Darren Stein (born December 24, 1971)
Early life and education
Stein was born and raised in Encino, California.
His father worked with his grandparents at a film lab and post-production company called Crest National in Hollywood.
At a young age, Stein started making films with his friends in his neighborhood. He graduated from Harvard School for Boys (now known as Harvard-Westlake) in 1989 and later received his B.A. in film studies from New York University through the Tisch School of the Arts.
Career
Late 1990s
Stein's first feature was
Sparkler, a film about a newly single woman in Victorville, California, who crosses paths with three young men on a road trip to Las Vegas. Stein co-wrote and directed the film which featured Park Overall, Jamie Kennedy, Freddie Prinze Jr., Grace Zabriskie, and Veronica Cartwright.
The film premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival.
Stein's second feature, Jawbreaker, premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival
2001–2004
Stein's third feature,
Put the Camera on Me, premiered at
Outfest in July 2003. The documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of the movies Stein made with his neighborhood friends on his Encino cul-de-sac in the 1980s. Stein co-directed and co-produced the film with Adam Shell.
The project was released on DVD through Wellspring/Genius Entertainment.
2005–2008
Stein executive-produced
Cam Archer’s
Wild Tigers I Have Known, which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
[http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=3564 ]
2009–2015
In 2010, Stein produced
All About Evil,
a
horror comedy starring
Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Dekker, Cassandra Peterson,
Noah Segan, and
Jack Donner. The film is written and directed by Joshua Grannell (also known as the drag queen Peaches Christ).
All About Evil premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
It was released on Blu-Ray through Severin in 2022.
Stein wrote the book for Jawbreaker the Musical,
Stein directed and produced the 2013 film G.B.F. ( Gay Best Friend), a Teen film Comedy film starring Michael J. Willett, Paul Iacono, Sasha Pieterse, Andrea Bowen, Xosha Roquemore, Molly Tarlov, Evanna Lynch, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, and Megan Mullally.
Stein's 2013 fashion film for Alexander Wang was voted one of the "Top Ten Fashion Films of the Season" by Business of Fashion.
Stein was the writer of Seeds of Yesterday (2015), based on the book by V.C. Andrews for Lifetime starring Sammi Hanratty, James Maslow, Jason Lewis, and Rachael Carpani. It was directed by Shawn Ku.
2016–present
Stein has appeared as a guest judge on five seasons of
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula.
He has directed music videos for Deap Vally (featuring Trixie Mattel), The Haunt (featuring Vander Von Odd), and '90s electropop band Dirty Sanchez.
Personal life
Stein is
coming out gay.
Filmography
|
| 1988 | Aviel | Short film | | Director and writer |
| 1997 | Sparkler | Film | | Director and writer |
| 1999 | Jawbreaker | Film | | Director and writer |
| 2003 | Put the Camera on Me | Documentary | Himself | Director, cinematographer, editor, producer and writer |
| 2006 | Wild Tigers I Have Known | Film | | Executive producer |
| 2007 | Color Me Olsen | Short film | | Director, producer and writer |
| 2010 | All About Evil | Film | | Producer |
| 2013 | G.B.F. | Film | | Director and producer |
| 2014 | Hey Qween! | Web series | Himself | Guest (1 episode: Paul Iacono & Darren Stein) |
| 2016-2024 | The Boulet Brothers' Dragula | TV | Himself | Guest judge (6 episodes: Season 1, episode 1; Season 2, episode 6; Season 3, episode 4; Season 4, episode 1; Season 5, episode 7; Season 6, episode 5) |
| 2017 | Do the Voice | TV | | Director and executive producer (1 episode) |
| 2022 | | TV | Himself | Producer (10 episodes)
Guest judge (Episode 3) |
External links
