alan j. levi

Bio

born and raised in st. louis, mo, alan j. levi began his filmmaking career at age 15 when he produced and directed a half-hour 16mm black-and-white comedy entitled keep your spirits high while a sophomore in high school. finding no one who would hire this aspiring director, he organized his own company, petite productions, which was financed entirely by his fellow schoolmates, and with a grand total of $256 in operating costs, he began his career as a director/producer. by the time he graduated from high school, he completed a total of 43 films, produced for such organizations as the national conference of christians and jews, st. louis board of education, the national safety council and other institutions that couldn't afford the high prices of commercial filmmaking companies. during the summer between high school and college, alan came to hollywood and, under the guidance of his mentor dick powell, studied film technique at various studios--direction under andré de toth, makeup at the mgm makeup department with william tuttle, photography at paramount and warner bros. on the sets of in-production feature films, editing with the warner's tv editing staff, etc. a graduate of northwestern university with a degree in radio, tv and film and minors in psychology and electrical engineering, alan had directed and/or photographed over 2000 hours of live and videotaped television around the world, and functioned as director of photography and director for over 450 prime-time network commercials before landing a job as associate producer at mgm. since then his directing credits have earned him a cannes film festival gold lion, a western heritage award, two new york international tv and film festival grand awards, two clio awards and several silver spikes. he has guest-lectured on filmmaking technique at afi, usc, ucla, national institute of health, and brooks institute of photography as well as numerous acting and film-making study groups.