Horrorhappensrs "Sick & Brilliant Minds Who Do the Meat Work" Top Horror Directors (You Need to Check Out Now!)

Adam Green is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor known for his success within the horror genre with films like the "Hatchet" franchise, "Frozen," and "Digging Up The Marrow." He is also the creator, writer, director, star, and show runner of the television comedy series "Holliston" and the singer for the metal band "Haddonfield."

Born and raised in the small town of Holliston, Massachusetts, Green grew up performing leading roles in school plays and hosting his own morning radio program "Coffee & Donuts" on the town's local radio station. He graduated from Holliston High School in 1993. Upon graduating from Hofstra University in New York with a Bachelor of Science in film and television production in 1997, Green landed a job producing and directing local and regional cable television commercials at Time Warner Cable Advertising back in his hometown of Boston. While working at Time Warner he met cinematographer Will Barratt and in 1998 the two formed their own production company ArieScope Pictures and began making short films together under the ArieScope banner. During this time period Green was also the lead singer for the hard rock/metal band "Haddonfield" which amassed a large and loyal following as they headlined weekly club shows in Salam, MA and other large venues around Boston's north shore in the late 90's. In 1999 at the age of 24, Green wrote, directed, and starred in his first feature film "Coffee & Donuts" which was based on his own life and his experiences chasing his career dreams while trying to get over the break-up with his first girlfriend/childhood love. The autobiographical comedy was made for only $400 by "borrowing" Time Warner's commercial production equipment after hours and ultimately gained the attention of United Talent Agency (UTA) in Los Angeles when it won "Best Picture" in (what was then called) The Smoky Mountain Film Festival. Signed by UTA as an official client, Green moved to Los Angeles in February of 2000 with the intention of turning "C&D" into a sit-com.

Though reactions were positive and interest in "Coffee & Donuts" was strong within the industry, Green's first three years in Los Angeles were a major struggle and he survived by doing any odd job that would pay or feed him. Though he was able to find occasional paid work as everything from an on-set production assistant, to performing as a stand-up comic, to working as a writer's/show runner's assistant, to performing as an extra/background, to writing, shooting, and editing local cable commercials, to ghost writing jokes for other stand-up comics, Green's main occupation from 2000 to 2003 was working as the DJ in the upstairs nightclub at the world famous Rainbow Bar and Grill where he survived off of the left-over food off of customer's plates or by eating out of the restaurant's trash at the end of each night. He performed stand-up comedy at various Hollywood night clubs including monthly comedy shows at the Rainbow with his regular troupe of comedians/friends that included comics Andy Sandberg, Chris Romano, and Eric Falconer whom had also all yet to be discovered at that time. In 2003 Green sold "Coffee & Donuts" as a sit-com to Touchstone/UPN with Tom Shadyac producing. However, the week after Green delivered the final draft of his pilot script for "Coffee & Donuts", UPN announced a merger with the WB (creating the CW network) and all of UPN's pilot development was scrapped, tying up the rights to Green's dream project and life story for a further 5 years. ("C&D" would wind up going through thirteen years of development and false starts due to random corporate mergers at various networks and studios before eventually coming to fruition as the television series "Holliston" in 2012.)

Green first gained worldwide recognition with his independent slasher comedy "Hatchet", a story and character ("Victor Crowley") that he had first come up with while at summer sleep away camp in 1983 when he was just 8 years old in an effort to scare the other children in his cabin. Written in 2003 while Green was spinning heavy metal records in the DJ booth at the Rainbow, "Hatchet" was filmed independently in May/June of 2005 and had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2006. Green spent the next 18 months traveling the world with his gruesome slasher/comedy as it played dozens of film festivals, winning a multitude of awards and accumulating incredibly positive reviews from critics and fans along the way. "Hatchet" received a US theatrical release through Anchor Bay on September 7, 2007 and introduced the world to the iconic villain "Victor Crowley." A worldwide success, "Hatchet" has spawned three sequels to date. Green wrote and directed "Hatchet 2" which arrived in US theaters on October 1, 2010 and he also wrote and produced "Hatchet 3" (2013) which opened in US theaters on June 14, 2013.

