Destin Daniel Cretton

Director, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Destin Daniel Cretton (born November 23, 1978) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and editor. He is best known for his collaborations with Brie Larson, in the films Short Term 12 (2013), The Glass Castle (2017), and Just Mercy (2019).

Cretton was born in 1978 in Haiku, Hawaii on the island of Maui, the son of Janice Harue Cretton, a Japanese American hairdresser, and Daniel Cretton, of Irish and Slovak ancestry, who worked for the fire department. He was home-schooled by his Christian mother. He lived in Haiku in a two-bedroom house with his five siblings, including sister Joy, until he was 19 years old. He moved to San Diego, California to attend Point Loma Nazarene University, where he majored in communications. After graduating, Cretton worked for two years as a staff person at a group home for at-risk teenagers.

He made short films as a hobby, which developed as a vocational path. He attended and graduated from film school at San Diego State University.