), The Greenhouse (Everyone We Know Films), Miss! (Flying Man Films), Dad to the Bone (Tropfest 2019), The Passenger (St Kilda Film Festival 2015), Noah (Official Selection LA Comedy Festival 2015), The Milky Pop Kid (Sydney Film Festival 2017), Granny (Fantasia Film Festival 2018), Baby (Cinefest Oz 2020), Rat Rap (Best Dark Comedy Winner Independent Short Awards 2018).
Tel is also a multi award-winning filmmaker, writing and directing under his production company Chekhov’s Gun Pictures. His debut short film Noah premiered at the LA Comedy Festival 2015. Tel’s follow-up films are: Ladylike, (AACTA Social Shorts Winner Best Comedy, Audience Award Winner at Sydney Underground Film Festival 2017, Audience & Best Performance Award Winner at Freshflix Film Festival 2018, Best International Film Award at Canadian International Comedy Film Festival, and Setaceous (Fantastic Fest 2017, A Night of Horror Film Festival 2017, Horror Show Hotdog Film Festival 2017, Portland International Film Festival 2018, Chattanooga Film Festival 2018, Way Down Film Festival 2018). Setaceous was distributed through prestigious horror streaming platform ALTER.
Tel has a slate of television and feature projects currently in development. In 2018 he completed an ABC & Create NSW funded pilot for his virtual reality mini-series, The Obscure.
He has also written and directed commercial content through Chekhov’s Gun for high profile clients such as Netflix and Urban Walkabout, and has collaborated in the development of various projects with production companies such as CBS and WETA.
Tel holds and Advanced Diploma of Performing Arts from Actors’ Centre Australia 2014.