Darren Lynn Bousman

Darren Lynn Bousman (/ˈbaʊzmən/;[1] born January 11, 1979) is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work directing horror films Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV. He is also known for directing the horror musicals Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Carnival movies collaborating with Terrance Zdunich.

Darren Lynn Bousman
Bousman at the Repo! Road Tour 3, 2009
Born	(1979-01-11) January 11, 1979 Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.
Alma mater	Full Sail University
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, producer, editor
Years active	2000–present
Spouse(s)	Laura Bousman ( m. 2010)
Children	2
Website	DarrenLynnBousman.com

Personal life

Bousman was born in Overland Park, Kansas, the son of Nancy and Lynn Bousman.[2] He is a graduate of the Film School at Full Sail University.[3] He attended high school at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, and studied film at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.[4] Bousman got engaged to Laura Bosserman on October 4, 2008 and subsequently married her on January 2, 2010. Laura gave birth to the couple’s first child, son Henry Lynn Bousman, on December 21, 2014. Their daughter, Hadley Jordan Bousman, was born June 13, 2018.

Career

During 2004, he was pitching an idea for a movie called The Desperate to various American studios, who complained that the screenplay was too violent, and the plot was too close to Saw.[5] David A. Armstrong who worked on Saw asked Bousman if he could show the script to Saw producer Gregg Hoffman.[5] Hoffman read the script and called Bousman interested in producing "The Desperate", but after showing the script to his partners Mark Burg and Oren Koules,[6] the two decided it would be the perfect opportunity to turn "The Desperate" into Saw II. Two months later, Bousman was flown to Toronto to direct.[6]

During the production of Saw II, Bousman directed the music video for Mudvayne's single "Forget to Remember," which appeared as the lead song on the soundtrack album.[7] Saw II was profitable and Bousman was signed on to direct Saw III, which was released on October 27, 2006.[8]

After Saw III, Bousman announced that he would never direct another Saw film so that he would be free to prepare for his project Repo! the Genetic Opera, the stage version of which he had directed in 2002. Despite this, on February 19, 2007, Leigh Whannell announced that Bousman had signed on to direct Saw IV. Bousman explained that before shooting could begin on Repo! The Genetic Opera,[9] there was a gap of time during which the songs were being pre-recorded, and he would be able to direct Saw IV during that period.[10]

Bousman at 2007 San Diego Comic-Con promoting Saw IV.

He directed an episode of the horror anthology show Fear Itself, entitled "New Year's Day". He has also been attached to direct the remake of David Cronenberg's Scanners. Bousman taught Film director newcomers in the Horror Film Boot Camp, which began on May 7, 2010 and ended on May 9, 2010 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[11] He will direct the psychological thriller Ninety which based on screenbook of Scott Millam.[12]

Bousman directed the 2010 remake of Mother's Day starring Shawn Ashmore, Deborah Ann Woll, and Briana Evigan.

In 2011, Bousman directed the film 11-11-11.

In 2012, Bousman reunited with Repo! writer Terrance Zdunich along with several cast members to direct The Devil's Carnival, a short film that is planned to be the first installment of a longer series.

On May 13, 2013, it was announced that Bousman will be directing a film titled Sacrilege, another religious-themed work, the first being 11-11-11.

In 2015, he participated in the anthology movie Tales of Halloween produced by Epic Pictures. He directed the segment "The Night Billy Raised Hell" written by Clint Sears.[13]

In 2019, it was announced Bousman would return to the Saw franchise directing Spiral, the ninth installment in the series which is set to be released on May 15, 2020,[14] but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] The film was moved to May 21, 2021.[16]

Filmography

Films

Director

Title	Year	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
Butterfly Dreams	2000	Yes	Yes	No	Short film
Identity Lost	2001	Yes	Yes	No	Directorial Debut
Saw II	2005	Yes	Yes	No
Saw III	2006	Yes	No	No
Repo! The Genetic Opera	2006	Yes	No	No	Short film
Saw IV	2007	Yes	No	No
Repo! The Genetic Opera	2008	Yes	No	Executive	Remake of 2006 short film
Mother's Day	2010	Yes	No	No
11-11-11	2011	Yes	Yes	No
The Devil's Carnival	2012	Yes	No	Yes
The Barrens	2012	Yes	Yes	Yes
Angelus	2014	Yes	Yes	No	Made-for-TV
Tales of Halloween	2015	Yes	No	No	Segment "The Night Billy Raised Hell"
Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival	2016	Yes	No	No
Abattoir	2016	Yes	Yes	No
St. Agatha	2018	Yes	No	No
Spiral	2021	Yes	No	No

