Dan Fogelman is well aware that critics seem to have some kind of aversion to his output as a writer and director.
That’s exactly why he wrote a letter for Deadline preemptively defending his sophomore work as a writer and director with “Life Itself,” while during our recent chat regarding the film he further explained his reasoning behind the post.
When I broached the subject of mixed reviews Fogelman also took the chance to reveal that he has never understood why his hit NBC show “This Is Us” has always been dismissed by reviewers, too.
“For lack of a better word, dramady is always a very divisive thing for critics. I have never quite understood it with my television show, when they come after it.”
“It gets lost in the wash because we get award nominations. But there was and continues to be a very cynical view of our television show.”
“Which is really kind of important to a lot of people and I think it is very well crafted. I don’t understand it, I don’t need it. But, yeah, it is hard.”
“I think, for me, that kind of stuff adds to the darkness on the internet. I have never understood it, I understand it is a necessary thing and that people have jobs to do.”
But while Fogelman is obviously perplexed and a tad frustrated that critics don’t take his work more seriously, he made sure to point out that when he is writing and/or directing either a television show or a film he only has the paying audience in mind.
And he has been overjoyed with their reaction to “Life Itself.”
“If it was to happen with this film, it is not really who I made this for. I made this for sophisticated audiences who go to movies. I have seen the reaction and I think it is going to be important to those that see it.”
“Life Itself” is now in cinemas, while “This Is Us” season 3 premieres on Tuesday September 25.
