Benjamin Bryant (broadcaster) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Benjamin Bryant
Born	(1977-01-13) January 13, 1977 (age 47) Nuremberg, West Germany
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Education	University of the Incarnate Word (MS, MA) Excelsior University (BS) University of Texas at Austin
Occupation	writer, filmmaker
Years active	1996–present
Organization	Bryant Zamberlan Group BZ/MP United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
Notable work	Fort Hood Shooting Task Force Report Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Report
Parent(s)	Albert Bryant, Jr. (father)
Relatives	Lori Bryant-Woolridge

Benjamin Bryant (born January 13, 1977) is a Germany-born American broadcaster, writer, and Emmy-nominated filmmaker. Serving as a public servant in the Obama and Biden Administrations, he also works as an artist and actor. During the Afghan evacuation in 2021, Bryant coordinated the emergency evacuation of Afghan allies and families, and served as a spokesperson for the "Digital Dunkirk" coalition.

Bryant produced the Vietnam veteran tribute special "Welcome Home! Honoring Your Legacy," for which he received a 2024 Capital Emmy Award nomination. He also wrote and directed the feature film Station to Station and sitcom "Aidy Kane (Really Wants You to Love Him)," co-executive produced the drama Anacostia, and hosts “The Brink with Benjamin Bryant.” As an actor, Bryant portrays "Gregory Marshall" on the serial Forever and a Day, a role for which he received a 2022 Indie Series Award.

Bryant served on the Pentagon’s Fort Hood Shooting Task Force, “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” Repeal Working Group, the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, and the United States Vietnam War Commemoration. In 2011, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin announced the formal acquisition of several of Bryant's papers, notes, and recordings.

Bryant is a 2024 recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.

Early life and education

Bryant was born in Nuremberg, Germany to American parents in a military family. His father is Brigadier General Albert Bryant Jr. He is also the nephew of writer and speaker Lori Bryant-Woolridge.

Bryant graduated from Giessen American High School in Giessen, Germany in 1994, commencing study at the University of Texas at Austin, that same year. At Texas, he studied journalism and communication studies from 1994 to 1998, when an extended illness led to medical withdrawal prior to graduation. Bryant completed his Bachelor of Science degree at New York’s Excelsior University.

In 2015, Bryant graduated with both a Master of Science in Organizational Development and Leadership, and a Master of Arts in Applied Administration, from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

Career

In 1996, Bryant was serving as a radio news intern at Austin radio station KKMJ when the Atlanta Olympic Bombing occurred. Following coverage of his impromptu overnight reporting by Austin American-Statesman columnist Jane Grieg, he was offered a regular on-air role at KKMJ and named Program Director for sister station, KJCE.

Bryant later worked as a freelance journalist and columnist before focusing on public relations and crisis communications consulting. He was a writer and editor for the Deepwater News and FHP&R: Force Health Protection & Readiness magazine. He returned to broadcasting as the host of the “BZCast” podcast in 2017, including an exploration of leaking and whistleblowing in the federal government, and in 2018 with “The Brink with Benjamin Bryant,” a series of one-on-one interviews focusing on Washington D.C. notables, and its spin-off serialized investigative podcast. In 2018, Bryant also appeared in a non-partisan public service announcement entitled "The One Place Everyone is Equal."

Between 2005 and 2009, Bryant served as a speechwriter for Rear Admiral Patrick Stillman of the United States Coast Guard, Ellen Embrey, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Health Protection and Readiness, and communications advisor for James Finley, then-Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology during the George W. Bush administration.

From late 2009, Bryant's public service has primarily focused on high profile task force and commission work. In 2009, he briefly supported the Congressional Wartime Contracting Commission effort as a contractor, before joining the Pentagon's Fort Hood Shooting Task Force in the aftermath of the November 2009 shooting. Subsequently, he served as Editor-in-Chief for the Pentagon's “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Repeal Working Group, led a Pandemic Influenza Program Assessment for the City of Virginia Beach, and served as a senior team lead for Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (for which he also served as the agency's final spokesperson).

