Dairy farm to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Emmy stage to university classroom. 22 years. 1,500+ productions. One mission: move people, not just inform them.
Benjamin Watkins spent nearly 15 years as a farm hand in Central Minnesota before he graduated high school — up before dawn, responsible for living things, accountable to an operation that didn't stop for anyone. That foundation of grit, integrity, and community has never left him.
Storytelling wasn't a career plan. It was simply how he made sense of the world around him — the people, the seasons, the quiet weight of rural life where every neighbor had a history worth knowing.
"Communication isn't about noise — it's about change. When stories are told well, they don't just reach people. They move them."Benjamin Watkins · Founder, All Things Possible
Benjamin earned an Associate of Arts in Speech and Theatre from Ridgewater College, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Dance from Minnesota State University, Mankato — where the discipline of live performance taught him that story isn't just what you say; it's what the audience feels in the room with you.
He later earned his Master of Fine Arts in Motion Picture and Television — Producing and Directing with a 3.986 GPA, Magna Cum Laude, earning a place on the President's Honor List from 2012–2014. He describes this degree accurately as the equivalent of an MBA focused on media — covering project leadership, contract negotiation, budgeting, distribution, crisis communication, and the full arc of production strategy.
He also completed formal training at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School — where psychological operations, media relations, and market research converged into a discipline that continues to shape his approach to audience strategy today.
After 9/11, Benjamin enlisted as a 37F Psychological Operations Specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2003, he deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom, assigned to Camp Bucca — one of the largest Coalition detainee facilities of the conflict — in coordination with the 800th Military Police Battalion.
There, he led a 12-member multimedia and communications team, producing culturally adapted messaging and information campaigns designed to influence perceptions, build trust, and support mission objectives. He also trained allied PSYOP personnel from the United Kingdom and Germany in influence operations, psychological targeting, and multimedia delivery.
He completed the Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC) and was promoted to Sergeant E-5. Every lesson he absorbed — about audience psychology, message architecture, medium selection, and effect measurement — lives in the DNA of All Things Possible today.
Over more than two decades, Benjamin has produced over 1,500 video and digital campaigns for nonprofit, public sector, and mission-driven organizations — including Emmy Award-winning work for PBS, campaigns for the March of Dimes and African Women's Alliance, and immersive storytelling for veterans' organizations, public health initiatives, and educational institutions.
He led full-cycle production operations on 1,300+ commercial and in-house video projects — collaborating with business owners, CEOs, and marketing teams to craft campaigns aligned with brand messaging and measurable business outcomes. He managed over $500K in equipment inventory, produced training videos with a 90% close rate for major contracts, and implemented production workflow improvements that cut pre-production time by 40%.
He also drove demand generation strategy that contributed to a 40% company growth rate in a single quarter, generated 24+ qualified leads per month, and scaled a digital community from 20 members to over 2,500 — contributing to a 110% increase in national digital engagement.
In immersive media, he produced 20+ VR/360° experiences in a single year and has since built a portfolio of 100+ immersive productions across 50+ clients — pioneering virtual familiarization tours that transformed how communities and organizations tell their stories at trade shows, on smartphones, and across digital platforms.
For over 12 years, Benjamin has taught at the university level — covering storytelling, video editing, motion picture production, 360° VR, and media communication. He has served as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for curriculum development, ensuring programs kept pace with industry standards, emerging technology, and real-world professional demands.
He brings agency-level insight, nonprofit campaign experience, and military communication discipline into the classroom — mentoring students in career strategy, portfolio development, and the kind of purpose-driven creative thinking that translates into professional impact.
Emmy Award-winning documentary following Larry Tillemans — believed to be the last living clerk-typist from the Nuremberg Trials. As a sergeant in the U.S. 3rd Army, Larry documented the testimony of Holocaust victims and perpetrators.
▶ Watch on YouTube →Honored to be invited by the family of Officer Tommy Decker to document his funeral. Told entirely from the perspective of his wife, Alicia Decker — a deeply personal tribute to a life of service and the love left behind.
▶ Watch on Vimeo →Psychological Operations training teaches something no film school or marketing program can replicate: how to communicate with absolute precision when ambiguity has irreversible consequences. In PSYOP, you identify your target audience with scientific rigor. You design the message. You choose the medium. You measure the effect.
That is — word for word — what modern strategic marketing demands. The difference is that Benjamin didn't learn it in a classroom. He learned it at Camp Bucca, Iraq, in 2003, leading a team of 12, producing media for one of the largest Coalition detainee operations of the conflict.
That experience doesn't just inform his work. It is his work.
