CINEFILER

Gary Leva

Filmmaker and film historian Gary Leva has distinguished himself as the creative force behind scores of documentaries, broadcast programs and Special Features, many of them focused on the cinematic arts. His feature documentary, Fog City Mavericks, which highlights 100 years in the history of San Francisco's vibrant filmmaking community, had its world premiere at the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival prior to its continuing life on cable television and disc. Leva's documentaries have made a lasting contribution to the history of film. His award- winning A Legacy of Filmmakers premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and received a New York Film Society screening at Manhattan's Guggenheim Museum. This documentary illuminates the creation of Francis Ford Coppola's landmark film company American Zoetrope, set against the changing landscape of American cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The film is now a part of the curricula at several top universities. Leva's celebrated documentaries on the cinema of George Lucas span the entire range of Lucas' career, from his earliest student films to his first feature, THX 1138, to the Star Wars series and beyond. His collections of documentaries on filmmakers Alfred Hitchcock, Clint Eastwood and Stanley Kubrick are often regarded as the top anthology on each of these master's works. Having earned a distinguished reputation as a leader in his field, Leva continues to work with the top filmmakers of our time, including Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Robert Redford, Oliver Stone and many others. Beyond the world of cinema, Leva has produced documentaries on subjects as varied as the struggle for investigative journalists to stay relevant in the Internet age and the ways in which the achievements of Alexander the Great are reflected in our modern lives. Other projects include the award-winning narrative feature film, Plan B, starring Jon Cryer, the mockumentary R2-D2: Beneath the Dome, broadcast nationally on Fox, and 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year, broadcast nationally on TCM. Leva is an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Full Filmography
Directing
Plan B
(1997)
Director
A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope
(2004)
Director
Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138'
(2004)
Director
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
(2005)
Director
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
(2005)
Director
The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
(2006)
Director
Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of "All the President's Men"
(2006)
Director
Gangsters: The Immigrant's Hero
(2006)
Director
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
(2006)
Director
Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat
(2006)
Director
Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'
(2006)
Director
Molls and Dolls: The Women of Gangster Films
(2006)
Director
Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire
(2006)
Director
Welcome to the Big House
(2006)
Director
Prohibition Opens the Floodgates
(2006)
Director
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
(2007)
Director
Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
(2007)
Director
View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
(2007)
Director
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
(2007)
Director
Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil
(2007)
Director
Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001
(2007)
Director
Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
(2007)
Director
Fog City Mavericks
(2007)
Director
Saul Bass: Title Champ
(2008)
Director
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
(2008)
Director
An Old Fashioned Love Story: Making 'The Bridges of Madison County'
(2008)
Director
A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry
(2008)
Director
The Business End: Violence in Cinema
(2008)
Director
The Evolution of Clint Eastwood
(2008)
Director
The Craft of Dirty Harry
(2008)
Director
Super Heros United! The Complete Justice League History
(2008)
Director
The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry
(2008)
Director
Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential'
(2008)
Director
Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of 'L.A. Confidential'
(2008)
Director
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
(2008)
Director
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
(2008)
Director
Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies
(2008)
Director
Alma: The Master's Muse
(2008)
Director
Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro
(2008)
Director
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
(2008)
Director
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
(2009)
Director
Gone With The Wind: The Legend Lives On
(2009)
Director
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
(2009)
Director
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman
(2009)
Director
Turning Like Clockwork
(2011)
Director
Clint Eastwood's West
(2011)
Director
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
(2012)
Director
Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic
(2012)
Director
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(2013)
Director
The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase
(2013)
Director
One Soldier's Story: The Journey of American Sniper
(2015)
Director
Reimagining The Met Gala
(2018)
Director
Monsters are Real
(2019)
Director
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Godzilla 2.0
(2019)
Director
Making Mothra
(2019)
Director
Creating Ghidorah
(2019)
Director
Reimagining Rodan
(2019)
Director
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- Castle Bravo
(2019)
Director
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- Monster Tech: Monarch Joins the Fight
(2019)
Director
Turning Point: The Legacy of Midway
(2020)
Director
Getting It Right: The Making of Midway
(2020)
Director
We Met At Midway - Two Survivors Remember
(2020)
Director
Joe Rochefort - Breaking The Japanese Code
(2020)
Director
The Men of Midway
(2020)
Director
Writing
Editing
Production
Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138'
(2004)
Producer
A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope
(2004)
Producer
The Characters of Star Wars
(2004)
Producer
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
(2005)
Producer
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
(2005)
Producer
Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of "All the President's Men"
(2006)
Producer
The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
(2006)
Producer
Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat
(2006)
Producer
Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire
(2006)
Producer
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
(2007)
Producer
Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001
(2007)
Producer
Fog City Mavericks
(2007)
Producer
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
(2007)
Producer
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
(2008)
Producer
An Old Fashioned Love Story: Making 'The Bridges of Madison County'
(2008)
Producer
The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry
(2008)
Producer
A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry
(2008)
Producer
The Craft of Dirty Harry
(2008)
Producer
The Evolution of Clint Eastwood
(2008)
Producer
The Business End: Violence in Cinema
(2008)
Producer
Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential'
(2008)
Producer
Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of 'L.A. Confidential'
(2008)
Producer
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
(2008)
Producer
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
(2008)
Producer
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
(2008)
Producer
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman
(2009)
Producer
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
(2009)
Producer
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock
(2009)
Producer
Turning Like Clockwork
(2011)
Producer
Clint Eastwood's West
(2011)
Producer
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
(2012)
Producer
Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic
(2012)
Producer
The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie
(2012)
Producer
The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase
(2013)
Producer
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(2013)
Producer
One Soldier's Story: The Journey of American Sniper
(2015)
Producer
I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas
(2015)
Producer
Sully: Sully Sullenberger - The Man Behind the Miracle
(2016)
Producer
We Met At Midway - Two Survivors Remember
(2020)
Producer
Roland Emmerich: Man on a Mission
(2020)
Producer
Data provided by TMDB