How The Bear Is Leaving Footprints in Austin’s Creative Community

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” says Berndt Mader, explaining how he and co-founder Ben Steinbauer formed their production company, The Bear, while attending the University of Texas. While studying, Ben had worked at a commercial post house and was subsequently being pitched editing and directing jobs by producers he’d met along the way, so the pair teamed up to fit projects around their busy grad school schedules, and “have been clawing their way along ever since.”

Berndt says, “Our goal has always been to tell stories that move audiences, whether they be feature films or 30-second spots. Our favourite work makes you laugh, or maybe tugs at the heartstrings – or sometimes both!”

Originally setting out to produce their own feature films, Ben says that he and Berndt - who are both directors and partners at The Bear - “fell in love with making commercials, music videos, art installations, branded documentaries, and PSAs” along the way, and have used their indie filmmaking skills to hone their commercial work and vice versa.

“We love this cross-pollination and feel it makes our work more interesting,” he adds. “By blending our influences and blurring the boundaries between mediums, we make work that is unique and multidisciplinary. And, we get to invite our agency friends to celebrate with us at our film premieres and include our artist friends in our commercial work, which feels like a beautiful symbiotic relationship.”

[Berndt Mader and Ben Steinbauer, co-founders, directors and partners at The Bear]

A year ago, Elizabeth Spiva - a friend of Ben’s for over 20 years and a fellow member of the advertising community in Austin, Texas -  joined The Bear as an executive producer. After more than two decades as a producer on the agency side, she began to dabble in the production and post-production worlds, where she found a sense of true belonging with The Bear. “The timing was pure kismet,” she says, “They were looking for an EP to come ‘steer the ship’ at the very same moment I was looking to do exactly that. We clicked from our very first meeting, and the rest is history.”

She continues, “I instantly aligned with the goals that Ben and Berndt were wanting to achieve: to maintain our high standards of production, overdeliver for our clients, deepen our agency and brand relationships, and grow the roster at The Bear with a focus on diversity, equity and opportunity.”

Describing their new colleague as a “dream come true,” Ben adds that Elizabeth has helped The Bear to build a deep and diverse roster of talent since joining, thanks to her vast industry knowledge and connections. “She’s like the mayor of Austin, she knows everyone! And clients love her calm demeanour and her steady hand on the wheel. She’s the mama bear who makes our cave a home.”

[Elizabeth Spiva, executive producer at The Bear]

This home is situated in Austin, a city with a strong and supportive film community - thanks in part to director Richard Linklater and his Austin Film Society, as well as other filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez and Terrance Malick who have brought a lot of production work to the area. Berndt says the collateral effect of this is that Austin has “a great crew base for films and commercials” - perfect for The Bear, who operate in both these worlds.

“There’s a vibrant advertising scene here with trailblazers like GSD&M and McGarrah-Jessee, who laid the foundation,” he continues. “Now we have Preacher, Proof, Third Ear, VMLY&R, R/GA, and many others. We think that all these creative forces feed off each other and make both the film and advertising work better.”

Elizabeth calls Austin a “creative oasis,” joking that it's the centre of the known creative universe as so many creatives are drawn to the city. And while the company searches for talent across the globe, she reveals that they discover most of their new team members through existing relationships in their trusted network of collaborators.

Once they’ve brought on a talent, she explains that all three of the leaders, Ben Berndt and herself, are keen to lend guidance, helping them navigate the agency/client process if unseasoned in commercial work. “Also, it’s a really fun opportunity to connect with our talent and we think it brings us closer as a company,” she adds.

Always on the lookout for “stories with humour and heart,” The Bear prides itself on its character-driven work like ‘Winnebago Man’, Yeti’s ‘Soul Of A City’, the ‘Welcome Love In’ Crate & Barrel campaign, and the ‘C’Mon Ted’ PSAs they produced with Richard Linklater. “We want to be known for work that is bold, funny and touching,” says Ben. 

Jumping on the Crate & Barrel campaign, Berndt shares that the most challenging shoots are often the most memorable, describing how the “massive casting undertaking,” which meant Ben had to interview hundreds of real Crate & Barrel wedding registrants, produced some of their proudest work.

More recently, a spot for beer brand Keystone Light presented a uniquely-Austin opportunity for creative collaboration. While location scouting for a pole barn, they fell back on the supportive Austin community - and more specifically, artist/architect Jack Sanders, the captain of their Austin sandlot baseball team (The Texas Playboys). “He suggested a spot that was totally off our radar, and it turned out to be perfect,” says Ben. “The concept also featured a gag neon sign which we, of course, had made by our fellow sandlot teammate – and the subject of our Yeti film, ‘Soul of a City’ – Evan Voyles. It was a very Austin shoot where our friends helped us elevate the project for our new collaborators at Mono in Minneapolis.”

While acknowledging and respecting “the important role” and “monumental” work and dedication that agencies such as Mono play in the creative process, Berndt says that The Bear also works directly with brands - especially as more begin to call Austin home. Good examples of this, he says, are the job site Indeed and outdoor equipment manufacturer Yeti. “Both have internal agencies with really smart people strategising, developing and producing creative ideas that we can then help them realise.” 

He continues, “Sometimes it feels like a very similar process, as they are still agencies to a large extent. But then at a company like Yeti, they also have folks like [head of content] Scott Ballew. He heads up the Yeti film initiative, which has less of a traditional process and feels more like you’re making an indie film than a commercial spot.”

As well as the growing trend for in-house agencies at brands, the advertising sphere has changed in a multitude of other ways since The Bear’s inception in 2007. Though standing proud as a woman-led business in 2023, with Elizabeth at the helm and production manager Kathryn van Buren, it wasn’t too long ago when such a thing would have been a pipe dream for female talent in the industry. 

[Kathryn van Buren, production manager at The Bear]

“When I started my advertising career, it was just a straight-up boys’ club. The very first time I ever worked with a female director was about 10 years into my career,” says Elizabeth, before describing a recent project that showed today’s contrast. “My director was a woman, the two agency creatives were women, and the agency producer was a woman. Never had I seen six women and no men on a call like this!”

She continues, “It really struck me how far we’ve come and how grateful I am as a result. But I also want to acknowledge how far we have to go, particularly for women and all people of colour.”

Focused as ever on curating a diverse roster of talent that supports female creatives and creatives of colour - thanks especially to Elizabeth’s efforts during her first year at the production company - The Bear’s 2023, is “shaping up to be a blast,” says Ben.

The team is currently working on “a rare opportunity,” he adds, collaborating with a well-known art collective by forming a collective of their own - a team of three directors from The Bear. Already released, however, is a feature comedy documentary titled ‘Chop & Steele’, which premiered last week on Apple TV, and in the works are a whole host of projects including an art installation and commercial work with the likes of Capital One, Dell, McCoy’s, Tito’s and the US Air Force.

“Plus,” Ben concludes, “we’ve got a few directors coming aboard our roster in the next few months.” Needless to say, The Bear has come out of winter hibernation with its claws sharpened, ready for a successful summer and the chance to continue making its footprint in Austin and beyond.