Justin Benson (born June 9, 1983) and Aaron Scott Moorhead (born March 3, 1987) are an American filmmaking duo. Both have served in directing, producing, editing, and acting roles in their projects, while Moorhead is also a cinematographer and Benson is a writer. Their films primarily center around science fiction or horror elements. The duo have also contributed to several

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

within the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

Personal lives

Justin Benson was born on June 9, 1983, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, United States. Aaron Moorhead grew up in

Tarpon Springs Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal point and underwent beautification in 2010. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 25,117 at the 2020 census. As of ...

, Florida and attended

Palm Harbor University High School Palm Harbor University High School, also known as PHUHS, is a Pinellas County Public school (government funded), public high school in Palm Harbor, Florida, Palm Harbor, Florida for grades 9–12. The school's mascot is the Hurricane and the scho ...

. As a child, Benson was a fan of the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

character Daredevil which later informed his contributions to several

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

, notably '' Daredevil: Born Again''.

Careers

Both directed shorts and commercials early in their careers, with Moorhead directing his first film at 19 years old. Their first film, the 2012 horror film ''Resolution'', was screened at the 2012

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. They described their partnership as purely collaborative, and cast the lead actors after working with them in previous commercials they had worked on. Their follow up, the 2014 romantic

body horror Body horror, or biological horror, is a subgenre of horror fiction that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body or of another creature. These violations may manifest through aberrant sex, mutat ...

film ''

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

'', premiered at the 2014

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. The film was publicly praised by both

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

and

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

. The pair's work can also be found in the horror anthology film '' V/H/S: Viral'' in the segment entitled "Bonestorm". Their film '' The Endless'' premiered in competition at the

in 2017, and was theatrically released in 2018 by

Well Go USA Entertainment Well Go USA Entertainment is an American independent and international film distributor. It distributes films in a variety of genres, including action films, American indie films, and martial arts films, on all types of platforms, including in ...

. ''The Endless'', alongside their 2019 film ''Synchronic'' which premiered at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

, are in the same shared universe as ''Resolution''. Amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the duo created and starred in ''

Something in the Dirt ''Something in the Dirt'' is a 2022 American science fiction comedy horror film directed by and starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Written by Benson, it is the fifth feature film by the directing duo. The film had its world premiere onlin ...

'' which was shot in Benson's apartment due to restrictions on the film industry at the time. They describe their films as naturalistic and grounded, despite the science fiction or horror elements. In television, Benson and Moorhead have contributed to multiple

. After directing two episodes of ''

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a rabbi, Marc S ...

'', the duo were recruited as lead directors of the second season of ''Loki'' and directed four out of six episodes of the series. In 2023, after a significant creative reshuffle on '' Daredevil: Born Again'', the two were hired as lead directors and executive producers, and, alongside new

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

Dario Scardapane Dario Scardapane (born May 20, 1966) is an American television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in two television series of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, serving as a producer and writer for '' The Punisher'' (2017–201 ...

, reworked the storyline and structure of the planned first and second seasons. Benson and Moorhead are credited with directing three episodes in the show's first season, and contributed to the already-completed other six episodes. They returned as lead directors in the second season, directing the first two episodes of the season.

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

and

Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leona ...

, stars of ''Moon Knight'' and ''Daredevil: Born Again'' respectively, both praised the filmmaking team for their direction on set and creative decisions.

Production company

In 2017, Benson and Moorhead, alongside their producing partner David Lawson Jr., founded the film production company Rustic Films. Benson, Moorhead, and Lawson Jr., via their Rustic Films production banner, either produced or executive produced many of their own films as well as the films '' After Midnight'' (2019), ''

She Dies Tomorrow ''She Dies Tomorrow'' is a 2020 American psychological thriller horror film written, directed, and produced by Amy Seimetz. It stars Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Katie Aselton, Chris Messina, Tunde Adebimpe, Jennifer Kim, Olivi ...

'' (2020), ''Separation'' (2020), ''Pruning'' (2023), '' Things Will Be Different'' (2024), '' Descendent'' (2025), ''Touch Me'' (2025), and ''Man Finds Tape'' (2025).

Filmography

Film

Producing credits through Rustic Films * '' After Midnight'' (2019) * ''

'' (2020) * ''Separation'' (2020) (Short film) * ''Pruning'' (2023) (Short film) * '' Things Will Be Different'' (2024) (Executive producer) * ''Touch Me'' (2025) (Executive producer) * ''Man Finds Tape'' (2025)

Television

Acting roles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Justin 1983 births Living people American film editors American male film actors American male screenwriters American television directors Actors from California Male actors from San Diego Film directors from California Film producers from California Screenwriters from California 1987 births 21st-century American screenwriters Filmmaking duos People from Tarpon Springs, Florida Florida State University alumni Film directors from Florida