Thunder Levin is an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, known for writing the first four '' Sharknado'' television films. Levin's work was largely responsible for the resurgence of sharksploitation films.

Early life and education

Levin was born and raised in

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 ...

. His father, Michael, was an award-winning journalist, while his mother, Glenis, was an immigrant from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He graduated from

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a public academic magnet secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill section of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered and funded by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) and no t ...

, and received a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

degree in film from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

Early career

Levin 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, ...

at the age of 23. In the late 1980s, he worked as a

still photographer A unit still photographer (or simply still photographer) creates still photos specifically for use in publicity and marketing of feature films and television productions. In addition to creating photographs for the promotion of a film, the still ...

on three films for the film producer

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

. His feature-film directorial debut was the 2008

horror comedy Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

'' Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood!'', starring

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor and director. After making his film debut with a supporting role in ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), Howell had his breakout with a lead role as Ponyboy Curtis in the c ...

. Levin subsequently wrote and directed multiple films for production company

The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film production and distribution company based in Burbank, California, known for producing low-budget, direct-to-video films, in particular mockbusters, which capitalize on the popularity of major studio f ...

, including the 2012

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

American Warships ''American Warships'' is a 2012 science fiction war film directed by Thunder Levin and distributed by The Asylum. It premiered on the Syfy Channel on May 15, 2012. In the tradition of The Asylum's film catalog, the film is an extremely low-budg ...

'' and the 2013 science fiction film '' AE: Apocalypse Earth''.

''Sharknado''

In 2013, Levin wrote the

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...

'' 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. In 2014, Levin wrote a sequel, '' Sharknado 2: The Second One'', which had 3.9 million viewers. 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 video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

, a book, a one-shot comic book, a documentary, and a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Thunder Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century births Living people 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American photographers 21st-century American screenwriters American action film directors American comedy film directors American horror film directors American male television writers American television writers American science fiction film directors American science fiction writers Hunter College High School alumni Film directors from Los Angeles Film directors from New York City Movie stills photographers New York University alumni Photographers from Los Angeles Photographers from New York City Screenwriters from Los Angeles Screenwriters from New York City