Brian Duffield
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Brian Duffield (born November 5, 1985) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and directed the 2023 sci-fi horror film '' No One Will Save You'' and the 2020 dark comedy
coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
film '' Spontaneous''. His previous writing credits include '' Love and Monsters'' (2020), ''
Underwater An underwater environment is a environment of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a Water, body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characteristics of the ...
'' (2020), '' The Babysitter'' (2017) and ''
Insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...
'' (2015). He is known for having multiple
spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
s featured in The Black List, an industry log of highly regarded but unproduced screenplays, including his scripts for '' Jane Got a Gun'' (2015) and ''Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch''.


Early life

Duffield was born on November 5, 1985, the son of Brenda and Brian Duffield. He has two sisters and spent the first nine years of his life in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...
. In 1995, he moved with his family to rural Ireland when his parents decided to become
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
missionaries. He later described the surroundings of the area in which they settled as being completely remote and lacking in popular culture. He attended school in
County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
; in one classroom, three separate grades were being taught by one teacher, which he described as "very ''
Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...
''-esque". He moved back to the U.S. upon graduating from high school in 2004. Duffield graduated from both
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
and
Messiah College Messiah University is a private interdenominational evangelical Christian university in Upper Allen Township, Pennsylvania, near Mechanicsburg. History The school was founded as "Messiah Bible School and Missionary Training Home" in 1909 by ...
in 2008. After graduation, he moved to
Universal City, California Universal City is an unincorporated area within the San Fernando Valley. Approximately within and immediately outside the area is the property of Universal Pictures NBCUniversal's film studio, one of the five major film studios in the United ...
for a summer internship through Temple University at the Oakwoods apartments prior to the
2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike From November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008, all 12,000 film and television screenwriters of the American labor union Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), and West (WGAW) went on strike. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike primarily so ...
and at the beginning of the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. From there, he worked various jobs before becoming a professional screenwriter. His first job in Los Angeles was at the now defunct Storyopolis, a children's book store/art gallery, in
Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...
, where he worked with writer Blake Harris. He has also worked as an assistant and script reader within the film industry for several years. Prior to selling his first spec screenplay, Duffield was a temporary employee at the Lucky Brand Jeans factory in nearby
Vernon, California Vernon is a city south of downtown Los Angeles, California, the nearest separate city to downtown Los Angeles. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States census, the least of any incorporated city in the state. Its population nearly doub ...
.


Career

Duffield's first spec sale was for ''Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch'' to
Skydance Media Skydance Media, LLC, also known as Skydance Productions, is an American entertainment company, media production company, production and finance company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company specializes i ...
. The story is partially based on his personal experience with his friends' weddings and a slew of failed relationships. His friend from college had sent a copy to a contact at Circle of Confusion management company, who later offered to be Duffield's manager. Several days later, they got a meeting with Skydance, who bought the script. Eli Craig was last attached to direct and rewrite the film in May 2015. Black List Live!, a live monthly stage reading of scripts featured on the Black List, did a performance of ''Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch'' in 2014. Duffield sold his script for ''Monster Problems'' to
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
in 2012. The film underwent some rewrites by Matthew Robinson and was renamed ''Love and Monsters'' before being released in October 2020. Duffield's first writing assignment was for the film adaptation of the second book in the
Divergent trilogy ''Divergent'', also known as ''The Divergent Series'', is a series of young adult fiction, young adult science fiction adventure novel, adventure novels by American novelist Veronica Roth set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel, dystopian Chica ...
, ''Insurgent'' (2015), in 2013. The script for ''The Babysitter'' (2017) was sold to McG's company,
Wonderland Sound and Vision Wonderland Sound and Vision, Inc., or simply known as Wonderland, Inc., is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature ...
, at auction. McG also directed the film, which later premiered on Netflix in October 2017. In 2020, the thriller ''Underwater'' starring
Kristen Stewart Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe ...
was released. The screenplay was by Duffield and revised by Adam Cozad. Duffield made his writer-director debut with the dark comedy '' Spontaneous'' later that year. His next film as a writer-director, '' No One Will Save You'', was released in 2023.


Personal life

Duffield is married. His parents still reside in Ireland.


Filmography


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duffield, Brian 1985 births Living people 21st-century American screenwriters Screenwriters from Pennsylvania American male screenwriters Film directors from Pennsylvania Temple University alumni Messiah University alumni Writers from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American horror film directors