Beth Levison
{{short description|American documentary film producer and director}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Beth Levison
| image = Beth Levison Academy Awards.jpg
| caption = Beth Levison at the Academy Awards, 2023
| birth_name =
| othername =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
| occupation = {{csv|Producer|director|}}
| notable_works =
| years_active = 1993–present
| spouse = Henry Sidel
}}
Beth Levison is an Academy Award-nominated American independent documentary film producer and director based in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wamc.org/community-calendar/event/storm-lake-screening-and-q-a-with-director-beth-levison-17-01-2022-09-55-56|title=Storm Lake: Screening and Q&A with Director Beth Levison|website=wamc.org|access-date=2022-07-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/faculty/levison-beth.html|title=Beth Levison|website=sarahlawrence.edu|access-date=2022-07-21}} Previously, she had a career in unscripted television.
Life and career
Levison was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and went to Middlebury College.{{Cite web|url=https://ruralintelligence.com/arts/biff-thinks-globally-presents-locally-3|title=BIFF THINKS GLOBALLY, PRESENTS LOCALLY|website=ruralintelligence.com|access-date=2022-07-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://sva.edu/faculty/beth-levison|title=BIFF THINKS GLOBALLY, PRESENTS LOCALLY|website=ruralintelligence.com|access-date=2022-07-21}}
Her most recently-completed producing effort, A Photographic Memory, won the 2025 Independent Spirits: Truer Than Fiction Award and was acquired for distribution by Kino Lorber.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2025/film/news/2025-independent-spirit-awards-2025-winners-list-1236316423/|title=Spirit Awards Winners List: ‘Anora’ Wins Big, Taking Home Best Feature, Lead Performance and Director|website=variety.com|access-date=2025-03-06}}{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/12/the-martha-mitchell-effect-netflix-documentary-directors-anne-alvergue-debra-mcclutchy-interview-news-1235199661/|title=Oscar-Contending Documentary ‘The Martha Mitchell Effect’ Redeems A Watergate Figure Victimized In A Gaslighting Campaign|website=deadline.com|access-date=2025-03-06}} Previous to that, she produced The Martha Mitchell Effect, about Watergate whistleblower and Republican cabinet wife Martha Mitchell, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, launched on Netflix, and was nominated for a 2023 Academy Award (Best Documentary Short category). Storm Lake, which she directed alongside DP Jerry Risius and also produced, premiered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2022, and was nominated for a Peabody Award and a 2022 News and Documentary Emmy Award.{{Cite web |date=13 April 2022 |title=Peabody Nominations Include 'Summer Of Soul', 'Reservation Dogs', 'Colin In Black & White', 'Dopesick', 'Hacks' |url=https://deadline.com/2022/04/2022-peabody-awards-nominations-list-1235001179/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=Deadline Hollywood}} Her other producing credits include Women in Blue (Independent Lens, 2021), News and Documentary Emmy-nominated Made in Boise (Independent Lens, 2020), News and Documentary Emmy-nominated Personal Statement (PBS, 2018), and 32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide (HBO, 2017).
Her executive producer credits include Land with No Rider, which premiered at the 2025 True/False Film Festival, the two-time British Independent Film Award winner Grand Theft Hamlet (2024) now streaming on MUBI, My Sweet Land (2024) and With Peter Bradley (Slamdance 2023).{{Cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/features/how-the-uk-first-time-directors-of-grand-theft-hamlet-made-a-film-within-a-game/5191854.article|title=How the UK first-time directors of ‘Grand Theft Hamlet’ made a film within a game|website=screendaily.com|access-date=2025-03-06}}
Levison is the founder of Hazel Pictures and the co-founder of the Documentary Producers Alliance. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, was producing faculty with the School of Visual Arts’ Social Documentary Film Program from 2014-2020, and currently teaches as guest faculty at Sarah Lawrence College.{{Cite web|url=https://www.app.oscars.org/newmembers2019/|title=GLOBAL MEMBERSHIP AT A GLANCE|website=app.oscars.org|access-date=2022-07-21}}
Selected filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
!Title ! Contribution ! Note |
|---|
| | 2025
| Land with No Rider | Executive producer | Documentary |
| | 2024
| Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? | Line producer | Documentary Series |
| | 2024
| After the Deluge | Executive producer | Short film |
| | 2024
| Executive producer | Documentary |
| | 2024
| Executive producer | Documentary |
| | 2024
| Producer | Documentary |
| | 2023
| With Peter Bradley | Consulting producer | Documentary |
| | 2022
| Producer | Documentary |
| | 2021
| Director and producer | Documentary |
| | 2021
| Women in Blue | Producer | Documentary |
| | 2021
| Charm Circle | Consulting producer | Documentary |
| | 2019
| Made in Boise | Producer | Documentary |
| | 2019
| The Boxers of Brule | Consulting producer | Documentary |
| | 2019
| Cooked: Survival by Zip Code | Consulting producer | Documentary |
| | 2018
| In the Land of Pomegranates | Consulting producer | Documentary |
| | 2018
| Personal Statement | Co-producer | Documentary |
| | 2017
| 32 Pills: My Sister's Suicide | Producer | Documentary |
| | 2015
| The Trials of Spring | Producer | Documentary |
| | 2012
| Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present | Consulting producer | Documentary |
| | 2011
| Lemon | Director and producer | Documentary |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Result !Award !Category !Work !Ref. |
|---|
| 2023
|style="background: #ffdddd"|Nominated | |
| rowspan="3"|2021
|style="background: #ddffdd"| Won |Audience Award |rowspan="3"|Storm Lake |
| style="background: #ddffdd"| Won
|Provincetown International Film Festival |NYWIFT Award |
| style="background: #ddffdd"| Won
|Best Documentary Feature |
| rowspan="2"|2012
|style="background: #ddffdd"| Won |Best Documentary Feature |rowspan="4"|Lemon | |
| style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated
|Best Documentary Feature |
| rowspan="3"|2011
|style="background: #ddffdd"| Won |International Documentary Film |
| style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated
|Special Jury Prize |
| style="background: #ddffdd"| Won
|rowspan="3"|Primetime Emmy Awards |rowspan="3"|Outstanding Children's Program |A Child's Garden of Poetry |rowspan="3"|{{Cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/beth-levison|title=Beth Levison|website=emmys.com|access-date=2022-07-21}} |
| 2006
|style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |rowspan="2"|Classical Baby |
| 2005
|style="background: #ddffdd"| Won |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1109901|Beth Levison}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levison, Beth}}
Category:American documentary film producers
Category:American documentary film directors