Josh Becker was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1958. He became fascinated with cinema after seeing How the West Was Won at age six. As a teenager, he made several Super-8 short films with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. He dropped out of high-school at age 16 and completed his GED, then attended several colleges (including Michigan State University), but did not complete his studies. At the age of 17, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked several mid-to-low level jobs while trying to enter the film industry. He also hitchhiked to Alaska during his period (inspired by the writer Jack London), and recounted his adventures in Alaska Journal, and his later memoir, Going Hollywood.
