Brian Duffield

Lore & Background

Brian Duffield was born on November 5, 1985, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Brenda and Brian Duffield. He has two sisters and spent the first nine years of his life there. In 1995, his family moved to rural Ireland when his parents became evangelical missionaries. He described the area as completely remote and lacking in popular culture. He attended school in County Kildare, where three grades were taught by one teacher, which he called 'very Little House on the Prairie-esque'. He moved back to the U.S. after graduating high school in 2004. He graduated from both Temple University and Messiah College in 2008, then moved to Universal City, California for a summer internship through Temple University at the Oakwoods apartments prior to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike and at the beginning of the Great Recession. His first job in Los Angeles was at the now-defunct Storyopolis, a children's book store and art gallery in Studio City, where he worked with writer Blake Harris. He also worked as an assistant and script reader in the film industry and as a temporary employee at the Lucky Brand Jeans factory in Vernon, California before selling his first spec screenplay.

Duffield's first spec script sale was *Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch* to Skydance Media, partially based on his personal experience with friends' weddings and failed relationships. He said it was 'something like my tenth script' and the first one people paid attention to. He sold *Monster Problems* to Paramount Pictures in 2012, which was later renamed *Love and Monsters* and released in 2020. His first writing assignment was for *Insurgent* (2015) in 2013. He sold *The Babysitter* (2017) to McG's company at auction, and the film premiered on Netflix in 2017. In 2020, *Underwater* was released, with a screenplay by Duffield revised by Adam Cozad. Duffield made his writer-director debut with *Spontaneous* in 2020, followed by *No One Will Save You* in 2023. He will next direct *Whalefall* (2026), co-written with Daniel Kraus, and is set to write and direct *Crumble* for Laika LLC. In 2026, it was announced he would direct a film based on Trevor Henderson's internet phenomenon *Siren Head*.

Reader's Guide

Brian Duffield's career illustrates a path from unproduced spec scripts to becoming a writer-director in genre filmmaking. His early success came through The Black List, an industry log that highlighted his scripts *Jane Got a Gun* and *Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch*, the latter of which was his first sale. His work spans multiple genres, including sci-fi horror (*No One Will Save You*), survival thriller (*Whalefall*), dark comedy (*Spontaneous*), and action (*Love and Monsters*). Duffield's background—growing up in rural Ireland after age nine, attending a multi-grade school, and working various jobs including at a jeans factory—informs his perspective. His transition from screenwriter to director began with *Spontaneous* in 2020, and he has since directed three films. His upcoming projects include an adaptation of *Whalefall* and a film based on the *Siren Head* internet phenomenon, indicating continued engagement with genre material. Duffield's significance lies in his ability to move from the Black List to produced films, and in his directorial work that often blends genre elements with personal storytelling.

Did You Know?

• Duffield's first spec script sale, *Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch*, was partially based on his personal experience with friends' weddings and failed relationships.
• He spent nine years of his childhood in rural Ireland after his parents became evangelical missionaries in 1995.
• His first job in Los Angeles was at Storyopolis, a now-defunct children's book store and art gallery in Studio City.
• Duffield graduated from both Temple University and Messiah College in 2008.