Bender began his sound career on "
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)." Prior to joining Formosa Features, he spent over thirty years at Soundelux. As a co-founder at 18, he and his partners built a community and support system that set the stage for artistic excellence that fostered many successful careers in the sound community. Bender won an Oscar for Best Sound Effects Editing for "
Braveheart (1995)" (shared with Formosa's
Per Hallberg). Bender received Oscar nominations for "
Blood Diamond (2006)" and "
Drive (2011)" and was awarded a scientific and technical award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Advanced Data Encoding System.