Writing

Steve Bencich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Steve Bencich is an American screenwriter best known for his work with Ron J. Friedman. Bencich and Friedman have collaborated on screenplays for several animated films, including Brother Bear, Chicken Little and Open Season. DreamWorks has purchased their comedy screenplay Gullible's Travels, about a gullible man who travels in time in a portable toilet. …

Known For

Brother Bear

Brother Bear · 2003

MovieAdventureAnimation

When an impulsive boy named Kenai is magically transformed into a bear, he must literally walk in another's footsteps until he learns some valuable life lessons. His courageous and often zany journey introduces him to a forest full of wildlife, including the lovable bear cub Koda, hilarious moose Rutt and Tuke, woolly mammoths and rambunctious rams.

Chicken Little

Chicken Little · 2005

MovieAnimationFamily

When the sky really is falling and sanity has flown the coop, who will rise to save the day? Together with his hysterical band of misfit friends, Chicken Little must hatch a plan to save the planet from alien invasion and prove that the world's biggest hero is a little chicken.

Open Season

Open Season · 2006

MovieAnimationFamily

Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.

F Valentine's Day

F Valentine's Day · 2026

F Valentine's Day

MovieRomanceComedy

Gina hates her Valentine's Day birthday and travels to Greece to prevent her boyfriend's proposal. With help from vacationers Johnny and his sister Mickey, she schemes to delay it – while questioning her relationship.

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time · 2007

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time

MovieAnimationRomance

When Lady Tremaine steals the Fairy Godmother's wand and changes history, it's up to Cinderella to restore the timeline and reclaim her prince.

The Monkey King

The Monkey King · 2023

The Monkey King

MovieAnimationFantasy

A stick-wielding monkey teams with a young girl on an epic quest for immortality, battling demons, dragons, gods — and his own ego — along the way.

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore · 2010

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

MovieFamilyAdventure

The ongoing war between the canine and feline species is put on hold when they join forces to thwart a rogue cat spy with her own sinister plans for conquest.

The Cure

The Cure · 2026

MovieHorrorThriller

An adopted 16-year-old with a mysterious illness learns her bio-tech billionaire parents are harvesting her blood for nefarious purposes.

Filmography

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Brother Bear

Brother Bear · 2003

MovieAdventureAnimation

When an impulsive boy named Kenai is magically transformed into a bear, he must literally walk in another's footsteps until he learns some valuable life lessons. His courageous and often zany journey introduces him to a forest full of wildlife, including the lovable bear cub Koda, hilarious moose Rutt and Tuke, woolly mammoths and rambunctious rams.

Screenplay

Chicken Little

Chicken Little · 2005

MovieAnimationFamily

When the sky really is falling and sanity has flown the coop, who will rise to save the day? Together with his hysterical band of misfit friends, Chicken Little must hatch a plan to save the planet from alien invasion and prove that the world's biggest hero is a little chicken.

Screenplay

Open Season

Open Season · 2006

MovieAnimationFamily

Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.

Screenplay

F Valentine's Day

F Valentine's Day · 2026

F Valentine's Day

MovieRomanceComedy

Gina hates her Valentine's Day birthday and travels to Greece to prevent her boyfriend's proposal. With help from vacationers Johnny and his sister Mickey, she schemes to delay it – while questioning her relationship.

Screenplay

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time · 2007

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time

MovieAnimationRomance

When Lady Tremaine steals the Fairy Godmother's wand and changes history, it's up to Cinderella to restore the timeline and reclaim her prince.

Additional Storyboarding

The Monkey King

The Monkey King · 2023

The Monkey King

MovieAnimationFantasy

A stick-wielding monkey teams with a young girl on an epic quest for immortality, battling demons, dragons, gods — and his own ego — along the way.

Screenplay

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore · 2010

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

MovieFamilyAdventure

The ongoing war between the canine and feline species is put on hold when they join forces to thwart a rogue cat spy with her own sinister plans for conquest.

Writer

The Cure

The Cure · 2026

MovieHorrorThriller

An adopted 16-year-old with a mysterious illness learns her bio-tech billionaire parents are harvesting her blood for nefarious purposes.

Executive Producer

10.0 Earthquake

10.0 Earthquake · 2014

10.0 Earthquake

MovieDramaAdventure

Los Angeles is about to be hit by a devastating earthquake, and time is running out to save the city from imminent danger.

Producer

The Donor Party

The Donor Party · 2023

The Donor Party

Follows Jaclyn who really wants a baby, and realizes she doesn't need a husband to be a mother after a messy divorce and wasted years of online dating, so she and her best friends create a plan to get her pregnant at a very special party.

Executive Producer

Happily

Happily · 2021

MovieComedyRomance

Tom and Janet have been happily married for years. But a visit from a mysterious stranger leads to a dead body, a lot of questions, and a tense couples' trip with friends who may not actually be friends at all.

Thanks

Wish Upon a Unicorn

Wish Upon a Unicorn · 2020

Wish Upon a Unicorn

MovieAdventureFamily

Two children discover that their mother is gone. The youngest of the pair, adventurer and upcomming singer, Long Johnson forces his older sister, Lily Johnson, to hunt down a unicorn with magical blood.

Director

Escape from Polygamy

Escape from Polygamy · 2013

Escape from Polygamy

MovieTV MovieDrama

Recently-widowed Leann and her 17-year-old daughter Julina move into an isolated polygamous compound, where the freethinking Julina meets like-minded Ryder, son of the religious compound’s charismatic Prophet, Ervil.

Willie

100 Ghost Street: The Return of Richard Speck

100 Ghost Street: The Return of Richard Speck · 2012

100 Ghost Street: The Return of Richard Speck

A group of paranormal investigators sojourned to the Chicago walk-up where deranged drifter Richard Speck systematically slew eight student nurses back in ’66, looking for restless spirits. Their unfortunate success gets shockingly documented in this fear-filled found-footage foray featuring a bright young cast.

Ghost

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning · 2008

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning

MovieFamilyAnimation

Follow Ariel's adventures before she gave up her fins for true love. When Ariel wasn't singing with her sisters, she spent time with her mother, Queen Athena. Ariel is devastated when Athena is killed by pirates, and after King Triton outlaws all singing. Along with pals Flounder and Sebastian, Ariel sets off in hopes of changing her father's decision to ban music from the kingdom.

Additional Writing