During this time, Bryant made multiple appearances on America Tonight speaking to military issues in the news, and in 2011, news reports covered Bryant and Thomas Zamberlan's donation of their original editor's copies from several Presidential and DoD task forces to the Smithsonian Institution. That same year, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at Bryant's alma mater University of Texas at Austin, acquired Bryant's personal notes, papers, and recorded recollections related to his work on the Fort Hood investigation and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeals.

In 2010, Bryant co-founded the Bryant Zamberlan Group with Zamberlan, and has served as the Managing Partner, overseeing efforts including global communications and organizational development consultation, TV/film production, and BZ/MP, producing a news/information and media distribution projects, primarily in-between term-limited Government projects

In 2022, Bryant returned to government task force and commission work, joining The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration as Chief of Staff, Task Force 23-Operation Welcome Home, the task force within the commission charged with planning and executing an $8M three-day 50th anniversary commemoration in May 2023 – including ceremonies, historical displays, and a multi-media concert on the National Mall – in recognition of the service and sacrifices of Vietnam War-era veterans and their families. In addition to his Chief of Staff duties, Bryant specifically oversaw the planning, programming, and production of the multimedia concert, featuring The United States Army Band and other military performers, football player Joe Theismann, former Miss America and ESPN reporter Sharlene Wells-Hawkes, singer Lee Greenwood, and actor Robert Patrick, among others, as well as remarks from President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and a subsequent broadcast adaptation of the concert. Following the conclusion of "Operation Welcome Home," Bryant agreed to stay on as a special assistant and senior advisor to MG Edward Chrystal, Jr., the commemoration's director, through October 2024.

Task forces and commissions

Digital Dunkirk and volunteer public service

In 2021, during the weeks leading up to the withdrawal of American troops and international presence from Afghanistan, Bryant facilitated the emergency evacuation of Afghan allies and their families and served as a planner and spokesperson for the "Digital Dunkirk" coalition of former and current military, diplomatic personnel, and government civilians working to coordinate evacuations.

In 2024, Bryant served as a volunteer planner and host/master of ceremonies for the Department of Defense's "Bring Your Child to Work Day" concert and program at the Pentagon, working with multiple military and civilian organizations (including the Walt Disney Corporation) on an all-day program of events and activities for more than 9,000 military families and guests.

Bryant has further served as an auxiliarist in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, including as a Flotilla Staff Officer, since 2012.

Film, television and radio

Bryant began producing narrative television and film projects in 2016, first joining the digital series Anacostia at the start of its fifth season, as a supervising producer. Beginning with episode five, Bryant was named co-executive producer of the series, a role he continued until September 2019. He occasionally recurred on the series in the role of news anchor "James Vance," an homage to Washington D.C. news anchor Jim Vance.

In 2019, the Bryant Zamberlan Group partnered with Gemelli Films and writer-director Candice Cain to produce the first three entries in the "Candy Cain" series of holiday films, Ivy & Mistletoe, starring Cody Calafiore, Carrie Genzel, and Cynthia Gibb; The Maltese Holiday, starring Calafiore, Clayton Snyder, and Abigail Hawk; and Magic in Mount Holly, starring Calafiore, Genzel, Patrick Muldoon, Frank Whaley, Terri Garber, and Jennifer Bassey. Bryant was also an associate producer on Cain's Joy & Hope a western-themed romance co-starring Vivica A. Fox.

In 2020, Bryant began production on the sports comedy Aidy Kane, but suspended filming in March 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic. He later repackaged the existing footage with newly shot scenes into the four-time ISA-nominated sitcom, "Aidy Kane (Really Wants You to Love Him." That year, Bryant also debuted in the series regular role of troubled businessman "Gregory Marshall" on the dramatic serial Forever and a Day.

