Ben Stassen

Ben Stassen is a Belgian film director, producer and screenwriter. He founded nWave Pictures in 1994, producing successful CG ride films including the groundbreaking Devil's Mine. Starting in 1997, Stassen began focusing on large-format films, and made some of the most successful large-format films to date, including Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun and Alien Adventure. Contrary to most large-format films, which mix education with spectacular visuals, Stassen's earlier large-format films were aimed exclusively at the entertainment market. As IMAX theaters around the world increasingly became capable of screening stereoscopic (3-D) films in the late 1990s, Stassen embraced this new technology, and directed a succession of popular 3-D large-format films, including Encounter in the Third Dimension and Haunted Castle. In 2005, Stassen produced and directed Wild Safari 3D, the first 3-D wildlife film for the giant screen. Ben Stassen's first feature-length animated film, Fly Me to the Moon, was released in North America on 15 August 2008 on both regular-size and IMAX screens, exclusively in 3-D. According to nWave, Fly Me to the Moon was the first animated film to be designed, created, and released solely in 3-D. The film was originally announced for the spring or summer of 2007. The delay is believed to be the result of the slow roll-out of 3-D projection technology. On 7 May 2008, nWave announced that its next feature-length animated film would be called Around the World in 50 Years and that it too would be directed by Ben Stassen. It was released in 2010 as A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures. Further animated features directed or co-directed by Stassen include A Turtle's Tale 2: Sammy's Escape from Paradise (2012), The House of Magic (2013), The Wild Life (2016) and the upcoming The Son of Bigfoot (2017). Stassen was also involved in the production of several films directed by famed Croatian film director Krsto Papić, most notably My Uncle's Legacy. “Son of Bigfoot,” which is still in theaters in many territories (early 2018), has topped 8 million admissions worldwide. The Queen's Corgi, the 7th feature animated project from Stassen is firmly positioning nWave Studios (www.nwave.com) as one of the world’s rare purveyors of high-profile mainstream independent animation outside North America. Budgeted at more than $20 million, “Corgi” follows the adventure of Rex, the British monarch’s most beloved dog, who is tricked into leaving his mistress in search for adventure. But soon his escapade takes an unexpected turn as he stumbles across a fight club with dogs of all kinds confronting each other. During his epic journey to return to Buckingham Palace, Rex falls in love and discovers his true self. Charades, Paris-based sales company, has acquired worldwide sales rights to “The Queen’s Corgi” and has already sold the film to over 50 territories. The film will be delivered in the first quarter of 2019. The Queen's Corgi is produced by Ben Stassen and co-directed by Stassen and Vincent Kesteloot (Robinson Crusoe). Rex's voice talent is Joseph Bwarie, a long-running Jersey Boys lead on Broadway. It is written by Rob Sprackling and John Smith (Gnomeo and Juliet). The film has received the support of Belgian film commission Wallimage. Stassen is currently working on the launch of a streaming platform for 3D content for VR Headsets (www.nwave3Dchannel.com). nWave Studios has one of the largest library of 3D films in the world, ranging from feature films, large format film (Imax) 4D attraction films and ride films.