Patrick Shawn Bennett(I)

Growing up in southwest Louisiana, Patrick Shawn Bennett developed a passion for movies at an early age, watching reruns of classic westerns and cliffhanger serials with his father. Armed with a silent Super 8 camera, he began making short films with friends and neighborhood kids, laying the foundation for a lifelong career in visual storytelling. Heavily influenced by Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Bennett knew early on that filmmaking was his calling. After earning a degree in Mass Communications in 2000, he moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where he spent nearly a decade working on independent film and television productions. Upon returning to Louisiana, he founded the Lake Charles Film Festival, Calcasieu Serialfest, and the Calcasieu Parish Short Film Festival, helping to foster and promote independent filmmaking in the region. In addition to directing and producing film festivals, Bennett is a filmmaker, digital creator, pod-caster, and graphic designer. He remains active in local film and screenwriting communities, continues to produce short films and web-based content, and is preparing to move into feature-length filmmaking.