After the first "Hatchet" film was massively censored by the Motion Picture Association of America for its 2007 theatrical release, Green made international headlines in 2010 by standing up to the MPAA's archaic and secretive ratings system and refusing to accept the organization's arbitrary NC-17 rating for "Hatchet 2" which the filmmaker stated was completely unfair given the comedic tone of his film and in comparison to the serious torture porn style films of the time, many of which featured sequences of rape and mean spirited, realistic violence but which also happened to be distributed by major studios. After offering cuts and re-submitting "Hatchet 2" to the MPAA numerous times to no avail in an effort to try and find a compromise for an "R" rating, Green and distributor Dark Sky ultimately opted to release the "Hatchet 2" uncut through an arrangement with AMC cinemas, making it the first genre film in almost 30 years to be released in mainstream multiplexes without an MPAA rating. Though the unrated release of "Hatchet 2" was endorsed and conducted exclusively through AMC theaters, the chain immediately began pulling the film from all screens upon its midnight opening and within just 48 hours of its release the film had mysteriously disappeared from all AMC screens nationwide. Though journalists in the media pointed to outside pressure from the MPAA on AMC to pull the film, no explanation was ever given on official record by a proper representative of AMC and the MPAA refused to comment on the matter. With "Hatchet 3" being green-lit almost immediately after "Hatchet 2" arrived on home video, "Victor Crowley" still succeeded despite the AMC/MPAA debacle.

Though "Hatchet" was always intended to be a trilogy, on August 22, 2017 Green took the entire genre world by surprise when he suddenly showed a 4th "Hatchet" film (titled "Victor Crowley") to a sold-out audience of fans that thought they had gathered at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood, CA to watch a 10th anniversary screening of the original film. Written and directed by Green, "Victor Crowley" was made in complete secrecy over a two year period as the filmmaker's surprise to the fans (known as the "Hatchet Army") on the 10th anniversary of the original "Hatchet." The stunt worked famously and "Victor Crowley" was trending #5 in the world on social media on the night of its surprise premiere in Hollywood, CA - two spots above Marvel's star-studded A-list celebrity attended "Stan Lee Celebration" that was taking place that same night. Green immediately began a worldwide tour with the film that started just three nights later in London, England and carried on through cities in Germany, Canada, and all across the United States (where the tour was dubbed the "Dismember America Tour") until the middle of November. By the end of the tour "Victor Crowley" had played nightly in 57 cities and 4 countries with Green personally appearing and speaking at most of the screenings. To date "Victor Crowley" is the best reviewed of the four "Hatchet" films and the most financially successful film in the franchise since the original. Three months after the theatrical release, the film was released on home video on February 6, 2018. In the weeks leading up to the home video release "Victor Crowley" was the #3 best seller on Amazon.com and among the top 10 most pre-ordered Blu-Rays worldwide ranking above wide release studio films like "Justice League," "Blade Runner," "Jigsaw," and "Get Out" further solidifying the "Hatchet" franchise's villain "Victor Crowley" as a modern day horror icon.

