He’s been gone from Kokomo for 20 years. He’s traveled the world, produced major motion pictures and television episodes, won top directing honors at the legendary Sundance Film Festival, and been nominated for a slew of Emmy awards and other honors. But Ben Cotner says he’ll never forget his hometown and the combination of work ethic and innovation that is the foundation of his life. Ben Cotner “Kokomo was incredibly important to who I am,” Ben says. “The biggest component would be growing up in a family business that continues on today.” Ben’s grandfather, fellow Howard County “Legend” Don Moore, owned Moore’s Drugs and Ben, like his sister and cousins, grew up working there. There’s the work ethic. And he remembers the community spirit of “The City of Firsts:” “Haynes automobiles, the Seiberling Mansion ... Kokomo does a good job of celebrating that.” There’s the innovation.

As an elementary school student, he traveled with his grandfather to pharmaceutical conventions with an emphasis on continuing education and a spirit of entrepreneurship. Weekends and holidays were reserved for family and he remembers long days of fishing, boating and swimming on Lake Manitou. “We grew up with a spirit of being loved and having the support of our family,” Ben said.

Then there were the enrichment opportunities of the KEY program in Kokomo Schools. “The fact Kokomo and the community invests in providing that sort of educational experience really allowed me to tap into my potential,” he said, remembering teachers like Lyn Shirley, Carol Gatman and Susan Luttrell. He went on to excel at Culver Military Academy and the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities where he graduated from high school in 1998.

Ben moved to Southern California and graduated from Pitzer College in 2002. He spent seven years as an executive at Paramount Classics and was a senior vice president of acquisitions at Open Road films before launching a career as a director. His first major documentary, “The Case Against 8,” a five-year examination of the legal battles to overturn California’s constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, thrust him into the limelight at Sundance and a raft of other major film venues in 2014. A look at his LinkedIn resume and an IMDB listing of his credits that goes on for four printed pages tells the story of the last nine years. Credits for such notable efforts as Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth;” Ava DuVernay’s “13th;” biographies of Quincy Jones, Lady Gaga, and author Amanda Knox pop out. Released in July were two highly anticipated productions – the biopic “Steph Curry: Underrated” in theaters and Apple TV+ and the thriller “The Deepest Breath” out on Netflix. In January, Ben moved into his latest position as vice president of Creative at MasterClass, a highlevel role that allows him to combine his love of education and love of storytelling with the mission of creating a “modern-day library of Alexandria” sharing the wisdom of world-class thinkers and teachers.

He thinks back to his travels with grandparents Don and Naomi Moore. “Grandma’s hobby was photography and Grandpa would always have the latest video camera,” he remembers. “Perhaps my desire to document the world may have some roots in that.” His production company’s name? Moore’s Filmed Goods and Services. And the Moore tradition of family continues. Ben and husband Matt Partney, a native of Oregon, recently moved from the Los Angeles area to Kirkland, Washington, to offer daughter Cascadia, almost 3, and son Marshall, 2, the kind of warm, supportive upbringing they both enjoyed.