Benjamin MulHolland is an award-winning Oakland-based writer/director who has been turning small budgets into engaging motion pictures, most notably M.O.A.B. and its sequel Daisy Cutter. His biting action-satire web series Pennies for the Juggernaut was well received and distributed online both domestically and internationally, garnering fans in Europe, South Korea, Japan and Australia. Benjamin’s films seek to explore topics related to mythology, politics and mysticism, while also incorporating the concepts of Shamanism, Taoism and the Japanese aesthetic of Yūgen —which is at the heart of his filmmaking philosophy— taking that which cannot be said in life’s mysterious journey and turning it into unforgettable cinema. Benjamin’s projects have screened at Cinequest, the Oakland International Film Festival, the Portland Film Festival, the San Diego Black Film Festival and the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.

The Lake Merritt Monster — When Ollie Henderson’s mother is abducted by a monster hiding in the depths of Lake Merritt, he sets out on a mission to find her — discovering instead a hidden network of monster hunters tasked with protecting Oakland from its own dark underbelly.