"Hatchet" also earned Green his place in the "Splat Pack", a term coined by esteemed UK film critic Alan Jones to describe a core group of new genre filmmakers who brought practical effects and extreme violence/gore back to the horror genre in the mid 2000's. Heralded by Jones as "the next wave of genre filmmakers," his original article about the "Splat Pack" ran in Total Film magazine in April of 2006 and by October both Time Magazine and the New York Post had also published stories about the "Splat Pack." Green appeared in the 2010 documentary "The Splat Pack" that also featured extensive interviews with his fellow "Splat Pack" members Eli Roth, Neil Marshall, Darren Bousman, Alex Aja, and Greg McLean. (Missing from the documentary were "Splat Pack" members James Wan and Rob Zombie.) Various merchandise based on "Hatchet" and its iconic villain "Victor Crowley" continues to sell more and more each year and in August of 2015 the first widely distributed "Victor Crowley" Halloween mask hit retail shelves across America, selling out of stock nationwide long before the Halloween holiday had arrived. In 2011 "Victor Crowley" first appeared in comic book form in "Hatchet/Slash", a crossover comic between Green's "Hatchet" films and Tim Seeley's long-running "Hack/Slash" comic series. In October of 2016 the first issue of the official "Hatchet" comic hit retail stores and the series has continued on strong with a new issue being released every 3-4 months. Green's first novel, the "Hatchet" tie-in "I, Survivor" will be released in May of 2018. "I, Survivor" first appeared in "Victor Crowley" as a fictitious autobiography written by the film's main character "Andrew Yong," however Green and author Joe Knetter co-wrote the actual book so that fans could delve even further into the "Hatchet" universe and fill in the ten years that had passed in the storyline between "Hatchet 3" and "Victor Crowley."

Aside from "Hatchet" (2007) and its three sequels (2010, 2013, 2017), Green continued and diversified his filmmaking legacy by directing the award winning Hitchcockian psycho-drama "Spiral" (2008), by producing the Sundance shocker and critically acclaimed "Grace" (2009), by writing and directing another Sundance darling and global success the very next year with his snowy suspense thriller "Frozen" (2010), by producing, writing, and directing the comedy "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" which was included as part of the drive-in anthology film "Chillerama" (2011), and by writing, directing, and starring in the genre bending and highly praised successful pseudo-documentary "Digging Up The Marrow" (2015). In between his feature films Green also continued to write and direct various short films for his ArieScope website just for fun, several of which went on to become full blown viral hits with millions of views on-line including "Jack Chop," "Fairy Tale Police," and "Saber." Written, directed, and edited by Green, "Saber" received two awards in Lucasfilm's annual Star Wars Fan Film Awards at San Diego Comic-Con in 2009 ("Best Action" and "Audience Choice") and also spawned two sequels that were released to huge success in 2012 and 2014.

Meanwhile, after thirteen years of development and setbacks due to network mergers, in 2011 Green's ultimate passion project "Coffee & Donuts" was finally brought to fruition as the sit-com "Holliston." In its new form, Green was not only "Holliston's" creator but also the series' show-runner, writer, director, and main star. Licensed for broadcast by the FEARnet cable network, "Holliston" had its world television premiere on April 3, 2012 and quickly found a loyal audience. A second season was announced the morning after only the second episode had aired. An hour-long "Holliston Christmas Special" premiered later that same year on December 18th and is still considered by most fans to be their favorite episode of the series with its unexpected amount of emotion including a tear-jerking final scene between "Adam" and "Corri" that was revealed on the Blu-ray commentary track to have been completely improvised by actors Adam Green and Corri English. Season 2 of "Holliston" premiered on June 4, 2013 and further solidified the series as a hit despite FEARnet's extremely limited broadcast accessibility. However, just as Green was beginning to write Season 3, "Holliston" suffered the tragic death of main ensemble cast member Dave Brockie who passed away in what was eventually reported to be a drug overdose. Brockie not only played "Oderus Urungus" on "Holliston" (Green's character's imaginary alien friend and ulterior conscience), he had also performed as the lead singer for the heavy metal band GWAR for 30 years and was one of Green's closest friends in real life. To make matters even worse, just three weeks after Brockie's death, the FEARnet television network was suddenly dissolved in yet another unforeseen corporate merger between Comcast and Time Warner. In August of 2014 Green delivered a eulogy for Brockie at a public memorial in Virginia attended by several thousand GWAR and "Holliston" fans. During his speech, Green's played back the final voice mail Brockie had left for him and concluded by asking the thousands of fans that were present to all hold their hands together in the air. "This is your metal family," Green reminded the grieving fans. "And your metal family will always be here for you." The memorial concluded with a traditional viking style burning of Brockie's "Oderus Urungus" costume in Richmond's Haddad Lake. Overcome with grief, Green stepped away from "Holliston" for several years without any word if he would ever return to his show again.

