Darren Lynn Bousman (/ˈbaʊzmən/; born January 11, 1979) is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in horror films. He has directed four of the Saw films: Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, and Spiral. He also directed the horror musicals Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Carnival movies. Bousman is co-creator and writer of alternate reality games (ARG) and immersive experiences, The Tension Experience (2016), The Lust Experience (2017), Theatre Macabre (2018), iConfidant (2020), and One Day Die (2020).
Bousman was born in Overland Park, Kansas, the son of Nancy and Lynn Bousman. He attended high school at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, and studied film at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, graduating in 2000. He was inducted into the Full Sail University Hall of Fame in 2011. Bousman lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
During 2004, he was pitching an idea for a movie called The Desperate to various American studios, who complained that the screenplay was too violent, and the plot was too close to Saw. David A. Armstrong who worked on Saw asked Bousman if he could show the script to Saw producer Gregg Hoffman. Hoffman read the script and called Bousman interested in producing The Desperate, but after showing the script to his partners Mark Burg and Oren Koules, the two decided it would be the perfect opportunity to turn The Desperate into Saw II. Two months later, Bousman was flown to Toronto to direct.

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