Welcome Sebastian Apollo Reiner to our family! Benny and his wife Vanessa have had their first baby boy and everyone is happy and healthy. In this episode we hear from Benny about what it's like being a new dad.

Victor Sawyer is a lifelong musician and educator hailing from Memphis, TN. Through a diverse career he has had the distinct privilege of fusing his musical and academic identities to support artistic excellence in the classroom and on the stage. As a performer he has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, South by Southwest, Beale Street Music Festival, Maspalomas Soul Festival, Porretta Soul Festival and with Memphis legends such as 8Ball and MJG, Valerie June, Steve Cropper, Wendy Moten and many more in addition to leading the Lucky 7 Brass Band. Sawyer is a graduate of the University of Memphis and Manhattan School of Music.

Since day one of Jessiqa Jones’ life, music has been a safety blanket. Growing up with her parents in Spokane, WA, she was exposed to R&B, Hip Hop, Grunge, Heavy Metal, and everything in between which enabled her to speak the language of music across the barriers of all genres. Her journey led her to falling in love with diva soul singers before she could even talk, to writing her own songs at 6 years old, and even to producing her own music at 12 by recording herself between two iPhones.

After amassing nearly 10 million views on TikTok and catching the attention of artists like Conan Grey, Jessiqa has released her debut EP "Does It Make Any Other Sounds? Pt. 1". If you are listening to her now you can say you were a fan of Jessiqa Jones before the rest of the globe was.

John Witt Chapman is a Los Angeles-based recording engineer, mixer, and producer specializing in audio for film, television, records, video games, and online content. He began his career at Remote Control Productions, collaborating with renowned composers such as Hans Zimmer, John Paesano, Joseph Trapanese, Geoff Zanelli, and many others. John's notable projects include "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes", “The Simpsons”, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”, and the upcoming “Star Citizen: Squadron 42”. His work has earned him nominations for both a Cinema Audio Society (C.A.S.) Award and a News & Documentary Emmy Award. While based in L.A., John frequently works with clients worldwide.

Bronx native, Puerto-Rican/Jamaican representing artist Amanda Brown has built a career out of provoking intense reactions from the musical elite. She has toured the world as a backing vocalist with artists such as Alicia Keys and Adele, charmed fans and critics alike with her riveting live performances on The Voice, opened for The Killers during their Wonderful, Wonderful arena tour and composes music for television and commercial broadcasting. Amanda's recently released EP, From Here, takes the listener on a journey of loss, love, self-determination and redemption by way of Amanda’s sultry vocals, poignant lyrics and alt. rock/pop production. Brown is currently performing with Adele during her Las Vegas residency and is writing and producing her forthcoming solo music project.

Happy New Year from The Ben and Bren Show!

In this episode we ring in 2025 with some major life updates from Benny and Brennan like discovering the joy of outlet shopping, conquering depression, and becoming a dad.

Leah McKendrick was born and raised in San Francisco, California. While studying at Chapman University she wrote, produced, directed, and acted in a number of short films and stage plays and graduated in 2008 with a BFA in theatre performance.

In 2014, McKendrick wrote, produced and starred in the pop musical web series Destroy the Alpha Gammas. The series was critically acclaimed, and she was made a Webby Award honoree and received a Streamy Award nomination. In 2017, she wrote, produced and co-starred in her feature debut, M.F.A., which premiered at South By Southwest. In 2019, she was hired to write Paramount's Grease prequel, Summer Lovin', which was later cancelled. In 2020, she wrote, directed and starred in the short film Pamela & Ivy, a feminist origin story for the supervillain Poison Ivy. The film premiered on Collider. The film was a Webby Award honoree for best writing.

In 2022, McKendrick wrote, directed and starred in the feature film about a broke, single 34-year-old woman that decides to freeze her eggs following a breakup. The film was based on her own experience with egg-retrieval in 2021. The film premiered at South by Southwest in March 2023 and was released theatrically by Lionsgate in 2024. She was named one of IndieWire's "28 Rising Female Filmmakers to Watch" in 2023.

Ali Dee Theodore has over 3 decades of experience in the entertainment industry as a songwriter, producer, composer, artist and Executive Music Producer. In 1989, Dee signed a recording deal with Chrysalis Records for his group The Next School, which was the first African American & White rap duo. Dee would go onto joining the famed Hip Hop production juggernaut, The Bomb Squad, from 1990 to 1993. During the Golden Era of Hip Hop, Dee wrote and produced for Big Daddy Kane, Eric B & Rakim, YBT, Arron Hall, Slick Rick, Dana Dane, Mary J Blige, Natasha Bedingfield, Kool G Rap, andM.O.P, among many others.

In 2002, Dee saw tremendous opportunity in music for film and television and migrated from working with recording artists to creating songs & music for film & television. He has written songs and produced music for over 250 feature films and is ranked the #3 highest grossing Executive Music Producer on Worldwide box office receipts. Songs that Dee has written and produced have garnered in excess of two billion streams on Spotify & two billion views on YouTube.

In 2008, Dee won the American Music Award for his original songwriting and production for the blockbuster franchise film, Alvin & The Chipmunks. Dee went on to Executive Music Produce the second and third films in the franchise, The Squeakquel and Chipwrecked.

Dee has written and produced songs for countless hit Disney franchises and films, including Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, Descendants, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Shake It Up, Kickin’ It, Teen Beach Musical, and Hannah Montana. In 2013, Dee produced the triple-platinum #1 Billboard chart single “Cups”, by Anna Kendrick. In 2015, Dee was brought on by Nick Jr to write and produce 52 original songs for the animated series ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks. featured Dee’s 52 original songs for seasons 1 & 2.

Highlights of Dee’s three-decade career in entertainment include producing the cast of NBC’s RISE in an epic cover of Macklemore’s smash hit “Glorious”, which was a featured commercial in Super Bowl LII; producing Rachen Platten’s single “Wonder” for the feature film Wonder Park; writing and producing JoJo Siwa’s single “D.R.E.A.M.”, which became the title song for her album and first national tour; co-writing and producing the Snoop Dogg / MonstaX single “How We Do” for the latest SpongeBob Squarepants feature film, Sponge On The Run which Dee had the role of Executive Music Producer; writing and producing five songs for the hit Netflix series Julie & The Phantoms; writing and producing the theme song for the new “He-Man: Masters of the Universe” reboot for Mattel/Netflix; writing and producing original music for Nickelodeon’s “Bubble Guppies” and “Noggin”; writing and producing the 2023 basketball playoff season theme songs for the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks; and producing and performing the hit song “Mario Brothers Rap” for Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Bros. Movie which has garnered over $1 billion at the box office, making it one of the most successful animated franchise films of all time.