During Green's indefinite hiatus from "Holliston," he continued to do a weekly podcast with fellow director, co-star, and real-life best friend Joe Lynch called "The Movie Crypt" on the GeekNation digital network. Named after the fictitious cable access program that Green and Lynch's character's host on "Holliston", "The Movie Crypt" was originally designed to merely be a spin-off and companion piece to the sit-com and the two filmmakers only planned to do the podcast for the ten weeks that Season 2 was airing. However, their weekly program began pulling in extraordinarily high numbers and quickly became one of the most popular entertainment industry behind the scenes podcasts on the internet due to Green and Lynch's enjoyable on-air chemistry and the duos unfiltered honesty about their real-life experiences as working artists in the Hollywood system. Focusing on a different guest artist's entire career journey each week, "The Movie Crypt" showcases all sides of the industry from filmmakers to actors to costumers to agents to studio executives to musicians and beyond. Guests have included Chris Columbus, Slash, Joe Dante, Jordan Peele, James Gunn, Penelope Spheeris, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Rob Cohen. By January of 2015 "The Movie Crypt" was averaging over 500,000 worldwide listeners a week and the podcast was listed in Entertainment Weekly's January 9th issue as one of "The Top 20 Podcasts You Should Be Listening To" out of over 285,000 podcasts in existence. In addition to their candid and compelling weekly artist interviews, Green and Lynch have also produced special stand out episodes of "The Movie Crypt" such as the November 2015 "Addiction" episode that tackled substance abuse and addiction within the industry, the December 2014 "Holliston Reunion" episode where the cast performed a new original "Holliston" episode designed as a radio play, and their December 2015 "Christmas Special" which featured a sincere and moving 2-hour interview with Santa Claus that remains the podcast's most popular episode to date. Green and Lynch have never missed a single week since the podcast first launched on May 6, 2013. It was "The Movie Crypt's" unplanned and unexpected success that would ultimately set the stage for the return of "Holliston."

In August of 2015 Entertainment Weekly made the announcement that Green and his cast had decided that they would indeed continue on with "Holliston" and do a 3rd season. In February of 2016 the "Holliston" cast appeared together on Facebook live where they answered questions from fans after completing their first ever read through of two of Green's new scripts for Season 3. During the Q&A with fans Green stated that "Oderus" would not be recast or replaced and that when "Holliston" returns he would acknowledge the loss of Brockie and then move on with the show, keeping his character's closet door permanently closed for as long as the series may continue. As of the time of this writing, Season 3 of "Holliston" is expected to begin shooting once the cast's individual production schedules can line-up together. With series stars Adam Green and Joe Lynch both consistently directing feature films and other television shows and with series co-star Dee Snider so busy with his various music projects and tours it is very difficult to get the entire cast together at the same time to shoot. The first official "Holliston" graphic novel (titled "Friendship Is Tragic") was announced and previewed on March 17, 2016 at Chicago's C2E2 comic book expo and pop culture convention. The comic book hit retail shelves in the Fall of 2016 and a sequel was green-lit just four days later. The second graphic novel (titled "Carnival of Carnage") hits shelves in May of 2018.

In 2015 Green turned ArieScope.com into an on-line network by offering weekly original programming. With over 100 free short films and original series' episodes to watch, Green's personal blog, and an on-line merchandise store, ArieScope.com has become a destination site for original content to millions of fans worldwide. Original series such as "Adam Green's Scary Sleepover" and "Horrified" proved to be extremely popular with fans and ArieScope.com also released the award winning series "20 Seconds To Live" which was helmed by filmmaker Ben Rock, an artist that Green personally believes in and wanted to expose his own audience to. Green's original on-line series and various short films are also carried on ArieScope's YouTube channel which has received over 4.6 million individual views to date.

