Posted in: Movies | Tagged: critics, doctor strange, Filmmakers, Journalists, reviewers, scott derrickson

Doctor Strange Director Scott Derrickson Says Without Critics and Journalists He Wouldn't Be a Director

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson offers a lot of advice for young filmmakers via his twitter.  Seriously, if you're not following him and are someone who aspires to filmmaking, and/or like his films The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Doctor Strange, or Sinister, follow him.

Yesterday, Derrickson spoke a lot about film critics and the symbiotic relationship between they and filmmakers.  He started with a pretty nominal suggestion to critics, "don't be snooty about movies."

I'm a critic, and I didn't take this comment negatively. I took it to go hand in hand with Martin Sorceses's recent calling out of Rotten Tomatoes and MovieCritic for in his own words "the devaluation of cinema". There is a difference between film and movies (when you use those words to describe them), perhaps using both when reviewing is the first step.

His next suggestion is one that surprised me, but makes sense. "Advice to young filmmakers: seek out thoughtful film critics and journalists who illuminate complex movies for you. If I hadn't done that in my youth, I wouldn't have become a director."

He followed that one up with a list of some film critics, siting Roger Ebert's written reviews as the gold standard.

And of course yes, he does talk about Doctor Strange when the mood strikes him.

Agree or disagree with the general tone of his advice, he does speak from a position of knowing the right and wrong ways to do things.  His last tidbit from yesterday is of course a must for anyone, not just filmmakers.

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