Kaufman made his directorial debut with the drug thriller Urge (2016) and he produced and directed the documentary Crusaders: Ex Jehovah's Witnesses Speak Out (2021).

[1] Although his uncle, Peter, who worked as a doorman, was quite a cinephile and got him to fall in love with the movies, Aaron decided to pursue a career in entertainment at the age of 18, after he saw Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing: "It was like nothing i'd ever seen-the energy, the audience reaction.

[3] Robert Rodriguez's book Rebel Without a Crew (1995), was a real inspiration for Kaufman and helped him understand the filmmaking process.

[2] Besides Rodriguez, some of the filmmakers he cited as early influences include Quentin Tarantino, Sidney Lumet, Aki Kaurismäki, Wong Kar-wai, and Lars von Trier.

[7][8] Also in the same year, Kaufman executive produced Powder Blue, an ensemble drama featuring Jessica Biel, Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, and Patrick Swayze, which was released straight-to-DVD.

He worked with Rodriguez for 6 years at Troublemaker Studios and Quick Draw Productions, developing and producing feature films.

[12][13] After his collaboration with Robert Rodriguez came to an end, Kaufman ventured into directing, his long-time passion, although he had nothing but great memories from his time as producer: "I loved it.