In 2015, Benjamin was part of the production team honored with a Regional Emmy Award for "The Typist" — a historical documentary following Larry Tillemans, believed to be the last living clerk-typist from the Nuremberg Trials.
The film premiered through PBS and was recognized for excellence in historical storytelling and cinematic execution. It is, at its core, a story about a person most of the world never knew existed — told with the care and discipline that subject deserved.
That is the standard All Things Possible brings to every engagement.
▶ Watch "The Typist"The equivalent of an MBA with a heavy emphasis on creative, artistic, and technical storytelling. Covers project leadership, budgeting, contract law, distribution, branding, pitching, and crisis communication — applied to media production at the highest level.
Magna Cum Laude · 3.986 GPA · President's Honor List 2012–2014Stage craft, performance theory, and the discipline of live storytelling. Acting, directing, and ensemble performance developed the emotional intelligence and interpersonal clarity that underpin every story Benjamin tells today.
3.15 GPAFormal training in Psychological Operations with a focus on media relations, market research, psychological targeting, and omnichannel messaging deployment. Applied audience intelligence and message architecture under operational conditions.
Completed · Sep–Dec 2002Foundational studies in public speaking, speechwriting, and theatre performance — building the communication confidence and creative vocabulary that carries through Benjamin's career in media, marketing, and instruction.
Every story we tell is grounded in truth — found in the real people and real experiences that make up your narrative. We don't manufacture emotion. We find it where it already lives.
Stage, screen, VR, documentary — the medium changes, the commitment to craft doesn't. Emmy-caliber standards applied to every project, at every budget.
Shaped by PSYOP training and live performance alike, we never lose sight of the person on the other end — who they are, what they need to feel, and what would move them to act.
We were building VR experiences before most people owned a headset. Immersion isn't a gimmick — it's the natural evolution of storytelling, and we've been preparing for it our whole careers.
Engagement metrics, KPIs, effect measurement — tracking what works is built into our process. Every campaign is a conversation between creative instinct and evidence-based refinement.
From the farm to the battlefield to the nonprofit sector — this has always been the foundation. We work with mission-driven organizations because their stories matter most.
Benjamin's Strengths-Finder profile describes him with five core strengths: Strategic · Positivity · Developer · Communication · Belief. These aren't just personality labels — they describe a leader who walks into complex environments, finds the path forward, and brings people along for the journey.
As an ENFJ, he is oriented toward people, purpose, and impact. His Enneagram 8 designation points to decisive, protective leadership that fights for those who can't fight for themselves. His DiSC "i" profile reflects high influence, optimism, and the ability to inspire action through authentic connection.
In practice: he's the person who asks the question no one else asked, builds the campaign no one thought was possible, and tells the story that makes the room go quiet.
Benjamin Watkins won the 2015 Regional Emmy Award as part of the production team behind "The Typist" — a historical documentary that aired on PBS following Larry Tillemans, believed to be the last living clerk-typist from the Nuremberg Trials. The film was recognized for excellence in historical storytelling and cinematic execution.
Benjamin Watkins served as a 37F Psychological Operations Specialist (Sergeant E-5) in the U.S. Army Reserve (2001–2007). He deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 at Camp Bucca, Iraq, with the 13th PSYOP Battalion — leading a 12-member multimedia team and training allied PSYOP forces from the UK and Germany in influence operations and multimedia strategy.
Benjamin Watkins holds an MFA in Motion Picture and Television — Producing and Directing (Academy of Art University, Magna Cum Laude, 3.986 GPA, President's Honor List 2012–2014) and a BA in Theatre and Dance (Minnesota State University, Mankato). He also completed military media and PSYOP training at the U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center and holds an AA in Speech and Theatre from Ridgewater College.
Benjamin Watkins has produced over 1,500 video and digital campaigns since 2003, including 1,300+ commercial and in-house video projects. He has 100+ VR/360° productions across 50+ clients, with 20+ immersive experiences produced in a single year. His work spans documentary, commercial, nonprofit, veteran services, public health, and economic development sectors.
Yes. Benjamin Watkins has taught at the university level for 12+ years, covering storytelling, video production, 360° VR, motion picture production, and media communication. He served as an adjunct professor at The King's University (Southlake, TX, 2022–2024) and Rasmussen University (10+ years), where he also served as a Subject Matter Expert for curriculum development.
Benjamin Watkins has produced Emmy Award-winning work for PBS, and campaigns for the March of Dimes, the African Women's Alliance, and veteran service organizations. He has produced 1,500+ campaigns for nonprofit, public sector, and mission-driven organizations across healthcare, economic development, military/veteran services, public health, and educational institutions.
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