Darren Stein (born December 24, 1971) is an American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

who grew up in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

. Among his works include the documentary ''Put the Camera on Me'', the 2010 horror comedy ''

All About Evil ''All About Evil'' is a 2010 American black comedy slasher film and marks the feature film directorial debut of Joshua Grannell, who also wrote the script. The film stars Natasha Lyonne as an unhinged theatre owner who begins making snuff films ...

'', and the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

major motion picture Punchline is an American rock band from Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, United States, that was formed in 1998. The band released its seventh full-length album, '' Thrilled'', on December 4, 2015, on InVogue Records. History 1998-2002: early yea ...

'' Jawbreaker'' - which was deemed a "cult classic" by the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', and is still referenced today in mainstream sources.

Career

Stein started using his father's video camera at the age of ten, creating a body of work that would later be seen in his documentary Put the Camera on Me. Upon graduating

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

film school, he co-wrote and directed his first feature, ''Sparkler,'' that premiered at the

Hamptons Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October ...

and won the audience award in

Athens, GA Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the state ...

. Stein's second feature, ''Jawbreaker'', premiered at the 1999

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

and was nominated for the

MTV Movie Award The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editio ...

for “Best Villain”. Upon completing ''Put the Camera on Me'' with childhood friend Adam Shell in 2003, Stein was interviewed by

Ira Glass Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series ''This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ' ...

on ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internati ...

''. The documentary was released on DVD through Wellspring/Genius Entertainment. Stein went on to executive produce

Cam Archer Cam Archer (born 1981) is an American independent filmmaker, photographer and sound designer, currently residing in Santa Cruz, California. ''Cinemad'' Career Archer's first success was with his 2003 student produced short film, ''bobbycrush'' ...

’s ''Wild Tigers I Have Known'', which premiered at the 2005

.http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=3564 In 2010, he produced ''All About Evil'', a horror comedy starring Natasha Lyonne and Thomas Dekker. Most recently, he has written the book for ''Jawbreaker the Musical'', which is scheduled for a one night showing on July 29, 2010, in Los Angeles, and featuring Jenna Leigh Green.

Personal life

Stein is openly gay.

Filmography

References

External links

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Darren Stein
on Myspace 1971 births American film directors American film producers English-language film directors Living people American male screenwriters Place of birth missing (living people) American gay writers LGBT film directors 21st-century LGBT people {{US-film-director-1970s-stub