Writer and director Darren Stein is joining us for his first Cincinnati Comic Expo event!

Darren was raised in a celluloid family with grandparents who started a boutique Hollywood film laboratory in 1961. The prolific output of childhood films he made on his suburban cul-de-sac in Encino would go on to become the subject of his 2003 documentary PUT THE CAMERA ON ME. After graduating from NYU’s Tisch Film School, Darren co-wrote and directed his first feature film, SPARKLER, which premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival and featured Park Overall, Freddie Prinze Jr, Veronica Cartwright and Grace Zabriskie.

Darren then went on to write and direct the dark teen comedy JAWBREAKER, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to become a cultural touchstone and cult classic; Darren is currently rebooting JAWBREAKER as a movie musical at Sony Pictures/Columbia. Darren has written pilots for HBO, Freeform, The CW, ABC and E! and wrote the final installment of VC Andrews’ FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC movie series SEEDS OF YESTERDAY for Lifetime. In addition, he produced the cult horror film ALL ABOUT EVIL starring Natasha Lyonne (now streaming on Shudder) and directed the cult teen comedy feature GBF, which premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival and is currently streaming on Peacock.

Recently, Darren has worked in the reality space as a producer and guest judge on five seasons of THE BOULET BROTHERS’ DRAGULA (streaming on Shudder). He has also directed several music videos and fashion films, including a Clio Award-winning piece for designer Alexander Wang.

Get your admission tickets to the 2023 Cincinnati Comic Expo for an opportunity to get an autograph and photo on Saturday and Sunday with Darren Stein: