Dan Trachtenberg

Dan Trachtenberg (born May 11, 1981, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American director and filmmaker whose career bridges internet-era genre fandom and big-studio storytelling. He is also known internationally under names such as Ден Трахтенберґ and دان تراختنبرغ.

Trachtenberg gained wide recognition for directing the thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), a breakout feature that earned him a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film. He later expanded his reputation as a sharp genre stylist with Prey (2022), praised for its tense pacing and inventive action.

On television, he has helmed high-profile pilots including The Boys (2019) and The Lost Symbol (2021), on which he also served as an executive producer. Earlier, he directed the short Portal: No Escape (2011) and the Black Mirror episode “Playtest,” while also building a substantial body of work in commercials and public service spots.

Before his feature success, Trachtenberg became a familiar on-camera voice in digital media, appearing as himself on projects like The Totally Rad Show, Scam School, and Learned Behavior: Special Features at Work—credits that reflect his roots as a podcast host and pop-culture commentator.