Betty Bennett

Betty Bennet is a second-generation script supervisor who first stepped onto a movie set when she was five years old. Her mother, Isela Bennett, was known as a "script girl" when she was trained by none other than John Huston (The Maltese Falcon) on the legendary director's We Were Strangers. She went on to build a reputation as one of the best script supervisors in the business and become the first Latin-American member of IATSE. Betty remembered feeling like "a kid in a candy store" with her lineage and that first taste of being around cameras contributing to a density in film and television. Betty learned the propriety, techniques, politics, and every nuance of being a script supervisor from her mother. Being in the presence of such luminaries as indie film icon Roger Corman and Director of Photography Gerald Hirschfeld (Young Frankenstein) afforded her invaluable early education. By 15, she became a professional script supervisor. With independent study to broaden her skills, Betty became an assistant editor at 16. She spent the next two years in the editorial trenches of the booming commercial world and freelancing as an editor and script supervisor on Spanish language and independent films. Her career took off when she was championed by producer/director John Nicolella to become the script supervisor and youngest member of the crew on the groundbreaking television series, Miami Vice. She stayed with the show for four years working intimately with actors, producers, directors of photography and such diverse directors as Leon Ichaso, Don Johnson, Rob Cohen, Abel Ferrara, Edward James Olmos, Tim Zinnemann, Bill Duke and many more. The stylish Miami Vice gave new perspective and panache to episodic television and catapulted Miami Beach into the world's number one tourist destination. She moved onto feature films with The Substitute, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Perez Family and Two Much, as well as six films with producer director Andy Fickman, including Paul Blart: Mall Cop, 2, Parental Guidance, She's the Man, Race to Witch Mountain, You Again and The Game Plan. While she has worked with a number of established directors, she has more often been hired to work with first-time directors, owing to her range of experience and level of professionalism. Among her many television series credits are Burn Notice, The L Word, The Net, Sins of the City, The miniseries, From Earth to the Moon, and of course Miami Vice. She has worked on countless commercials and several short films. Born in Cuba during the Revolution, Betty was still an infant when her Russian-Jewish civil engineer father and mother escaped Fidel Castro's regime. The family moved to the United States where she grew up in Whitestone, Queens, New York, later relocating to Miami when she was a teenager. Betty Bennett is a highly respected member of the entertainment industry not only for her dedication, experience and knowledge, but also for the personal and lasting relationships she has made during her career. As she steps into her role as director, she has reached out to several film professionals to join her on the journey. At the top of their game and far beyond working on low budget productions, virtually all of them have responded with wholehearted willingness to be part of her directorial debut. Betty was a union member in Canada and became a dual Canadian-American citizen while working there. She returned to Miami and remains a member of the New York-based IATSE Local 161. "No other director can say they grew up on set and continued learning and working side by side with so many directors and cinematographers. With each of them came unique ideas and perspectives on how to approach directing," said Betty. Though she is indebted to her mother for helping launch her career, dark secrets and painful memories remain from their tumultuous relationship. "My mother-cursed me and forced me into the blackest magic there is. I know the subject well. Yes, there is EVIL" Soils of Evils is inspired by true events.