Brendon Marotta is an award-winning filmmaker, author, and creator. His documentary American Circumcision won multiple awards and trended on Netflix. He is the author of four books — The Intactivist Guidebook, The Haunting of Bob Cratchit, Children’s Justice, and The Gods of AI. He has spoken at Yale University, the International Conference on Men’s Issues, the International Symposium on Genital Autonomy and Children’s Rights, and the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology. He hosts The Brendon Marotta Show and writes regularly on substack. Marotta lives with his family in Austin, Texas.
Education
Marotta first became interested in filmmaking at age fourteen, after watching a film critic break down the original Star Wars trilogy shot by shot. In high school, he began working as a P.A. on low-budget horror films and directed and edited over thirty short video projects. He graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2010 with a B.F.A. in film editing and sound, where he worked in every major role on a film set. During film school, he won the Jury Prize in the 2008 Virginia Film Festival Adrenaline Film Project. In 2013, he completed a year-long Meisner Acting program at the Waterfront Playhouse & Conservatory.
Films
In 2014, a feature Marotta edited premiered at the Austin Film Festival, where it won the Narrative Feature Audience Award. In 2017, he completed American Circumcision, his first feature-length documentary as director. The film explores the circumcision debate in the United States and growing intactivist movement. It won Best Documentary at the Lone Star Film Festival and the Silver Jury Prize at the Seattle Social Justice Film Festival, toured across the country, and later streamed on Netflix. It is currently available on all major video platforms.
Brendon Marotta is currently in development on a feature-length narrative sci-fi film based on a novel about the future of AI.
Fiction
Marotta’s fiction includes The Haunting of Bob Cratchit, a novel co-written with his father and inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. His first fantasy novel is set to release in 2026.
Non-Fiction
In 2020, Marotta published his first non-fiction book, The Intactivist Guidebook, which offers strategies for social change. In 2022, he published Children’s Justice, which examines the treatment of children as a social justice issue. That same year, he published The Gods of AI, which uses AI art to explore spiritual concepts and human consciousness.
Speaking
Marotta has spoken at conferences and universities worldwide, including Yale University, the International Congress for the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology, the International Conference on Men’s Issues, the International Symposium on Genital Autonomy and Children’s Rights, and Paleo FX.
Ongoing
In 2021, Marotta launched The Brendon Marotta Show, a podcast featuring long-form conversations with authors, researchers, and independent thinkers. He publishes writing on social issues and investigative journalism on Hegemon Media. He publishes regular essays and fiction on his substack.
Music
Marotta produces music with AI through Hyperreal Arts, an independent music label. Projects include ANGELBREAKS, Noir Machine, Cipher Fugue, and Vibe Hacker. He previously released music under the name Strange Aura, which is now retired.
Technology
Marotta has been working with AI art and automation tools since 2022. He is currently developing Dadflix, a personalized streaming service that allows families to curate what their children watch.
Personal
Marotta has a longstanding interest in spirituality and self-development. He began practicing zazen (zen meditation) in high school. He has studied hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). In 2019, he became a certified practitioner of the Completion Process, a method for resolving emotional trauma.
Marotta is married with two children. He lives with his family in Austin, Texas.