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Jonathan A. Levine (/ləˈviːn/ lə-VEEN; born June 18, 1976) is an American film director and screenwriter.

Early life and education

Levine was born and raised in New York City to a Jewish family. He attended St. Bernard's School, in Manhattan, and Phillips Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts. He received his bachelor's degree from Brown University, where he majored in Art Semiotics. He earned his Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Film Directing from the American Film Institute, in Los Angeles, at its AFI Conservatory.

Career

Levine was the assistant to film director Paul Schrader prior to his own directorial career taking-off. In 2006, he was nominated for a Best Independent Mini-Feature Award at the Black Reel Awards for his AFI Thesis short film Shards (2004), which also won a Certificate of Excellence at the 2005 Brooklyn Film Festival for Best Cinematography by Petra Korner. He wrote and directed a documentary short entitled Love Bytes (2005), where he sets out on a cross country roadtrip to find love in major cities with the assistance of a laptop and an Audi A3.

His feature directorial debut was the 2006 dramatic horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, starring Amber Heard with the screenplay written by Jacob Forman. The film had its premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, followed by screenings at the Sitges Film Festival, South by Southwest, London FrightFest Film Festival, and the IFI Horrorthon, at the French Cinemathèque. In 2008, he wrote and directed The Wackness, starring Josh Peck. It won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) as well. The Wackness also won Best Narrative Feature at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival, The Most Popular Feature Film Award at the 2008 Melbourne International Film Festival, and was nominated for a Best First Screenplay award at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards. In addition, the film won Best International Feature Film at the 2008 Zurich Film Festival.

Next, Levine directed the 2011 film 50/50 starring Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anna Kendrick, about a young man being treated for cancer. It was loosely based on the experience of screenwriter Will Reiser, a friend of Rogen's. 50/50 won the Audience Award at the 2011 Aspen Filmfest, the Audience Award at the 2011 Stockholm Film Festival and the Achille Valdata Award at the 2011 Torino International Film Festival /Torino International Festival of Young Cinema. In 2013, Levine directed Warm Bodies, based on the novel by Isaac Marion. It stars Nicholas Hoult as a zombie who slowly begins to return to normal, and forces a girl played by Teresa Palmer to stay with him.

In 2014, Levine directed the pilot episode of the TV series he created with Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo, Rush, for the USA Network. A medical drama series revolving around a hard-partying doctor named William P. Rush played by Tom Ellis, it was cancelled after one season. The next year he re-teamed with his 50/50 stars Rogen and Gordon-Levitt for Christmas comedy The Night Before, which he directed and co-wrote. It also stars Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan, Mindy Kaling, Jillian Bell and Miley Cyrus in a cameo role.

Levine filmed a pilot for a Showtime comedy series created by executive producer Jim Carrey titled I'm Dying Up Here, based in part on the 2010 non-fiction book of the same name by William Knoedelseder about the stand-up comedy scene in LA during the 1970s. It has been announced that Levine will direct Brooklyn Castle, a feature adaptation of the 2012 documentary of the same name. The storyline tells about a group of New York's inner city, junior high school kids who wanted to compete in a highly prestigious, highly selective national chess tournament.

Writing

In addition to writing or co-writing the screenplays for many of the feature or short films that he directed, Levine has written an episode of the TV series The Screen Junkies Show entitled "Zombie Acting Tips" (2013). He wrote the screenplay for the short film The Weight (2009), directed by Nicholas Jarecki. He wrote two episodes of Rush, the pilot (which he also directed) and "Don't Ask Me Why".

Producing

Levine produced the 2016 film Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, directed by Jake Szymanski and starring Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick, and Aubrey Plaza. He served as an executive producer on Rush.

Filmography

Short film

Feature film

Producer

• Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)

Television

References

1. Murphy, Mekado (April 26, 2019). "'Long Shot' | Anatomy of a Scene". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
2. "For Jewish director, the Night Before hits close to home". J. November 26, 2015.
3. Michael, Roffman (May 7, 2019). "Long Shot's Jonathan Levine on Loving Springsteen, Cameron Crowe Flicks, and the Halloween Franchise". Consequence.
4. Kit, Borys (January 19, 2010). "'Warm Bodies' lands Jonathan Levine". The Hollywood Reporter.
5. "'Mandy Lane' Director Takes New Spin on Zombie Genre with 'Warm Bodies'". Bloody-Disgusting.com. January 19, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
6. Barton, Steve (January 19, 2010). "Zombies Need Love Too! Cuddle Up with Some Warm Bodies!". DreadCentral.com. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
7. McNary, Dave (January 19, 2010). "Summit cozies up to 'Warm Bodies'". Variety.com. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
8. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (August 11, 2015). "Jim Carrey Lands Showtime Pilot Order for Series Set in 1970s L.A. Comedy Scene". variety.com. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
9. Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 11, 2015). "Sony Sets '50/50' Team For Chess Drama 'Brooklyn Castle; One Of Three Pics For Scott Rudin And Seth Rogen's Point Grey". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 21, 2019.

External links

• Jonathan Levine at IMDb
• Jonathan Levine at AllMovie

• 1976 births
• Living people
• American male screenwriters
• American comedy film directors
• Film directors from New York City
• Brown University alumni
• Jewish American screenwriters
• AFI Conservatory alumni
• Writers from New York City
• St. Bernard's School alumni
• Phillips Academy alumni
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• Sundance Film Festival award winners
• 21st-century American Jews