The Hootspa
Benjamin the Third is the creative director of Dumb Owl Productions, a Venice, California-based independent production company he started officially in 2013, to be a home for stories with heart and humor. A UCLA theater, film, and television graduate who did a bunch of comedy stuff in LA — ; Tom Orth, Gale Caswell, and many more educators, The Comedy Store, The Improv Space (Educator), the Groundlings — he has spent the last decade producing across various formats: web series, short films, feature comedy, live performance, music, but mostly web-series. His work has earned two Telly Awards (Venice Beach Originals 2020) and (MIKE&BEN The Fall 2023) He was also nominated for Best Indie Series (Lovers Divided 2018) at the Streamy Awards and fresh off completing his latest film "The Family Pickle" he now has a feature in Voyage LA. He also performs as BEN, one half of the live comedy duo MIKE&BEN. Dumb Owl Productions' current slate includes the streaming family comedy The Family Pickle (available on RELAY via Filmhub), the Baywatch-parody web series BETAWATCH, and the upcoming MIKE&BEN special Crispy Waffle 2025. We're excited to share some funny stuff with you.
All About Dumb Owl
Voyage LA featured Ben Goldsmith in its ongoing series spotlighting LA's most inspiring creative voices. The piece traces how he built Dumb Owl Productions from the ground up — from studying musical theater at UCLA and performing on the Comedy Store circuit, to founding a Venice production company defined by its commitment to storytelling with "heart and humor." Ben describes the company's employee-owned model, its decade-plus catalogue of original content, and his philosophy that success means one thing: getting to create more projects.
"In 2013 Dumb Owl Productions was created to be a place where 'stories with heart and humor' could be celebrated".
