---
name: "Dan Trachtenberg"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/dan-trachtenberg"
fi1m_id: "dan-trachtenberg"
imdb_id: "nm0870469"
tmdb_id: 568322
wikidata_id: "Q5214505"
roles: ["Director","Writer","Producer"]
born: "11 May 1981"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "director"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-09-19T16:57:31.490601+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Dan Trachtenberg

## Identity

Dan Trachtenberg

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/dan-trachtenberg
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** dan-trachtenberg
- **IMDb ID:** nm0870469
- **TMDB ID:** 568322
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5214505
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Trachtenberg, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5214505, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0870469/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/568322

Director and writer. Born 11 May 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer, Producer
- **Born:** 11 May 1981, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Active:** 2011–present
- **Also known as:** Ден Трахтенберґ, دان تراختنبرغ
- **Frequently works with:** [John Davis](https://film.one/person/john-davis.md), [Marc Toberoff](https://film.one/person/marc-toberoff.md), [Patrick Aison](https://film.one/person/patrick-aison.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as director, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 76 (2), 2020s 73 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 74 to 77 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Action 3, Science Fiction 3, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 2, Thriller 2, Action & Adventure 1, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $185m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Trachtenberg, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5214505, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0870469/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/568322

## Coming up

- *Freddy the 13th* (2028-10-13), Director

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Prey*](https://film.one/film/prey.md) (76), [*Predator: Killer of Killers*](https://film.one/film/predator-killer-of-killers.md) (72), [*Predator: Badlands*](https://film.one/film/predator-badlands.md) (70)
- **Netflix:** [*Black Mirror*](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md) (81)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Boys*](https://film.one/tv/the-boys.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Dan Trachtenberg

> Dan Trachtenberg makes familiar monsters interesting by changing whose trouble we follow. We like his clear action and sympathy for underdogs, though *Predator: Badlands* shows how easily that sympathy can take the threat out of a creature.

A Predator who needs approval is an odd starting point for a monster film. In *Predator: Badlands* (2025), Dan Trachtenberg follows Dek, the runt of his clan, and pairs him with Elle Fanning’s talkative synthetic, Thia. Her company gives his struggle to prove himself somebody to matter to. We get a likeable buddy film, though anyone hoping to be frightened has reasonable grounds for complaint.

His feature debut, *10 Cloverfield Lane* (2016), established a knack for keeping tension going in confined spaces through careful staging and camera placement. Television work included the *Black Mirror* episode ‘Playtest’ (2016) and the pilot of *The Boys* (2019). The important turn came with *Prey* (2022), which approached the Predator hunt from an eighteenth-century Comanche perspective. Moving from its huntress to the creature itself in *Badlands* is a substantial change of allegiance, but the interest in someone trying to prove themselves remains.

Trachtenberg often keeps the camera behind or over a character’s shoulder, placing us close to the person facing danger. His regular collaborators include cinematographer Jeff Cutter, though the cutting deserves attention too. David Trachtenberg and Stefan Grube edit *Badlands* so that we can follow who is hitting whom. The fights stay readable, leaving us free to worry about the combatants rather than work out where they have gone.

We found ourselves caring about Dek because Trachtenberg lets us see how badly he wants approval. Patrick Aison’s screenplay, from a story by Aison and Trachtenberg, gives that feeling an overly familiar route to follow: the stages of the hero’s journey arrive plainly signposted. The friendship deserves a less predictable story. Making the Predator easier to understand also makes him less frightening.

*Badlands* also spends too much time connecting itself to other films, including *Alien*, when Dek and Thia are sufficient company. Those references distract from the pair and add lore the story does not need. We would welcome another of his monster films, preferably one that frightens us.

## Biography

Dan Trachtenberg is an American director, writer and producer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1981, he graduated from Temple University. He began his career directing commercials for brands including Lexus, Nike and Coca-Cola, as well as short films and internet content. He co-hosted the podcast *The Totally Rad Show* and directed episodes of *Ctrl+Alt+Chicken*, both on Revision3.

Trachtenberg directed the 2016 *Black Mirror* episode 'Playtest'. His feature debut was *10 Cloverfield Lane* (2016), which earned a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film. He directed and co-wrote the story for *Prey* (2022) and the Predator films *Predator: Killer of Killers* (2025) and *Predator: Badlands* (2025). For television he directed the pilot episodes of *The Boys* (2019) and *Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol* (2021), serving as executive producer on the latter.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Predator: Badlands* (2025), Fi1m 70, Story, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/predator-badlands.md)
- *Predator: Killer of Killers* (2025), Fi1m 72, Director, Producer, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/predator-killer-of-killers.md)
- *Prey* (2022), Fi1m 76, Director, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/prey.md)
- *The Boys* (2019), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-boys.md)
- *Black Mirror* (2011), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md)

## Complete filmography (13)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Freddy the 13th* (2028), Director, Producer
- *Predator: Badlands* (2025), Story, Director, Producer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/predator-badlands.md)
- *Predator: Killer of Killers* (2025), Director, Story, Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/predator-killer-of-killers.md)
- *Prey* (2022), Story, Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/prey.md)
- *Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *The Boys* (2019), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-boys.md)
- *10 Cloverfield Lane* (2016), Director
- *Black Mirror* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md)
- *More Than You Can Chew* (2011), Director, Story
- *BlackBoxTV Presents* (2010), series, Director, Writer
- *Kickin'* (2003), Director, Writer
- *Phantasm IV: Oblivion* (1998), Key Grip
- *MILK*, Idea

## Gallery

- ![Dan Trachtenberg](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-586a2689ead5.jpg) Dan Trachtenberg — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Dan_Trachtenberg_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/1280px-Dan_Trachtenberg_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Dane DiLiegro and Dan Trachtenberg discuss a scene while shooting Prey (2022) (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-15d0e9a1936f.jpg) Dane DiLiegro and Dan Trachtenberg discuss a scene while shooting Prey (2022) (2021) — Dadilmotos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Dane_DiLiegro_and_Dan_Trachtenberg_shooting_Prey_%282022%29.jpg/1280px-Dane_DiLiegro_and_Dan_Trachtenberg_shooting_Prey_%282022%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Dan Trachtenberg](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-e47626cfd337.jpg) Dan Trachtenberg — Image via TMDB
- ![Dan Trachtenberg](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-35cfaf95710d.jpg) Dan Trachtenberg — Image via TMDB
- ![Dan Trachtenberg](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-619bcd9a2a61.jpg) Dan Trachtenberg — Image via TMDB
- ![Dan Trachtenberg](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-a3079a73bd9a.jpg) Dan Trachtenberg — Image via TMDB
- ![Dan Trachtenberg](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-a804685ae791.jpg) Dan Trachtenberg — Image via TMDB
- ![Dan Trachtenberg](https://film.one/media/person/7725/gallery-cb3f93718b3b.jpg) Dan Trachtenberg — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/dan-trachtenberg