Brad Anderson Biography
Date of Birth: 1964
Known for his thriller and horror films, writer/director Brad Anderson was born in Madison, Connecticut and attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, majoring in anthropology and Russian. He later went to London’s International Film School before returning to Boston.
Anderson’s movie career began with his low-budget 1996 film The Darien Gap. The film was written, directed and edited by Anderson and starred Lyn Vaus as a broke and lonely man who’s eager to escape his past and begin his search for the South American Giant Sloth. The film gained recognition at the Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by Northern Arts Entertainment Inc.
Anderson was named one of Variety’s “Top 10 Directors to Watch” in 1997 and has also won a Connecticut Film Commission Award.
In 1998, Anderson’s romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland was an audience favorite at Sundance. The film is one of Anderson’s few projects that isn’t a horror or thriller.
Anderson gained a cult following from his 2001 film Session 9, a psychological horror set in an abandoned asylum. He kept the loyal followers with The Machinist in 2004, which starred an almost unrecognizably skinny Christian Bale. His 2008 thriller Transsiberian, which followed an American couple as they travelled from China to Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway, received highly positive reviews from fans and critics.
Anderson has taught filmmaking classes at the Boston Film and Video Foundation and in 2002 was a member of the dramatic jury at Sundance.
Between films, Anderson has produced and directed various episodes of hit television shows such as The Wire, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and FOX’s sci-fi series Fringe.
His latest movie, The Call, is a thriller starring Halle Berry as a 911 operator who receives a phone call from a kidnapped girl, Abigail Breslin, and takes matters into her own hands.
Filmography: The Call (2013)
Vanishing on 7th Street (2009)
Transsiberian (2007)
The Machinist (2004)
Session 9 (2001)
Happy Accidents (1999)
Next Stop Wonderland (1998)
The Darien Gap (1996)