Daniel Stamm

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Daniel Stamm spent his formative years there immersed in a variety of cultural pursuits, including host of a radio show and editor of a magazine for young readers. After studying drama, he toured with a theater group before shifting his attention once again, this time to peace work in Belfast, Ireland. After a two-year stint, he returned to Germany to study screenwriting at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in Ludwigsburg. Stamm launched his directorial career soon after with features for German television and "Loverman's Verse" (1999), a documentary about cult rocker Nick Cave.Stamm moved to Los Angeles to further his film studies at the American Film Institute, where his thesis project was nominated for one of the institute's awards. After graduating, Stamm and some fellow students wanted to begin work on a feature project, and after borrowing DV equipment and used recording material, he shot his debut feature, "A Necessary Death" (2008) over the course of a three-year period. Shot as a faux documentary, the dark-themed feature followed a trio of jaded film students who place a want ad seeking a suicidal person that would grant them permission to capture his or her final days on digital video. A terminally ill man answers their request, but his path to death challenges their conception of art and acceptable behavior. "Death" was a major hit on the festival circuit, and claimed the Audience Award at the 2008 AFI Fest.When writers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland found themselves unable to direct their script "The Last Exorcism" after being hired to helm "The Virginity Hit" (2010), Strike Entertainment and producer Eli Roth - who had championed the project after reading the script - set out to find a director comfortable with the documentary format. A friend gave a copy of "Death" to the production team, which resulted in Stamm landing the job two days later. He immersed himself in the subject of exorcism before launching the production, which put his actors through their paces. A fan of controversial director Lars von Trier, Stamm refused to provide his cast with trailers and required them to endure multiple takes of each scene, many of which were physically and emotionally harrowing, in order to strike the correct tone of desperation and mental anguish. The film was a surprise hit at the box office, and netted Stamm an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. He was soon attached to projects by M. Night Shyamalan, as well as an English-language remake of the grisly French horror film, "Martyrs" (2005).