David Levien (born December 9, 1967) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner of Showtime's '' Billions'', along with

Brian Koppelman Brian William Koppelman (born April 27, 1966) is an American television and film writer, producer and director. Koppelman is the co-writer of ''Ocean's Thirteen'' and ''Rounders (1998 film), Rounders'', a producer of films including ''The Illusion ...

. Some of his credits include ''

Ocean's Thirteen ''Ocean's Thirteen'' is a 2007 heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. It is the third in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy and a sequel to ''Ocean's Twelve'' (2004). The film features an en ...

,'' ''

Rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a wooden, plastic, or metal bat that has a cylindrical end. The players score b ...

'', '' Solitary Man'', '' The Illusionist'', '' Runaway Jury'', '' Tilt'', and ESPN's '' 30 for 30 (This Is What They Want)'' for which he won a sports Emmy. Levien is also the author of six novels, including four in the Frank Behr series. Some of his earlier works were published under D.J. Levien.

Early life and education

Levien was born in

Great Neck, New York Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among th ...

. He met his lifelong writing partner and friend,

, on a summer bus trip for teens when Levien was 14 years old. Levien is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He is a graduate of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. After school he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he worked as a story editor for various agencies and production companies. Finding that editing the stories of the others impacted his writing, he quit and moved to Paris and then Argentina where he trained horses before returning to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he reunited with Koppelman.

Career

Film

In 1997, Levien wrote the original screenplay for ''Rounders'' with his writing partner, Brian Koppelman. In 2001, Levien and Koppelman wrote, produced, and directed the film '' Knockaround Guys'', which film critic Roger Ebert gave 3 out of 4 stars. Levien and Koppelman also co-wrote the 2003 film ''Runaway Jury'', which was nominated for the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

for Best Screenplay. In 2009, Levien and Koppelman co-directed ''Solitary Man'' starring

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...

. The film was included in both A.O. Scott's ''The New York Times'' "Year End Best" list and Roger Ebert's "Year End Best" list. Other film credits include the third installment in the ''Ocean's'' franchise, 2007's ''Ocean's Thirteen'', directed by

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...

Novels

Levien has published six novels, including the literary novels ''Wormwood'', ''Swagbelly'', and the Frank Behr crime series, set in the Midwest and chronicling the fictional private investigator. The series includes '' City of the Sun'', ''Where the Dead Lay'', ''13 Million Dollar Pop'', and ''Signature Kill''. The Behr books were nominated for the Hammett, Barry and Shamus awards. Sons of Spade named ''13 Million Dollar Pop'' the best P.I. novel of 2011.

Short stories

In 2015, Levien published the short story "Knock Out Whist," which was nominated by Best American Mystery Stories 2016 as an honorable mention. His story "Einstein's Sabbath" was published in ''The Darkling Halls of Ivy'' anthology in 2020.

Television

Showtime's drama series, ''Billions'', created by David Levien, Brian Koppelman, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, and starring

Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti ( ; born June6, 1967) is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award. After studying a ...

and

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers''. Lewis won a Prime ...

, premiered in 2016.

Filmography

Films

Producer only * ''

Interview with the Assassin ''Interview with the Assassin'' is a 2002 American pseudo-documentary Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Neil Burger and starring Raymond J. Barry and Dylan Haggerty. Plot An unemployed cameraman, Ron Kobeleski (Haggerty), is ask ...

'' (2002) * '' The Illusionist'' (2006) * '' The Lucky Ones'' (2007) * '' I Smile Back'' (2015)

Television

Novels

Frank Behr novels

* ''City of the Sun'' (2008) * ''Where the Dead Lay'' (2009) * ''Thirteen Million Dollar Pop'' (2011); released as ''The Contract'' outside the US (2012) * ''Signature Kill'' (2014)

Standalone novels

* ''Wormwood'' (1999) * ''Swagbelly: A Novel for Today's Gentleman'' (2003)

Short stories

* "Knock-out Whist" (2015) *"Einstein's Sabbath" (2020)

References

External links

*
Author listing for David Levien
on goodreads.com
Bio of David Levien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levien, David Living people American male screenwriters Jewish American screenwriters University of Michigan alumni 1967 births 21st-century American Jews