Darren Dalton

About Darren

Darren Dalton began his journey in the entertainment industry after being discovered by Francis Ford Coppola during a nationwide talent search for the classic 80’s film The Outsiders. Portraying Soc Randy Anderson, the film launched an acting career that would include Red Dawn, Fame, Montana and a number of other roles in feature films and television.

His passion for writing and storytelling soon moved him behind the camera where he has doctored a number of scripts, cut his teeth as a writer and producer in the trenches of low-budget independents, and done several writer-for-hire projects while building a solid core of original work, including the HP Lovecraft horror adaptation The Lurking Fear (which he directed in 2019) and American Jihad, an action drama in pre-production at Universal. He has also written and produced reality television including CMT’s All Jacked Up. His debut fiction novel EPOCH will be released in 2025. 

In his novels, film, and television work, Dalton’s focus is high concept, genre-driven, and evocative franchises. As an educator, he has taught screenwriting, directing, and production at The Los Angeles County High School of the Arts (LACHSA) for 7 years and teaches with Interlochen Online. His goal is to inspire young filmmakers and support them in finding their voice as visual storytellers.