He is a distant relative of the American composer Irving Berlin and the French science fiction writer Jules Verne.
Benardout began his film career working for director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, 9½ Weeks) at his production company Jennie & Co where he managed productions for commercial directors including John Lloyd (Blackadder).
After a few years, he made the jump to directing himself and shot over 200 commercials and music videos in London and Amsterdam.
A Little Worm was distributed theatrically by Buena Vista International with the film Ed Wood and aired on BBC Four for the series The Shooting Gallery.
Benardout made his feature film directing debut in 2007 with the drama film Sinner starring Nick Chinlund and Georgina Cates.