Bryant has appeared in four of writer-director Brooke B's "Script Out Loud" audio feature productions, Birthday Blues, Selling the Act, All I Want for Christmas is Drew, and Parently Ever After, as well as the Brooke B audio series "Dirty Laundry" and "What Goes Around." He portrayed "Nolan," the Nutcracker Prince, in JLJ Media's podcast special The Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker from Molina Productions, a role he reprised as a series regular on "The New Adventures of the Tooth Fairy" series from the same team. In 2023, Bryant joined the audio serial "Heritage" from Galen Roberts and "Forever and a Day" creator Casey S. Hutchison.

Station to Station

During the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, Bryant began writing the psychological drama, Station to Station, directing the film on location in September, keeping cast and crew in an isolated "bubble" to adhere to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. In 2021, the film began its festival run, marking Bryant's official debut as a feature film writer and director.

Markos Papadatos of Digital Journal called the film "compelling" and "bold," and K.P. Smith of We Are Entertainment News called it "deeply satisfying." Both reviewers compared Bryant's work to that of writer-directors Paul Thomas Anderson and Richard Linklater. Station to Station won "Best Narrative Feature," "Best Actor," and "Best Ensemble" in June 2021 at the IndieEye Film Awards and received multiple honors from IndieFEST and FILMHAUS Berlin in the following months. Bryant was specifically recognized by FILMHAUS with "first-time director" and "original concept" nominations.

In October 2021, the Las Vegas International Film and Screenwriting Festival announced Station to Station as both an Official Selection and the festival's opening night feature. The film premiered in competition, earning eight jury nominations, including as a finalist for the festival's Best Drama Feature, winning two, and was selected by attendees to receive the 2021 "Audience Award." On January 8, 2022, Station to Station was released via virtual cinema in the United States.

Awards and honors

Bryant has received a number of high-profile nominations, awards, and honors throughout his varied career, including a Capital Emmy Award nomination and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service (the Pentagon's third-highest honor for non-career civilians).

In December 1996, Bryant was named by the Austin American-Statesman as one of its year's "most memorable" following his notable broadcasting debut the night of the 1996 Olympic bombing.

In 2022, he received six nominations (the second highest of any individual nominee that year) for the 12th Annual Indie Series Awards in 2022, including nominations for "Best Comedy Series" and "Best Supporting Actor - Comedy" nominations for "Aidy Kane (Really Wants You to Love Him)" and "Best Actor - Audio Fiction" for his second season performance as "Gregory Marshall" in "Forever and a Day." At the ceremony on April 9, 2022, Bryant and his "Forever and a Day" season two castmates won the awards program's inaugural "Best Ensemble - Audio Fiction" award. (Bryant received one previous nomination in 2018 as part of the "Anacostia" producing team.)

In May 2024, Bryant was nominated for a Capital Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his work on "Welcome Home! Honoring Your Legacy," the broadcast/streaming version of the 2023 "Welcome Home!" Vietnam Veterans tribute event on the National Mall he produced.

Bryant has also received a variety of peer and industry awards throughout his career, including a 2010 Platinum MarCom "Special Category" Award for his work as the Managing Editor of the report of the Fort Hood Task Force, 2012 Davey Award for his appearances on "America Tonight," 2019 Communicator Award of Distinction for "The Brink with Benjamin Bryant" interview specials; multiple Platinum AVA and Hermes Creative Awards for "The Brink with Benjamin Bryant: INTERSECTIONS" podcast; and a 2020 Hermes Creative Award for the trailer for "Journeys Beyond." Additionally, as a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Bryant has received multiple shared commendations and awards from the United States Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security.

Government and military medals and awards

•   Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service
•   Department of Homeland Security Outstanding Unit Award
•   Coast Guard Unit Commendation (2 Gold Stars)

Filmography

Film

Television and streaming

Radio and podcasts

Theatre and live events