Duane Graves is an award-winning director known for his diverse body of work spanning multiple genres. He co-directs and edits many of his original films with actor and filmmaking partner Justin Meeks. Graves attended Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he met Meeks before graduating in 1999. He continued his studies at The University of Texas at Austin film school.
Graves' debut documentary, Up Syndrome (2000),premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2001. The film, a portrait of his childhood friend born with Down Syndrome, won numerous awards at festivals worldwide, including the National Media Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress in 2002. The documentary is available in the USA on Prime.
Graves' first narrative feature, The Wild Man of the Navidad (2008),was co-written and co-directed with Meeks. The 70's drive-in style horror yarn premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and was released internationally by IFC Films in 2009.
Graves' sophomore effort, Butcher Boys (2012),was written and produced by Kim Henkel, co-creator of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). The 80's-influenced urban cannibal horror premiered at the 2012 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal and was released to North American audiences by Phase 4/Entertainment One in 2013.
Graves also co-wrote and co-directed the 60's-inspired spaghetti Western Kill or Be Killed (2015),which premiered at the 2015 Dallas International Film Festival and was released by RLJE Films in March 2016.
In 2023, Graves was named one of the best up and coming screenwriters by Coverfly and served as executive producer of Dane Sears's The Hopewell Haunting (2023),a period ghost story released by MPI Media Group/Dark Sky Films.
