Gary Leva
- Known for
- Directing
Biography
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.
Known For
The Devil and Father Amorth
One Soldier's Story: The Journey of American Sniper
Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil
R2-D2: Beneath the Dome
Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Godzilla 2.0
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
The Characters of Star Wars
Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
Filmography
A True Ensemble: The Cast of L.A. Confidential
Movie · Director
L.A. Confidential: From Book to Screen
Movie · Director
Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy
TV · Director · 9 eps
We Met At Midway - Two Survivors Remember
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Joe Rochefort - Breaking The Japanese Code
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The Men of Midway
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Turning Point: The Legacy of Midway
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Getting It Right: The Making of Midway
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Godzilla: King of the Monsters- Monster Tech: Monarch Joins the Fight
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Godzilla: King of the Monsters- Castle Bravo
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Making Mothra
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Monsters are Real
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Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Godzilla 2.0
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Reimagining Rodan
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Creating Ghidorah
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Godzilla: King of The Monsters- The Antarctic Base
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Reimagining The Met Gala
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Ocean's Team 3.0
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Moment by Moment - Averting Disaster on the Hudson
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One Soldier's Story: The Journey of American Sniper
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Restoring Spartacus
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The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase
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Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic
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Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
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Turning Like Clockwork
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Clint Eastwood's West
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Gone With The Wind: The Legend Lives On
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The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
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North by Northwest: One for the Ages
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Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman
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Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
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Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
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Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential'
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Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of 'L.A. Confidential'
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Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies
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Alma: The Master's Muse
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Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro
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Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
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Saul Bass: Title Champ
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In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
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An Old Fashioned Love Story: Making 'The Bridges of Madison County'
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A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry
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The Business End: Violence in Cinema
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The Evolution of Clint Eastwood
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The Craft of Dirty Harry
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Super Heroes United! The Complete Justice League History
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The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry
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Fog City Mavericks
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Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
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Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
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View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
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The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
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Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil
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Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001
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Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
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Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire
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Prohibition Opens the Floodgates
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Welcome to the Big House
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The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
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Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of "All the President's Men"
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Gangsters: The Immigrant's Hero
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Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
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Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat
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Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'
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Molls and Dolls: The Women of Gangster Films
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Hollywood Helps the Cause
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Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
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By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
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A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope
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Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138'
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Plan B
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