# Dan Trachtenberg

Dan Trachtenberg (born May 11, 1981) is an American filmmaker and podcast host.
He is best known for directing the films 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and Prey (2022), the former earning him a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film. For television, he directed the pilot episodes of The Boys (2019) and The Lost Symbol (2021), the latter on which he also served as an executive producer.
Trachtenberg was one of three hosts of The Totally Rad Show podcast and a former co-host of the Geekdrome podcast. He also directed episodes for the Ctrl+Alt+Chicken podcast. All three programs were hosted at Revision3. He also directed the 2011 short film Portal: No Escape, an episode of Black Mirror entitled "Playtest", and various television commercials and public service announcements. He is currently developing a TV series adaptation of the 1995 film Waterworld.

## Directing

Trachtenberg has directed commercials for Lexus, Nike, and Coca-Cola. In 2003, he directed the short film Kickin'. In April 2008, he joined Tight Films, for which he collaborated with Matt Wolf on an alternate reality game for Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
He directed the internet show, Ctrl+Alt+Chicken.
In March 2011, Trachtenberg released a short film for BlackBoxTV titled More Than You Can Chew, starring J. Kristopher, Skye Marshall and Ian Hamrick. Trachtenberg co-wrote the story with Mark D. Walker.
On August 23, 2011, Trachtenberg released the short film Portal: No Escape, based on the video game Portal, which has since garnered more than twenty-eight million views on YouTube.
On October 13, 2011, /Film announced that Trachtenberg would be directing a science fiction action heist film for Universal Pictures with writer Chris Morgan.
In January 2013, iFanboy broke the news that Trachtenberg would direct the film adaptation of Y: The Last Man. However, on September 25, 2014, /Film announced that the film had been cancelled.
On April 3, 2014, Ain't It Cool News announced that Trachtenberg would direct a film for Bad Robot titled Valencia, which was later revealed to be a code name for 10 Cloverfield Lane. On January 15, 2016, the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane was released. Producer J. J. Abrams said about the film, "The idea came up a long time ago during production. We wanted to make it a blood relative of Cloverfield. The idea was developed over time. We wanted to hold back the title for as long as possible."
On April 30, 2018, it was announced that Dan Trachtenberg would direct the first episode of the Amazon series The Boys, replacing Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
On January 14, 2019, Trachtenberg was announced to be directing a live action film adaptation of the video game series Uncharted. However on August 22, 2019, it was announced he had exited the film.
On November 20, 2020, it was announced that Trachtenberg had been engaged by 20th Century Studios to direct the fifth installment in the Predator film series, titled Prey. For his work on the film, Trachtenberg received two nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.
On June 28 2023 it was announced that Trachtenberg will direct at least one episode in the final season of the Netflix series Stranger Things.
As of February 2024, Trachtenberg is developing the film Badlands. It is another spinoff from the Predator series and separate from his film Prey.

## Personal life

Trachtenberg married Priscilla Hernandez in 2011.
Trachtenberg attended Temple University graduating in 2003.

## Filmography

Short film
* Kickin' (2003)
* Portal: No Escape (2011)
* More Than You Can Chew (2012)
* Warframe (2019)
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer |
| 2016 | 10 Cloverfield Lane | Yes | No |
| 2022 | Prey | Yes | Story |
| 2025 | Untitled Predator film | Yes | Yes |
| 2025 | Predator: Badlands | Yes | Yes |
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2016 | Black Mirror | Episode "Playtest" |
| 2019 | The Boys | Episode "The Name of the Game" |
| 2021 | The Lost Symbol | Episode "As Above, So Below"; Also executive producer |
| 2025 | Stranger Things | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
| 2017 | Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film | 10 Cloverfield Lane | Nominated |
| 2017 | Hawaii Film Critics Society Awards | Best New Filmmaker | 10 Cloverfield Lane | Won |
| 2017 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Feature Debut | 10 Cloverfield Lane | Nominated |
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Prey | Nominated |
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Prey | Nominated |