Darren Lynn Bousman (/ˈbaʊzmən/; born January 11, 1979) is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in horror films.
Bousman was born in Overland Park, Kansas, the son of Nancy and Lynn Bousman. He is a graduate of the Film School at Full Sail University. He attended high school at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, and studied film at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Bousman got engaged to Laura Bosserman on October 4, 2008 and subsequently married her on January 2, 2010. Laura gave birth to the couple’s first child, son Henry Lynn Bousman, on December 21, 2014. Their daughter, Hadley Jordan Bousman, was born June 13, 2018.
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.