Darren Aronofsky was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents would often take him to Broadway plays which sparked his interest in show business. As he grew older, this interest dwindled and Aronofsky began training as a field biologist with the School for Filed Studies in Kenya and Alaska between 1985 and 1986. He refers to this time in his life as the moment where he began seeing the world in a different way. He spent the majority of the mid 80’s backpacking though Europe and the Middle East, until 1987 when he enrolled to study at Harvard University. He majored in social anthropology and studied filmmaking, although it wasn’t until he met animator Dan Schrecker, that Aronofsky’s love of film began to shine through. His thesis film, Supermarket Sweep, was a finalist in 1991 Student Academy Awards. He career as a filmmaker was up and running.

Unfortunately it would take Aronofsky almost six years before he would begin making his first feature film. He spent many years working on short films that never really went anywhere. He learnt a lot about story, film structure and character development by making mistakes in his short films. Through these short films his skills developed. It made him a far more competent and tighter filmmaker. Still trying to find his voice and niche, this period also taught him how to take criticism on board. A skill every filmmaker needs to learn; not everyone will like your work.