Matt and Ross Duffer have become two of the most successful showrunners in TV history thanks to their Netflix mega-hit Stranger Things
12:20, 22 Dec 2025Updated 12:32, 22 Dec 2025
Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have achieved incredible success with their hit sci-fi drama on Netflix, but what do we know about their lives away from the screen?
The streaming phenomenon stars Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour and many more and recently returned for its fifth and final season.
However, millions of fans have a little longer to wait as just the first four episodes of the epic conclusion were released last month.
Three more instalments will be coming to Netflix this Boxing Day (Friday, 26th December), before the final episode airs on New Year’s Day (Thursday, 1st January).
Before the thrilling Hawkins saga comes to an end, let’s take a look at the personal lives of the brains behind the stunning global streaming hit, The Duffer Brothers.
Parents and Education
Identical twin brothers Matt and Ross were born February 15th, 1984, making them 41-years-old.
They were raised in Durham, North Carolina by mother Ann Marie Christensen, a part-time real estate broker, and father Allen Pace Duffer Jr, a Project Director for the Research Triangle Institute, a non-profit organisation.
Inseparable from a young age, after both attending school together they were accepted to the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts, but decided to turn the offer down as this would have forced them to work apart.
“[FSU] didn’t want us working together,” they told The Wrap. “That was a deal-breaker,” Ross said, and Matt added: “We don’t even know how we work alone.”
Instead, they opted to study at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, relocating to Orange, California, and graduating in 2007.
Watch Stranger Things on Netflix for free with Sky
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Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new Sky Stream TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV plan.
This lets members watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes hit shows like Stranger Things.
Romantic Partners
Matt met his fiancée Sarah Hindsgaul on the set of Stranger Things, where she works as a hair designer. They have one son together, to whom actress Winona Ryder is the godmother.
Ross, meanwhile, is separated from his ex-wife Leigh Janiak, who filed for divorce in 2024 following nine years of marriage. She cited “irreconcilable differences” and requested spousal support, but further details about their split have not been made public.
They first met in 2006 at a production company in Los Angeles while Janiak was working as a producer’s assistant and Ross was an intern. They were married in Palm Springs in 2015.
Janiak has enjoyed similar success on Netflix as the director of the hit horror trilogy Fear Street, which stars familiar faces from the world of Stranger Things such as Sadie Sink and Maya Hawke.
Buy Stranger Things: The First Shadow tickets
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Stranger Things: The First Shadow tickets are out now from LOVEtheatre ahead of Season 5.
Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Matt is estimated to have a net worth of $40 million £29.7m), while Ross’ net worth is estimated at $16 million (£11.9m).
Matt bought his home in the Los Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles for $6.1 million (£4.5m) from The Big Bang Theory star Simon Helberg. Helberg had previously bought the house from Charlie Sheen’s ex Brooke Mueller.
Ross also resides in Los Feliz, purchasing his five-bedroom abode for $5.4 million (£4m).
Stranger Things season 5, vol. 2 will be released 26th December followed by the finale on 1st January 2026 on Netflix.