Ben Coello

Connection to Giant Bomb

Ben Coello's history with members of the Giant Bomb crew dates back to well before the site's inception. He attended Middlebury College along with longtime friend and co-worker of the four principle Giantbomb editors, Rich Gallup and was the Ben in "The Ben and Rich Comedy Show." He also shot and edited the E3 2004 documentary "Stupid Pants Operation," which prominently featured Jeff, Ryan and Brad.

Due to this connection, he was tasked with the animation of the greatest animated series of all time, "Time Trotters." Sadly, due to gross mismanagement at Gamespot.com which resulted in the dismissal of Jeff Gerstmann, an event which prompted many staff members to leave the site, this series was not allowed to continue past its debut episode. However, the second episode in the series was largely completed, though it will likely never be made available to the public due to various legal reasons. A special look at the episode was given to the lucky attendees at the PAX 2009 Giantbomb panel, entitled the "Giant Bomb Re-Reunion Tour: Tour Legit Tour Quit." All that can be stated is that it was likely the most awesome thing ever shown to anyone ever on a screen and those that did not see it will just have to resign themselves to the fact that their lives will never truly be complete.

Beyond that, Ben was contacted about contributing some art to the Giantbomb site via Xbox Live and is believed to have designed the lovable Bomb featured in the logo.

Ben also teamed up with Rich Gallup to create "Wizards vs Cyborgs," an extraordinary video showcasing the Azeroth Advisor service, which is intended to assist new players that are having trouble understanding the game. This video was the recipient of the prestigious "Best Product From Someone We All Used to Work With" at the "Giant Bomb Golden Anniversary Year-End Awards Extravaganza Spectacular", beating out titles such as Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Rock Band 2, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir. Ben and Rich went on to create an acceptance speech video which featured expert use of Luchadore masks.

Work in Film

Ben Coello has made something of a name for himself in the film industry as well, assisting on numerous TV and film projects over the years. Most notably is his involvement with the Anna Nicole Smith project "Illegal Aliens" which he wrote, while also serving as the Second Unit Director. This film was Anna Nicole's last project.

38 Studios

Though it is currently unknown what exactly he is working on, Ben Coello is now officially working within the video game industry at 38 Studios. Rich Gallup revealed this at the PAX 2009 Giantbomb panel. The studio is working on at least one project at this time, though it hasn't announced anything as of yet. There is some anticipation already, however, due to the involvement of Curt Schilling and Todd McFarlane.

Trivia

• His young son's name is "Army".
• His wife's great grandfather had opened a ice cream shop after returning from World War 1. The shop was eventually bought out and became the start of the one and only Dairy Queen chain.