Payton Koch was born on July 16th, 1996 in Los Angeles, California. He grew up learning about the film industry from Grandfather Hawk W. Koch (Wayne's World, Chinatown, and a past President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Following in his footsteps, Koch graduated from Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in 2018 with a BFA in Film Production emphasizing in Film Editing.
On his father's side, grandson of Rita Joy (Litter) and producer Hawk Koch (Source Code). Great-grandson of Ruth M. (Pincus) and filmmaker Howard W. Koch (producer of Airplane!).