Deran Sarafian
Biography
Biography
Deran Sarafian was born to direct. But this son of well-established director Richard C. Sarafian forged an upside-down career for himself. Rather than the customary route -- cutting his teeth on television and then moving on to film -- the younger Sarafian started off with a series of rather inauspicious film projects before finding his voice as a director of note on a succession of high-profile prime time television hits.
Born in Los Angeles on January 17, 1958 to an Armenian-American show biz family, Sarafian kickstarted his career by co-writing, producing and directing his first feature, a low-budget saga involving flesh-eating human hosts called "Alien Predator" (1985), which was re-released in 1987 as "The Falling." In 1987 he co-wrote and directed an Italian-American production, "Interzone" (1987), a sci-fi action flick about mutants in a post-holocaust world.
In 1988, he directed a movie about a vampire on the prowl for both victims and real estate in L.A., "To Die For"(1988). He then directed the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle "Death Warrant" (1990), which was the first produced script written by future Hollywood heavyweight David S. Goyer. Sarafian went on to direct a pair of Christopher Lambert vehicles, "Gunmen" (1993) and "The Road Killers" (1994), as well as a box office flop that cast Charlie Sheen as a skydiver who takes up with Russian spies, "Terminal Velocity" (1994).
In 1997, Sarafian wisely switched from film to television, directing three episodes of the Don Johnson cop show "Nash Bridges" (CBS 1996-2001) and one 1998 episode of the Joss Whedon cult uber-hit "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (WB 1997-2001, UPN 2001-03). Sarafian spent the next several years directing one or two episodes each of a diverse roster of shows that included the Jeremy Piven romantic comedy "Cupid" (ABC 1998-99), the short-lived revival of the 1970s hit "Fantasy Island" (ABC 1998-99), syndicated Pamela Anderson vehicle "V.I.P." (1998-2002), and martial arts crime drama "Martial Law" (CBS 1998-2000).
Between 2000 and 2005, Sarafian continued to drift from show to show, directing single episodes for "Secret Agent Man" (UPN 2000), "The Twilight Zone" (UPN 2002-03), "Without a Trace" (CBS 2002-09), and "Cold Case" (CBS 2003-2010), before landing three episodes of "The District" (CBS 2000-04,) three episodes of the hit Jerry Bruckheimer franchise "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS 2000 -) and 8 episodes of "CSI: Miami "(CBS 2002-2012.) Sarafian followed this string of primetime successes by directing one episode of the short-lived remake of a 1970s classic supernatural thriller "Night Stalker" (ABC 2005), one episode of the acclaimed fantasy series "Lost" (ABC 2004-2010) and one episode of Paul Haggis's organized crime drama set in New York's Hell's Kitchen, "The Black Donnellys" (NBC 2007).
In 2004, Sarafian returned to his roots as a producer with a 16-episode run on "CSI: NY" (CBS 2004-2013), a series on which he also directed five episodes. He then began his career-defining association with the award-winning primetime hit "House." (Fox 2004-2012). Sarafian directed 22 episodes for the series and was made a co-executive producer of the show for 34 episodes in 2007-09. He then directed two episodes on the Christian Slater crime series "The Forgotten" (ABC 2009-10) and became a producer on a mid-season replacement, "The Cape" (NBC 2011), before joining the team on an American horror thriller television series based on the Brian McGreevy novel "Hemlock Grove" (Netflix 2013- ) Sarafian directed six episodes of the werewolf drama, and served as executive producer of the series.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Life Events
2004
Producer, "CSI: NY"
2007
Co-executive Producer, "House M.D."
2013
Executive producer, "Hemlock Grove"
