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 Benjamin Ketai is an Americans, American filmmaker. 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 SyFy Channel ...

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 settleme ...

. He studied cinematography at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. He then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 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 in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

, 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 film production company BenderSpink, Roy Lee started Vertigo Ente ...

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

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

Mark Romanek Mark Lee Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American film, music video and commercial director and photographer. He is best known for directing the films ''One Hour Photo'' (2002) and ''Never Let Me Go (2010 film), Never Let Me Go'' (2010) ...

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 Matt Wall and Patrick Gunn, 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 or

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

''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 first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

and his company

Ghost House Pictures Ghost House Pictures is an American film and television production company founded in 2002 by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert. It produces horror films such as '' The Grudge'', '' 30 Days of Night'', '' Drag Me to Hell'', '' Evil Dead'' and '' Don' ...

. 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'' has not 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 American horror film directors Screenwriters from Texas 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers