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.
Filmography
all 87
Movies 86
Director 74
Producer 8
Writer 2
TV Shows 1
WB 100th Behind the Shield (2023)
Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy (2021)
Getting It Right: The Making of Midway (2020)
The Men of Midway (2020)
Roland Emmerich: Man on a Mission (2020)
Turning Point: The Legacy of Midway (2020)
Joe Rochefort - Breaking The Japanese Code (2020)
We Met At Midway - Two Survivors Remember (2020)
Skin Deep: The Battle Over Morgellons (2019)
Creating Ghidorah (2019)
Reimagining Rodan (2019)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Godzilla 2.0 (2019)
Monsters are Real (2019)
Making Mothra (2019)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- Monster Tech: Monarch Joins the Fight (2019)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- Castle Bravo (2019)
Ocean's Team 3.0 (2018)
Reimagining The Met Gala (2018)
The Devil and Father Amorth (2018)
Sully: Sully Sullenberger - The Man Behind the Miracle (2016)
I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas (2015)
One Soldier's Story: The Journey of American Sniper (2015)
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2013)
The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase (2013)
The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie (2012)
Singin' in the Rain: Raining on a New Generation (2012)
Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic (2012)
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of (2012)
Clint Eastwood's West (2011)
Turning Like Clockwork (2011)
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock (2009)
North by Northwest: One for the Ages (2009)
Gone With The Wind: The Legend Lives On (2009)
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman (2009)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year (2009)
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style (2009)
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke' (2008)
Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies (2008)
Alma: The Master's Muse (2008)
Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro (2008)
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy (2008)
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators (2008)
Saul Bass: Title Champ (2008)
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock (2008)
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock (2008)
Whatever You Desire: Making 'L.A. Confidential' (2008)
Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of 'L.A. Confidential' (2008)
Super Heros United! The Complete Justice League History (2008)
The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry (2008)
A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry (2008)
The Craft of Dirty Harry (2008)
The Business End: Violence in Cinema (2008)
The Evolution of Clint Eastwood (2008)
An Old Fashioned Love Story: Making 'The Bridges of Madison County' (2008)
Fog City Mavericks (2007)
Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007)
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange' (2007)
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick (2007)
View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining' (2007)
Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001 (2007)
Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (2007)
Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil (2007)
The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird (2006)
Prohibition Opens the Floodgates (2006)
Welcome to the Big House (2006)
Gangsters: The Immigrant's Hero (2006)
Morality and the Code: A How-to Manual for Hollywood (2006)
Stool Pigeons and Pine Overcoats: The Language of Gangster Films (2006)
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light (2006)
Molls and Dolls: The Women of Gangster Films (2006)
Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of "All the President's Men" (2006)
Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat (2006)
Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire (2006)
Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' (2006)
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema (2005)
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X' (2005)
The Characters of Star Wars (2004)
The Birth of the Lightsaber (2004)
A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope (2004)
Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138' (2004)
Inside 'Octopussy' (2000)
Ian Fleming: 007's Creator (2000)
Plan B (1997)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- The Undersea Lair
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- The Yunnan Temple
Godzilla: King of The Monsters- The Antarctic Base
Godzilla: King of the Monsters- The Isla De Mara Volcano
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