Ben & Josh Shelton grew up in Santa Barbara, California.  They attending Cold Spring School, Santa Barbara Junior & Senior High School.  Ben was the Student Body President in ’98-‘99, acted in Theatre plays & musicals, and played 2 years of varsity basketball.  Josh was a cornerstone in the music department, won numerous awards, and played the trumpet in self-directed ensembles all over town starting at age 13.

Also at age 13, Ben started making short films.  In Junior High, his Social Studies teacher gave them the option for their final project to either write a paper or make a movie.  It was an easy choice.

Ben & Josh both went to college in the Northwest.  Ben at the University of Puget Sound, received a BA in Theatre Arts, acted in theatre plays and musicals, played varsity basketball and was the Student Body President… Same stuff as high school.  Josh went to Whitworth College and received a BA in Music Composition, traveled to Europe, Hawaii and Brazil as a featured soloist with the jazz band, shared the stage with jazz greats such as Kenny Garrett and Nicholas Payton, and played professionally with the Spokane Jazz Orchestra. Josh was also the first ever Whitworth student to give an hour-long recital of original music for a 20 piece big band.

In 2001, Ben and Josh collaborated on a 45-minute Musical Film that took them about a month to write, shoot and edit.

In 2003, Ben moved to LA to pursue filmmaking.  Over the next few years, Ben worked as set production assistant and producer’s assistant for films and TV shows in LA and in New Orleans. 

In 2006, Josh moved to LA to pursue a career in music and film. He started the band VAJRA (VajraMusic.net) that plays all around LA (House of Blues, Knitting Factory, Roxy, etc…) and Santa Barbara, and worked as a production assistant on films and TV shows.

Also in 2006, Ben and his college friend, Eric began to get recognized for their on-line videos on YouTube and their website: www.BENandERIC.com – BEN and ERIC were hired to write, direct and star in a 10-spot campaign to launch Mobizzo, the mobile content service of Fox Entertainment (now known as Jamster).  The spots ran nationally on Fox and Fox affiliates.  BEN and ERIC also signed their Paul Brogan character to a web-series deal with MySpace.  They also worked for the NBA’s Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, and MLB’s Kansas City Royals.

In October 2007, Ben and Josh collaborated on a new project entitled “My Name is Lisa” for the Fox Searchlight's International Short Film Competition "YouTube Project: Direct".  Ben and Josh co-wrote “Lisa,” Ben directed and edited the piece and Josh wrote the music.  The short film is about the Alzheimer's Disease, which Ben originally researched as part of his Senior Thesis Project in 2003 and is one of many serious and scary diseases still without a cure.  “My Name is Lisa” won 3RD PRIZE in the Project: Direct competition, and went on to win the YouTube Award for BEST SHORT FILM OF 2007. “Lisa” is also an Official Selection in film festivals all over the world including the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, Now Film Festival, California Next Generation Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival - Short Film Corner, Portable Film Festival (Australia), Crackle Shorts Contest and Box[ur] shorts Film Festival.

In 2008 & 2009, Ben & Josh have made three new short films, “Love & Hamburgers”, “RUNNING” and “Shakespeare With Fries”.  RUNNING is being featured in the YouTube Screening Room.

Please contact them if you are interested in being involved in any of their projects.

Email: Sheltonesque@gmail.com