Director of Community Development
Media Transformation Challenge
Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Benjamin Wagner is a creative, consultant, coach, founder of Essential Industries, and Director of Community Engagement for the Media Transformation Challenge at Poynter.
Essential Industries (so named after the Saint-Exupéry quote “What is essential is invisible to the eye”) is a boutique consulting firm specializing in individual and organizational strategy, transformation, communication, and collaboration.
Benjamin’s expertise is shaped by thirty years of leadership as a technology and media executive, award-winning journalist and filmmaker, and Media Transformation Challenge Fellow (f/k/a the Sulzberger Fellowship).
In a career spanning print (Rolling Stone, The Saratogian), radio (WCZN-AM, KOTO-FM), broadcast and digital (Lifetime, MTV), and social media (Facebook, Instagram), Benjamin has accrued a strong record leveraging creative, editorial, operational and team leadership strength to build brands, sustainable platforms and global programs at scale while accelerating results.
From his half-decade helping launch Facebook’s Journalism Project globally and his tenure transforming MTV News from a 9-to-5 TV to a 24/7 digital-first news organization, to his award-winning PBS documentary, Mister Rogers & Me, podcast or forthcoming documentary, Benjamin's hallmark is the essential nature of our shared human experience.
Benjamin consults and coaches executives, high-potential professionals, and teams seeking to build their businesses, sharpen their skills, and effectively manage themselves and others.
As half of the filmmaking duo, Wagner Brothers, he researched, interviewed, wrote, voiced, scored, co-directed, produced, and marketed the documentary, Mister Rogers & Me. The film unearths the roots of Mister Rogers' values, unmasks the forces acting against depth and simplicity, and helps viewers develop the means to lead deeper, simpler lives.
The 80-minute feature seized top prizes at numerous film festivals before bowing on PBS in 2012. The film aired thousands of times nationwide, often as the cornerstone of pledge drives, and garnered coverage in The New York Times, Washington Post, and more.
In October 2023, Benjamin premiered his second documentary, Friends & Neighbors, in which he “looks for the helpers” in post-pandemic America. The film is slated for wide release in May 2025.
Slay Your Dragon: Deliver Your Most-Important Performance Challenge with MTC @ ONA (By Application)
Saturday, September 21, 2024
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM EDT