There’s a new movie called The Pineapple Express that you’re going to be hearing a lot about over the next few weeks. It’s the newest creation from one of Hollywood’s hottest cliques; the Judd Apatow Gang. No doubt Apatow and cohort Seth Rogan are living large these days in light of their meteoric rise to popularity with hits like Superbad, Knocked Up, and the 40 Year Old Virgin (among many others). But perhaps the luckiest of them all is the movie’s director, David Gordon Green.

Green, 33, is on the precipice of directorial stardom, yet his ascent to this height could not be more atypical of modern Hollywood. The Pineapple Express is undoubtedly the biggest movie yet on his reel and the one that will “make” him, but lovers of independent film already know how talented this guy really is.

What makes Green’s story so unusual is that he’s made it to this point by simply directing films.

Yes. You read that right. HE DIRECTS FILMS.

This isn’t 1970 anymore. Young filmmakers are seldom afforded opportunities by producers and financiers to direct movies that they’ve written themselves without first traveling through a rigorous proving ground. For example, several celebrated directors like Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) and David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) spent the majority of their 20’s and early 30’s directing music videos before they were entrusted to make feature films.

Others, like Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) and J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III) spent years writing and directing for television before earning enough credits to make “big” movies. But David Gordon Green’s first directorial effort was a brilliant self-written film called George Washington (2000). He was just 25 then and in the meantime has gone on to make a handful of other feature films: All the Real Girls (2003), Undertow (2004), and Snow Angels (2007).

Equally as important are the relationships he’s established with various actors. Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney, Zooey Deschanel, Patricia Clarkson, Kate Beckinsale, and Griffin Dunne are all people he’s worked with BEFORE teaming up with the Apatow Gang. Perhaps that speaks to his level of talent behind the camera. He has consistently shown why he deserves to be here, only it’s too bad the industry doesn’t entrust more young filmmakers with similar opportunities.

Where would Francis Ford Coppola be without Finian’s Rainbow? How about Martin Scorsese without Mean Streets? Ditto for Steven Spielberg without Duel…

In today’s Hollywood it’s unlikely these classic auteurs would have been given an opportunity to make these early films. Who knows what the long term consequences might have been?

Actually, we do know. It’s called the 2008 American film industry. And it sucks.

For more on The Pineapple Express, stay tuned for Matthew Sidney Long’s article on Friday.

By Chris Virnig