Born as Donald Ryan Reeb in Columbia, Maryland, his family moved several times across the country until they settled in Coral Springs, Florida, where Reeb became a member and tour organizer of the bands "Last Minute" and "Forever and a Day". He attended the art school and studied Film Making and Animation, including an internship at Digital Domain, which let him settle down in Los Angeles, California. Reeb counts filmmakers Tim Burton, Ray Harryhausen, Quentin Tarantino, John Carpenter, and Peter Jackson as his inspirations.