In 2017 Green once again turned his attention back to his longtime band "Haddonfield" and the group released the album "Ghosts of Salem" on vinyl, CD, and digital through EMP Label Group and Green's own sub-label ArieScope Records. On October 14, 2017 "Haddonfield" celebrated the release of "Ghosts of Salem" with a live performance at the Palladium in Worcester, MA during the annual Rock And Shock horror and music festival. "Ministry," "Devil Driver," and "Motionless In White" also performed at the festival with "Haddonfield" in 2017.

A celebrated leader and inspirational personality in the horror genre, Adam Green has amassed an enormous following worldwide through his down to earth and extraordinarily kind demeanor at personal appearances, by his accessibility to his fans on social networking, by performing improv comedy and original live "Holliston" episodes for fans on the convention circuit, by never charging his fans for his autograph or photo, by consistently putting out new entertainment for his audience on such a frequent schedule, and by inspiring and encouraging his own fans that they too can achieve their dreams so long as they don't let the world's negativity change or disenchant their spirit. Green has personally organized and lead many charity events over the years. In May of 2013 he raised over $15,000.00 to help the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing by putting on a three-night fundraiser in his home town of Boston where he held theatrical screenings of the "Hatchet" films, a preview screening of select Season 2 episodes of "Holliston", and a silent auction of celebrity donated genre memorabilia. In April of 2015 Green also helped raise $7,000.00 for "Save A Yorkie Rescue" at the Monstermania convention in New Jersey by auctioning himself off for a date with a fan and auctioning off a screen-used prop hatchet. While on stage during the auction event, Green stated that it was the companionship of his own Yorkie "Arwen" that got him through the various personal tragedies he underwent in 2014. "You're not just saving the lives of these wonderful dogs, you're also very likely saving the lives of the people who will adopt them." Adam Green and Joe Lynch also put on an annual 48-hour live marathon of their Movie Crypt podcast to benefit "Save A Yorkie Rescue." The two filmmakers and "Holliston" co-stars stay on the air live for an entire weekend with celebrity guests joining them around the clock providing live comedy, film commentaries, script readings, and interviews to raise money for the dog rescue through donations from their audience. The Movie Crypt marathon raised $14,000.00 in 2016 and $24,000.00 in 2017, saving hundreds of abused and abandoned dogs that were in dire need of medical care and foster homes.

At the time of this posting Adam Green is developing Season 3 of "Holliston," working on a new TV series called "Killer Pizza" which is being produced by Chris Columbus, working on his next feature film project, and writing his next record with "Haddonfield" as well as working on many other projects. He lives in Los Angeles with his dog "Arwen" and his cat "Tyler." An avid music fan he has been known to follow bands on tour such as "Aerosmith," "Metallica," and "Guns N Roses." "Twisted Sister" is his favorite band of all time and 1982's "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" remains his most favorite film. He is active on Twitter and Instagram at @Adam_Fn_Green and he also personally responds to his fans on his public Facebook page: Facebook.com/AdamFnGreen.

Biography submitted to IMDB in May 2016. Updated in March 2018.

At 19 Adam got his start in feature film making early with his directorial debut Home Sick, a slasher horror film starring Bill Moseley and Tom Toweles. However it was his second effort at 24 years old with the film Pop Skull that garnered him a talent to watch. Made for a budget of around 2000 dollars he managed to capture the attention of French Distribution company The Wild Bunch. The film went on to premiere at the prestigious Rome Film Festival and the American Film Institute Film Festival. His dark and sometimes abrasive directing/editing style has been compared to directors such as David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and Shinya Tsukamoto.

Alexandre Aja was born on 7 August 1978 in Paris, France. He is a director and producer, known for High Tension (2003), The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Piranha 3D (2010). He is married to Laïla Marrakchi.

Adam Ahlbrandt is known for The Cemetery (2013), Cross Bearer (2013) and The Burnt House (2009).

Award Winning Producer Andrew van den Houten is a native New Yorker born and raised on the Upper West Side. Receiving critical acclaim from the likes of Stephen King and Roger Ebert, his work has been recognized worldwide by Sundance Film Festival, The Independent Spirit Awards, SXSW, Fantastic Fest, Deauville American Film Festival, Sitges, FrightFest and many more.

He has been involved in the development, financing, production and distribution of over eighty feature films including Independent Spirit Award Nominee "In the Family," cult classic Jack Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door," and Sundance shocker "The Woman." He also directed both "Headspace" and "Offspring" through his first production company Modernciné.

Through Hood River Entertainment he produced an array of action, horror, thrillers, including Shudder Original "The Ranger," the McManus Bros. critically acclaimed "The Block Island Sound," on Netflix and "A Day To Die," starring Bruce Willis, directed by Wes Miller on Hulu. With Wes Miller, he started BLacklight, with the mission of providing quality opportunities for people of color and other traditionally disadvantaged people in front of and behind the camera, committed to telling commercially successful stories that inspire audiences across the world. BLacklight's first production, "Call Her King," starring Naturi Naughton and Lance Gross, was for BET+ and BET followed up by "Black Heat," starring Jason Mitchell, NLE Choppa and DreamDoll, currently in post-production.

He works on film finance, sales, distribution and corporate consulting through 79th & Broadway Entertainment and also is a partner in film distributor Kamikaze Dogfight.

Ben Wheatley was born in May 1972 in Billericay, Essex, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Free Fire (2016), Kill List (2011) and Sightseers (2012).

Brad Anderson was born in 1964 in Madison, Connecticut, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Session 9 (2001), The Machinist (2004) and Transsiberian (2008).

Bradley Scott Sullivan is known for I Didn't Come Here to Die (2010), Hit and Run (2012) and Stache (2007).

Breck Eisner was born on 24 December 1970 in California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for The Crazies (2010), The Expanse (2015) and Sahara (2005). He has been married to Georgia Irwin Eisner since 24 June 2006.

Brian Weaver was born on 25 January 1978 in Sleepy Hollow, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Grindsploitation (2016), 60 Seconds to Die (2017) and The Turnpike Killer (2009). He has been married to Jolene Sallisky since 2 November 2024.

Carlo Rodriguez is known for Quad X: The Porn Movie Massacre (2015), Naked Horror: The Movie (2010) and Psycho Killer Bloodbath (2011).

Park Chan-wook was born on 23 August 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a producer and writer, known for The Handmaiden (2016), Oldboy (2003) and Thirst (2009). He is married to Eun-hee Kim. They have one child.

Chris Kentis is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor best known for the critically acclaimed feature film Open Water (2003), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Made without a crew for a budget of $120,000, the film went on to become one of the 20 most profitable low-budget movies of all time. Kentis also directed and edited the films Grind (1997) and Silent House (2011).

A former Disney Creative VP, Craig Singer's latest film 6:45 enjoyed a nationwide theatrical release via Regal Cinema in 2021. Singer is also known as the director and producer of A Good Night to Die (2003), Dark Ride (2006), Perkins' 14 (2009) and Animal Room (1995). In 2022 Singer is prepping Paradiddle, an emotionally rich and gripping drama, which originally ran Off-Broadway for the screen.

Daniel Myrick was born on 3 September 1963 in Sarasota, Florida, USA. He is a writer and director, known for The Blair Witch Project (1999), Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) and The Objective (2008).

Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for Slumdog Millionaire. He was in a relationship with Gail Stevens and had three children.

Darren Lynn Bousman was born on 11 January 1979 in Overland Park, Kansas, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), Saw II (2005) and Abattoir (2016). He has been married to Laura Bousman since 2 January 2010. They have two children.

Darin Scott is known for Menace II Society (1993), Dark House (2009) and Caught Up (1998).

Dave Parker is known for Tales of Halloween (2015), House of the Dead (2003) and It Watches (2016).

David Slade was born on 26 September 1969 in the UK. He is a director and producer, known for Hard Candy (2005), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018).

Douglas Schulze is known for The Dark Below (2015), Hellmaster (1992) and Dark Heaven (2002).

Eduardo Sanchez was born in Cuba in 1968. It was at a young age he gained an interest in film making. At Wheaton High School Ed made school movie projects such as Shrimp Fried Vice and Pride (in the name of Love) all of which starred his friends and family, as well as Ed himself.

After High School Ed studied at Montgomery College where he continued to make movies like Star Trek Demented. He later got accepted to the University of Central Florida where he made Gabriel's Dream, a film which he thought was going to be his big break, but that didn't come for almost another decade. In 1997 he and a close friend Daniel Myrick got together and started production on the most successful movie (budget to gross) ever, the The Blair Witch Project (1999). It was a world-wide hit and has become one of the most spoofed films of all time.

Eli Raphael Roth was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Cora (Bialis), a painter, and Sheldon H. Roth, a psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, and clinical professor. His family is Jewish (from Austria, Hungary, Russia, and Poland). He began shooting Super 8 films at the age of eight; after watching Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and vomiting, and deciding he wanted to be a producer/director. With his brothers and friends, ketchup for blood, and his father's power tools, he made over 50 short films before attending film school at NYU, where he won a student Academy Award and graduated summa cum laude in 1994.

Eli worked in film and theater production in New York City for many years, doing every job from production assistant to assistant editor to assistant to the director. At the age of 20, Roth was development head for producer Fred Zollo, a position he soon left to write full time. To earn a living, Roth did budgets and schedules for the films A Price Above Rubies (1998) and Illuminata (1998), and often worked as a stand-in, where he could watch directors work with the actors. In 1995, Roth co-wrote the script that would eventually become Cabin Fever (2002) with friend Randy Pearlstein, and the two spent many years unsuccessfully trying to get the film financed. Roth left New York in 1999 to live in Los Angeles, and within four months got funding for his animation series Chowdaheads (1999). Roth and friend Noah Belson (Cabin Fever (2002)'s Guitar Man) wrote and voiced the episodes, which Roth produced, directed, and designed. The episodes were due to run on WCW's #1 rated series WCW Monday Nitro (1995) but the CEO was fired a day before they were scheduled to air, and the episodes never ran. Roth used the episodes to set up a stop motion series called The Rotten Fruit (2003) which he produced, directed, and animated, as well as co-wrote and voiced with friend Belson. Between the two animated series, Roth worked closely with director David Lynch, producing content for the website davidlynch.com.

In 2001, Roth filmed Cabin Fever (2002) on a shoestring budget of $1.5 million, with private equity he and his producers raised from friends and their family. The film was the subject of a bidding war at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival, eventually won by Lion's Gate, instantly doubling their investors' money. It went on to not only be the highest-grossing film for Lion's Gate in 2003, but the most profitable horror film released that year, garnering critical acclaim from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Empire Magazine, and such filmmakers as Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, and Tobe Hooper. Roth used the film's success to launch a slew of projects, including The Box (2009), a horror thriller he co-wrote with Richard Kelly. In May 2003, Roth joined forces with filmmakers Boaz Yakin, Scott Spiegel, and Greenestreet Films in New York to form Raw Nerve, LLC, a horror film production company.

In 2014, Eli married Chilean model and actress Lorenza Izzo.

Born in Boston, Elias moved to New York to study film at the School of Visual Arts. His feature directorial debut Gut, screened in 30 international film festivals and earned 7 awards. Other projects include Dark, which he wrote and produced, Alone, which he produced, and the anthology The Horror of H.P. Lovecraft, for which he wrote, produced and directed several segments.

Evan Makrogiannis is known for 60 Seconds to Die (2017), Grindsploitation (2016) and The Super (2010).