Born in Schenectady, New York, Seftel graduated from Tufts University in the class of 1990 as a pre-med and French literature major. He currently lives in New York City and is represented by Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles. Seftel directed the feature film comedy War, Inc., a political satire about an American assassin sent on a mission to a war zone in Central Asia, starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Joan Cusack, and Ben Kingsley. He also directed the award-winning documentary about American campaign politics, Taking on the Kennedys.