00:00In 2027, there will be another Star Wars film, Star Wars Starfire, starring Ryan Gosling,
00:04and in 2028, there will be another Ghost Rider film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
00:08Both these projects will be directed by Sean Levy,
00:11a director who's made a name for himself directing corny since the 2000s,
00:14like Chief by the Dozen or Night at the Museum,
00:16but recently made a name for himself working under Ryan Reynolds,
00:20making vehicles like Free Guy, The Adam Project, and 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine.
00:24This has made him an object of derision in certain online film circles.
00:29For some reason.
00:30Now, this has caused me to wonder why he's become such a scrutinised figure for a section of the film
00:35community.
00:35I feel it's because he's a journeyman director,
00:38whose output puts him at odds with other blockbuster filmmakers working today,
00:42and how they get picked to helm certain projects.
00:44A little background.
00:45For a long while now, a lot of directors behind a bunch of recent blockbusters
00:48got their start on the independent festival circuit.
00:51This was prevalent with how Marvel-hide film directors, Ryan Coogler, James Gunn, Nia DeCosta, among others,
00:55all got their start in the indie scene and managed to parlay that into a steady directing career,
01:00with the indie background making their work more idiosyncratic.
01:04This isn't always the case in some regards,
01:06like there's a lot of horror film directors who've also gotten big film jobs recently,
01:10but it's mostly relegated to the indie scene.
01:12Levy mostly worked as journeyman director,
01:14and more recently made star vehicles for Ryan Reynolds,
01:16so that distinctive voice is being left out and is being seen more as a studio man.
01:21And, unless you work under Tom Cruise, you are not considered a proper filmmaker by a certain section of online
01:26film fans.
01:27Which is a little bit stubby in my opinion, it also leaves out his producing career.
01:31Yeah, he's been producing a lot of different film projects,
01:33like Denny Villanue's 2016 Film Arrival,
01:36you know, one of the film world's faves,
01:39and also this year's horror hit Backrooms through his company, 21 Laps.
01:43He's also produced Stranger Things, that's why he didn't direct much films until Free Guy in 2021.
01:48It's kind of like how the online film world treats the Russo brothers.
01:51I'm not defending them and their films regardless of quality,
01:54and frankly, they probably don't need defending,
01:56but they've also produced other films and TV shows.
01:58I've produced the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once through their Agbel company,
02:02but that isn't brought up when people discuss their work.
02:04It's a small movie that treats directors who work in a different wheelhouse,
02:07and what certain people like, as lesser,
02:09and it doesn't sit well with me, to be honest,
02:10as I think something lowbrow can just serve a purpose of something more highbrow,
02:14and that a good director can come from any type of field.
02:17It's an attitude that's not as prevalent now in a modern-day context,
02:21but it still persists, and I don't think it's a healthy mindset to maintain,
02:24especially when we bring up film directors' works.