Producer

Title	Year	Notes
SockMonster	2017	Short film
Slay Belles	2018	Executive producer
Good Girl	2018	Short film

Television series

Title	Year	Director	Executive Producer	Notes
Fear Itself	2008	Yes	No	Episode "New Year's Day"
Crow's Blood	2016	No	Yes	Miniseries (6 episodes)

Music videos

Performer	Song	Year	Director	Writer
Static-X	So	2004	Yes	No
Emilie Autumn	Fight Like a Girl	2013	Yes	Yes
RGK & Sabrina Kern	Alone Land	2017	Yes	No

Recurring cast in Darren Lynn Bousman's films

Actor	Saw II	Saw III	Saw IV	New Year's Day	Repo! The Genetic Opera	Mother's Day	11-11-11	The Barrens	The Devil's Carnival	Abattoir
Tobin Bell	Y	Y	Y
Shawnee Smith	Y	Y	Y
Costas Mandylor		Y	Y
Donnie Wahlberg	Y	Y	Y
Lyriq Bent	Y	Y	Y			Y
Betsy Russell		Y	Y
Erik Knudsen	Y							Y
J. Larose		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Athena Karkanis			Y		Y			Y
Marty Adams			Y		Y			Y
Terrance Zdunich					Y				Y
Alexa Vega					Y	Y			Y
Paul Sorvino					Y				Y
Nivek Ogre					Y				Y
Bill Moseley					Y				Y
Briana Evigan				Y		Y			Y
Shawn Ashmore						Y		Y
Emilie Autumn							Y		Y
Dayton Callie									Y	Y
Jessica Lowndes									Y	Y

References

1. "Darren Lynn Bousman Interview - The Overlook Film Festival 2018". No Proscenium. April 25, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
2. "Special Screening Of Lionsgate's "Repo! The Genetic Opera" - Arrivals". Life.com. 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
3. Biography for Darren Lynn Bousman. IMDb.com, Retrieved on May 8, 2007.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2009-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Saw II: Director Darren Bousman & Writer Leigh Whannell". Bloody Disgusting. The Collective. 2005. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
6. Bousman, Darren Lynn (2010). "Saw II". Darren Lynn Bousman Official Site. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
7. Darren Lynn Bousman, Donnie Wahlberg and Beverly Mitchell (2006). Saw II Commentary (DVD). Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Event occurs at 1:29:11– 1:29:13.
8. "Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures Announce SAW III for Halloween 2006". PR Newswire. March 3, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
9. "Repo! or Repo Men? Which Came First? Bousman Speaks Out!". Dreadcentral.com. 2012-08-07. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
10. "HOLLYWOOD GOTHIQUE - News & Notes". Hollywoodgothique.bravejournal.com. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
11. "Want to Make a Horror Movie? Attend the Horror Film Boot Camp!". Dreadcentral.com. 2012-08-13. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
12. "'Ninety' Kills in 90 Mother F*cking Minutes?! Horror Bliss Anyone?". Bloody-disgusting.com. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
13. "Tales of Halloween Interview Spotlight: Darren Lynn Bousman". Dreadcentral.com. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
14. "Saw: Darren Lynn Bousman rebooting franchise with comedian Chris Rock". 2019-05-16.
15. Sneider, Jeff (March 17, 2020). "Lionsgate Delays Chris Rock's 'Saw' Movie, Janelle Monae's 'Antebellum'". Collider. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
16. McNary, Dave (May 1, 2020). "'John Wick: Chapter 4,' 'The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard' Get New Release Dates". Variety. Retrieved May 1, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Darren Lynn Bousman on IMDb