American screenwriter and director (born 20th century
Thunder Levin is an American screenwriter and director , known for writing the first four Sharknado television films.[ 1] [ 2] Levin's work was largely responsible for the resurgence of sharksploitation films.[ 3]
Early life and education
Levin was born and raised in New York City . His father, Michael, was an award-winning journalist, while his mother, Glenis, was an immigrant from Liverpool , England .
He graduated from Hunter College High School , and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film from New York University .[ 4]
Early career
Levin moved to Los Angeles at the age of 23. In the late 1980s, he worked as a still photographer on three films for the film producer Roger Corman .[ 1]
His feature-film directorial debut was the 2008 horror comedy Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood! ,[ 5] [ 6] starring C. Thomas Howell .[ 5] [ 7]
Levin subsequently wrote and directed multiple films for production company The Asylum ,[ 8] including the 2012 science-fiction action film American Warships and the 2013 science fiction film AE: Apocalypse Earth .
Sharknado
In 2013, Levin wrote the made-for-television disaster film Sharknado , about a tornado of shark-infested seawater. The film's debut on the Syfy cable channel attracted nearly 1.37 million viewers and generated nearly 5,000 tweets a minute at its peak.[ 9]
In 2014, Levin wrote a sequel, Sharknado 2: The Second One , which had 3.9 million viewers.[ 10] Levin subsequently wrote two more sequels, 2015's Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and 2016's Sharknado: The 4th Awakens .
Sharknado became a pop-culture phenomenon, ultimately spawning five sequels , a video game , a book, a one-shot comic book, a documentary, and a mockumentary .
Filmography
See also
References
^ a b Wiser, Curt (December 3, 2019). "Interview With Sharknado Writer Thunder Levin" . OC Movie Reviews .
^ Bradley, Bill (July 22, 2015). "7 Glaring 'Sharknado' Plot Holes Are Finally Explained" . HuffPost .
^ Hill, Kent (November 20, 2016). "Thunder Levin: An Interview by Kent Hill" . Podcasting Them Softly .
^ "Chatting With Sherri Welcomes Producer/Director/Writer; Thunder Levin!" . BlogTalkRadio . September 28, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
^ a b Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010 . McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 133– 134. ISBN 978-0-7864-6163-9 .
^ Suebsaeng, Asawin (July 11, 2013). "Can a "Sharknado" Really Happen?" . Mother Jones . Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
^ "Mutant Vampire Zombies From the Hood!" . Variety . July 7, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
^ Salt, Paul (July 9, 2019). "Thunder Levin Interview: Sharknado Writer Talks The Asylum, Science and Why He's Never Made a Mockbuster" . Screen Mayhem . Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
^ Banks, Paul M. (August 6, 2017). "Sharknado Writer, Field Museum Scientist Gave Fascinating Insights into Film" . The Bank . Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
^ a b France, Lisa Respers (March 29, 2018). " 'Sharknado' set to end with No. 6" . CNN .
^ "Zombie Tidal Wave" . SyFy .
External links