Marc Preston Webb (born August 31, 1974) is an American

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

director and

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

. Webb made his feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

500 Days of Summer ''500 Days of Summer'' (stylized as ''(500) Days of Summer'') is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and produced by Mark Waters. The film stars ...

'', and went on to direct ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'' in 2012, which was dubbed the "Webb-Verse" by

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...

in 2021. He also directed the

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

s ''

Gifted Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to persist as a trait into adult life, wi ...

'' and ''

The Only Living Boy in New York "The Only Living Boy in New York" is a song written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel. It is the eighth track from the duo's fifth and final studio album, '' Bridge over Troubled Water''. The song was also issued as the B-side t ...

''.

Early life

Webb was born in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

, the son of Margaret Ruth (née Stocker) and Norman Lott Webb, who works in math education at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. When he was eighteen months old, Webb's family moved to

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, where he was raised. He graduated from

Madison West High School Madison West High School is a comprehensive four-year high school in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 1930. Its athletics teams compete in the WIAA Big Eight Conference. Madison West serves students from four municipalities: Madison, the town of M ...

in 1992, and subsequently attended

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, from which he graduated with an English degree.

Career

Webb began his trade as an editor before turning his hand to directing music videos. He told ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'': "The very first video I did was for a band calle
The Shame Idols
in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, and I paid for it on a credit card and my mom loaned me about $500 to finish it. It was actually about a superhero—a

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

-y type of thing. This woman who sewed the costume together, and we shot it on 16mm film. You can't see it anywhere and it's not on YouTube—and I'm glad it's not. The first video that got shown was a Blues Traveler video called "Canadian Rose," but I just did the concept stuff for it. Between 1999 and 2009, he directed videos for the likes of

Good Charlotte Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin (g ...

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut s ...

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

, 3 Doors Down,

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...

and

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...

. His feature-length debut, ''

'', starring

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

and

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel (; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She made her film debut in '' Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film '' Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known for h ...

, was released in July 2009 to a positive critical reception. In January 2010,

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

hired Webb to direct ''

'', a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the ''Spider-Man'' film franchise, released in July 2012 and starring

Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time' ...

and Emma Stone. He returned to direct the sequel, ''

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (internationally titled ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro'') is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film was directed by Marc Webb and produced by Avi A ...

'', which was released on May 2, 2014. Developing the 2021

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

(MCU) film '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' for

, Chris McKenna and

Erik Sommers Erik Sommers is an American television writer, television producer and screenwriter. Career Erik Sommers began his career working as a production staff in '' Stark Raving Mad'' during which time he expressed an interest in securing rights for bov ...

officially dubbed the

fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...

of Webb's ''Spider-Man'' films as the Webb-Verse in his honor. In November 2021, it was also revealed that he, along with

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...

, were brought on as creative consultants for the film. In 2015, Webb directed promotional ads for a partnership between

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

and '' Avengers: Age of Ultron''. Webb is signed to DNA in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, and Academy Productions Ltd in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In February 2019, he signed on to direct the

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

reimagined version of the 2016 Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

film ''

Your Name is a 2016 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film produced by CoMix Wave Films. It depicts a high school boy in Tokyo and a high school girl in the Japanese countryside who suddenly and inexplicably begin to swap bodies. The film was commissi ...

'' before he was replaced on September 18, 2020 by

Lee Isaac Chung Lee Isaac Chung (born October 19, 1978) is an American film director and screenwriter. His debut feature ''Munyurangabo'' (2007) was an Official Selection at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the first narrative feature film in the Kinyarwanda ...

. In May 2019, it was announced that Webb will direct a live-action adaptation of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

''. In 2013,

Christopher Keyser Christopher Adam Keyser (born 1960) is an American producer and writer of primetime dramas. He is best known for creating the television series '' The Society'' and ''Party of Five''. Early life Keyser was born to a Jewish family on Long Islan ...

and Webb pitched the mystery drama '' The Society'' to

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

, but the network later decided to pass on the series. Netflix turned the pitch into a series instead; created by Keyser and executive produced by both Keyser and Webb, ''The Society'' premiered on May 10, 2019. In July 2019, it was announced that Webb and his Black Lamb production company signed a deal with

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television Filmmaking#Production, production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company#Disne ...

. In March 2022, Webb signed on to direct the supernatural thriller ''Day Drinker'', written by Zach Dean.

Personal life

On June 8, 2018, Webb's girlfriend Jane Herman gave birth to a daughter, Georgia. The couple married on October 4, 2019. A son, Walter, was born on April 5, 2021.

Webb's lamb

Webb's signature is a white lamb, which has appeared in a few of his videos. In Brand New's " Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" video, the lamb appears on the door before

Jesse Lacey Jesse Thomas Lacey (born July 10, 1978) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the American alternative rock band Brand New. He is known for his enigmatic a ...

enters the bar. It also appears on the shirt of a girl in the bar. In

Yellowcard Yellowcard is an American rock band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 and was based in Los Angeles beginning in 2000. The band is recognized for having a distinct sound in their genre, primarily due to the prominent use of a violin ...

's " Ocean Avenue" and " Rough Landing, Holly" videos, the lamb appears on the briefcase

Ryan Key William Ryan Key (born December 17, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop punk band Yellowcard. He is the owner/operator of a recording studio in Jacksonvil ...

carries around.

Filmography

Film

* ''

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014) * ''

'' (2017) * ''

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...

'' (2024)

Television

Music videos

Editor videography

MxPx MxPx () is an American pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington, founded in 1992 as Magnified Plaid. As of 2016, current members include Mike Herrera on lead vocals and bass guitar, Yuri Ruley on drums and percussion, Tom Wisniewski on lead gu ...

– "Everything Sucks (When You're Gone)" (November 2003) * Brand New – "Sic Transit Gloria.... Glory Fades" (December 2003)

References

External links

* *
Marc Webb
at MVDbase.com
Die Musik Video Datenbank
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Marc 1974 births American music video directors American television directors Colorado College alumni Action film directors Living people People from Bloomington, Indiana Artists from Madison, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education alumni Film directors from Indiana Film directors from Wisconsin Madison West High School alumni Television producers from Indiana