Bryan Michael Bertino (born October 17, 1977) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the writer/director of '' The Strangers'' (2008), as well as writing its sequel, '' The Strangers: Prey at Night'' (2018), with

Ben Ketai Ben Ketai is an American film director, writer, and producer. He directed and wrote the following Ghost House Pictures productions: '' 30 Days of Night: Dark Days'' and the webseries '' 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust''. Career In 2010, the ...

Early life and education

Bertino was born in

Crowley, Texas Crowley is a city located mainly in Tarrant County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 18,070 at the 2020 census, up 40.8% from the 2010 census. History Around 1848, pioneers began farming the area around Deer Creek. The settlement ...

. He studied cinematography at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, where he worked as a gaffer, and wrote screenplays in his spare time.

Career

Bertino submitted '' The Strangers'' for a Nicholl Fellowship with the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

, which reached the quarterfinals. However, he was able to get a meeting with

Vertigo Entertainment Vertigo Entertainment is an American film and television production company based in Los Angeles, founded in 2001 by Roy Lee and Doug Davison. History In 2001, after leaving BenderSpink, Roy Lee started Vertigo Entertainment with partner Do ...

. Bertino quit his job days before the script was sold to

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

Mark Romanek Mark Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American filmmaker whose directing work includes feature films, television, music videos and commercials. Romanek wrote and directed the 2002 film ''One Hour Photo'' and directed the 2010 film '' Neve ...

wanted to direct ''The Strangers'' but demanded a $40 million budget. After speaking with Andrew Rona at

Rogue Pictures Rogue (originally Rogue Pictures) is an American independent production company founded in 1998 by Patrick Gunn and Matt Wall, originally started off as a genre film label of the Universal-affiliated independent film studio October Films and was ...

, Bertino was asked to direct ''The Strangers'' despite a lack of directorial experience.

Filmography

''This Man''

In 2010, Bertino announced he was working on the

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

''This Man'', which was being produced by

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1990 superhero film ''Darkman'' ...

and his company

Ghost House Pictures Ghost House Pictures is an American film production company that was founded in 2002 by Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi, which usually co-produces films with Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane. The company produces horror films such as '' Don't Breathe' ...

. The film is about a mysterious man's face appearing in the dreams of many individuals.

Concept

The film concept is built upon the internet meme that appeared in October 2009, with the launching of the website ThisMan.org. The site claimed that the first recorded sighting of the individual was in 2006 to an anonymous mental patient and that others throughout the world have seen This Man in their dreams. Shortly after the website launch, it was revealed that the website and meme were created by sociologist Andrea Natella, an advertising agency employee who specialized in hoax and viral marketing, and that the face used on the website appeared to have been produced through the software program Flash Face.

Production

ThisMan.org was purchased in May 2010 by Ghost House Pictures, who announced that they were writing and directing a film about This Man, with Bertino contracted as writer/director.First Showing, Bryan Bertino Directing New Fact-based Horror Film ''This Man''
/ref> Though Bertino worked on other projects, ''This Man'' hasn't been mentioned since then.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertino, Bryan 1977 births Living people People from Crowley, Texas American male screenwriters Moody College of Communication alumni Film directors from Texas Film producers from Texas Horror film directors Screenwriters from Texas 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers