Braden was born and raised in Southwest Connecticut, just outside New York City, where he grew up an athlete and a cinephile

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After High School, Braden studied film theory at University of Vermont followed by film production at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, where he was fortunate enough to collaborate with Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Steven Caple Jr.

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While receiving his M.F.A. at USC, Braden began working with Stampede Management, shooting online content for their artists including Snoop Dogg, YG and Far East Movement. His creativity and resourcefulness garnered him the distinction of the "no budget director" within the company and over the course of the next year, he single-handedly produced, directed, shot, and edited more than 12 music videos for up-and-coming artists including Mali Nicole, Shvona Lavette, and Phoebe Elliot.

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While working at Stampede, Braden wrote VISCOUS, which ultimately became his first feature: What Lies Below. The ultra-low-budget, genre-bending film premiered as the Number One film on Netflix and retained the rank for 5 straight days. According to Nielsen, it was streamed over 294 million minutes its first week of release on the platform.