Vaughn Stein trained in Drama, Film and Theatre at the University Of Bristol. Whilst at university, he was invited to train as a director and actor with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company alongside completing his degree, one of the most inspirational periods of his creative education. Vaughn then embarked on a career in film, gaining extensive and invaluable experience working as an Assistant Director on films such as Beauty And The Beast, The Danish Girl, Tarzan, In The Heart of the Sea, The Fifth Estate, Kick Ass 2, Never Let Me Go, Quantum of Solace, The Dark Knight, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter pts 7 and 8, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and World War Z. In November and December 2014, Vaughn wrote and directed the highly acclaimed short film ‘Yussef Is Complicated’. Starring Miranda Raison, Alex Lawther and Jamie Ballard, the film explores the troubled life of Yussef, a young Iraqi refugee and war orphan struggling to adapt to life in the UK. The film won multiple international awards, including at TIFF and Chicago, amongst others. In 2016/17, Vaughn wrote and directed his first feature film; the black comedy/thriller ‘Terminal’. Set in the dark heart of a sprawling, anonymous city, ‘Terminal’ follows the twisting tales of two assassins embroiled in a sinister mission, a teacher battling a fatal illness, an enigmatic janitor and a mysterious waitress leading a double life. Murderous consequences unravel in the dead of night as their lives all intertwine at the hands of an infamous criminal mastermind, hell-bent on revenge. The film stars Margot Robbie, Mike Myers, Simon Pegg and Dexter Fletcher and was produced by David Barron’s BeaglePug Films and Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment. The film was nominated for awards at multiple festivals, including the prestigious Audience Choice Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It has gone on to become a ‘Midnight Madness’ staple worldwide, and has a cult status amongst its large fan base.  In 2018, Vaughn then signed on to direct the thriller ‘Inheritance’. Written by Matthew Kennedy and produced by Richard Lewis and David Wulf, the film centres around Lauren Monroe (Lily Collins), a rising young New York City District Attorney and the successful daughter of a prominent New York family steeped in old-money wealth and privilege. When her father (Patrick Warburton) suddenly passes away, she is given a set of keys as her inheritance instead of access to the family fortune. She discovers a secret buried so deep that not even her mother (Connie Nielsen) knew about it...  a man (Simon Pegg) locked in captivity in a bunker on the grounds of their estate. Lauren makes the fateful decision to keep the discovery a secret in the hope she can uncover the truth while managing her own life and her brother's (Chace Crawford) impending election campaign and avoid ruining her family name. What she discovers rips apart the very fabric of her family dynasty and puts her life and those around her in desperate jeopardy. The film premiered at the 2020 TriBeCa Film Festival and was ranked as one their most popular films of the year, and has spent multiple weeks in the global top 10 on both Netflix and Amazon.  In 2019, Vaughn re-teamed with producer Richard Lewis to direct ‘Every Breath You Take’. Written by David S Murray, the cerebral thriller set in upstate Washington follows bereaved psychiatrist Dr Philip Clark (Academy Award winner Casey Affleck) and his family, who are coming to terms with a tragic loss. When Daphne Flagg (Emily Lind), one of Philip’s patient’s dies suddenly in a suspected suicide, her estranged brother James (Sam Claflin) arrives in their affluent hometown. As James begins to ingratiate himself with the Clark family, striking up friendships with Philip’s long-suffering wife Grace (Michelle Monaghan) and rebellious and troubled daughter, Lucy (India Eisley), the Clark family’s ordered life begins to unravel and fray. Philip’s career and livelihood is put in jeopardy as his professional reputation is viciously attacked by anonymous sources and his already troubled relationships with his wife and daughter deteriorate even further, as Dr Clark becomes obsessed with tracking down the malevolent force that is slowly but surely destroying both him and his family. Shot in Vancouver in late 2019, the film was released in 2021, and was nominated for multiple awards at the 38th Thriller Film Festival. It was then distributed internationally by Universal to great success. In 2023, Vaughn directed ‘Cellar Door’ for Lionsgate. Written by Lori Evans and produced by Craig Perry and Sheila Taylor, the dark thriller, set in Portland, Oregon, centres on a couple coming to terms with a tragic loss. John and Sera Winter (Scott Speedman and Jordana Brewster) seek a fresh start away from their cramped apartment, haunted by painful memories, and find themselves house-hunting upstate, to no avail. A quirk of fate introduces them to a mysterious stranger; the eccentric and reclusive multi-millionaire Emmett Claymore (Laurence Fishburne), who invites them to his beautiful and palatial home. Over the course of a night of gourmet food and fine wine, they get to know one another. However, when the Winters awaken the next morning, the find the house empty and a note on the dining room table. The note offers the house to the young couple, entirely free of cost, on one simple condition… they must never open the cellar door. John and Sera accept their Faustian pact, and move in to their new home. No sooner have they done so, but suspicious and unnerving events begin to happen to John, which he tries to hide from his wife. As Sera blossoms and flourishes in their new home, so John withers and diminishes, caught in a web of lies and secrets. And soon the couple come to realise the sinister truth…some doors are meant to remain unopened. The film was financed and distributed globally by Lionsgate, both theatrically and on premium VOD. In late 2023/24, Vaughn directed the ‘The Canyon’, produced by Mike Gabrawy and Gary Hamilton and shot in Utah and New Zealand. The film is a unique and visceral survival thriller set in the aftermath of a deadly plane crash high above the Utah wilderness. The sole survivor of the wreck, Kate Roche (Bella Thorne) , finds herself suspended by a thread of parachute cord caught on a juniper tree... a thousand feet in the air on the jagged edge of the Grand Canyon. Dehydrated, badly injured and equipped with nothing more than a broken SAT phone and her will to survive, Kate must attempt to navigate the impossible journey to safety, whilst confronting the ghosts of a traumatic past that have haunted her since childhood. On the other end of the phone and aiding her in her near impossible task are a grizzled and hermetic Iraq veteran, Joe Porter (Academy Award Winner Mel Gibson) and a kindly and straight-talking call centre operator, Grace Winyata (Brie Peters). Their help and emotional support becomes invaluable as Kate’s survival becomes a deadly race against time, as she begins to succumb to baking heat and constricted bloodflow, and the damaged tree slowly breaks apart above her. The film is currently in post production and due for release in late 2025.