Shawn Levy

Shawn Levy (also credited as Shawn Adam Levy) is a Canadian director, producer, and occasional actor born on July 23, 1968, in Montreal, Quebec. After starting out behind the camera in television, he built a reputation for accessible, crowd-pleasing storytelling across comedy, family entertainment, action, and sci-fi.

Levy broke through in the 2000s with studio comedies such as Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Pink Panther, then became closely associated with the blockbuster Night at the Museum franchise, directing its first three films. In the next decade he expanded his range with titles like Date Night, Real Steel, and The Internship, while also developing television projects.

As founder of 21 Laps Entertainment, Levy has also made a major impact as a producer, including on the Oscar-nominated film Arrival. He has been a key creative force on Netflix’s Stranger Things as an executive producer and recurring episode director, and he later helmed the limited series All the Light We Cannot See.

In recent years, Levy’s high-profile collaborations with Ryan Reynolds—Free Guy, The Adam Project, and Deadpool & Wolverine—have further cemented his status as a top-tier commercial filmmaker, with his directing work collectively earning billions worldwide.