Shan Serafin is an American director, screenwriter, and novelist, renowned for crafting intense supernatural thrillers, action-packed stories, and crime dramas, as well as producing dramatic stage productions. His films and novels frequently explore complex themes, including perspective, reality, and self-worth, often featuring strong female characters in perilous situations.
As a novelist, Serafin has collaborated with best-selling author James Patterson on several occasions, co-authoring The Women's War, Come And Get Us, and Revenge, all of which are action-packed thrillers that showcase his ability to craft engaging stories. His solo novels, Seventeen and Conquest, demonstrate his versatility as a writer, with Seventeen focusing on the story of a 17-year-old girl who gives herself seven days to live, and Conquest exploring the challenges of modern dating.
Serafin's early life was marked by his upbringing in California as the son of two school teachers. He studied stage performance and filmmaking at UCLA, where he later joined the Aresis Ensemble in Santa Monica, participating in productions of French and European works. During this time, he also began teaching high-school math in South Central Los Angeles and helped establish a teenage theater troupe, which would serve as a training ground for his writing and directing skills.
The troupe, which included notable young talents such as Martin Starr, would go on to produce several notable productions, including The Essential Bond, a biographical stage play that Serafin co-wrote and directed. The play, which starred John Astin and Matthew Ashford, ran for three months and solidified Serafin's reputation as a talented director.
Serafin's directorial work in theater continued to flourish, with productions such as Adam Rapp's Red Light Winter, Patrick Marber's Closer, and Theresa Rebeck's Spike Heels. He also directed several industrial videos and produced a six-part social documentary called Youth in Action, which featured an episode guest-starring his friend Vinessa Shaw.
Serafin's feature film work launched with The Forest, a supernatural thriller shot on-location in the infamous Aokigahara Jukai suicide forest, starring Aidan Bristow and Michael Madsen. His subsequent films, Misfire and The Believer, demonstrated his versatility as a director, with Misfire being a stylized action-thriller featuring rival female assassins and The Believer being a psychological thriller exploring demonology within the context of domestic strife.
In his personal life, Serafin was married to Beth Morrow from 2008 until their amicable divorce in 2013. He is a practicing Buddhist, belonging to the Soka Gakkai International organization of Nichiren Buddhism practitioners, wherein he previously held the position of national youth leader and served as the editor-in-chief of its national youth gazette Seize the Day.
