Joshua Benjamin Ruben (born June 30, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, director, and producer. He has directed the comedy horror films ''

Scare Me ''Scare Me'' is an 2020 American comedy horror film written, directed, and produced by Josh Ruben. It stars Aya Cash, Ruben, Rebecca Drysdale and Chris Redd. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. It was re ...

'' (2020) and ''

Werewolves Within ''Werewolves Within'' is a multiplayer Social deduction game, social-deduction Virtual reality, VR game for Oculus Rift, Microsoft Windows, Windows, and PlayStation VR, developed by Red Storm Entertainment, published by Ubisoft, and released on 6 ...

'' (2021), both of which were filmed near his hometown in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

in New York. He formerly worked for

CollegeHumor CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...

and continues to appear in Dropout original shows.

Early life and education

Ruben was born in Washington, D.C. He grew up in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

, with two half-siblings, one of whom is the singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata. He acted in youth theatre and aspired to become a comic actor. He graduated from Onteora High School in 2001. He worked at a gas station before being accepted into the New Actors Workshop in New York City at age 19.

Career

Unable to get an agent in his first years in New York City, Ruben worked as a film

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

and at Best Buy. With childhood friend

Sam Reich Sam Reich ( ; born July 22, 1984) is an American CEO, businessman, and game show host. He is best known for his work with CollegeHumor (which as of 2020, he majority owns), the TV show ''Adam Ruins Everything'', as well as hosting the web series ...

and others, he formed the comedy group Dutch West, which made sketch comedy videos for the internet. Thanks to his work with the group,

hired him as a staffer, and he wrote and directed hundreds of its "Originals" short videos. He has appeared on the Dropout game show '' Game Changer'' and its spinoff ''Make Some Noise'', both hosted by Reich, and is credited as an executive producer on the latter series. Ruben moved to Los Angeles in 2016. He drew from his CollegeHumor 401(k) to write, produce, and direct ''

'', a comedy horror film shot at Cooper Lake outside of Woodstock. Starring Ruben as an aspiring writer staying in a cabin in the woods, it premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. His next film, ''

'', based on the video game, was also shot in the area in the

. It premiered to critical acclaim at the

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was fo ...

in June 2021. He is set to direct the sci-fi horror film ''Green Bank''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruben, Josh Living people 1983 births People from Woodstock, New York Film directors from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) Comedians from New York (state) Film producers from New York (state) American television directors CollegeHumor people Horror film directors Comedy film directors