Jeff Levy-Hinte

Last updated
Jeff Levy-Hinte
Born
Santa Monica, California
EducationCalifornia State University, Northridge
University of Michigan
Occupation(s)Film producer, Woodworker

Jeff Levy-Hinte (a.k.a. Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte) is an American film producer. He serves as the President of Antidote International Films (also known as Antidote Films), Inc. based in New York City. He produced The Kids Are All Right , co-written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, which won the 68th Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, and Best Performance by an Actress for Annette Bening.

Contents

Biography

Jeffrey Levy-Hinte was born to a Jewish family [1] in Santa Monica, California. He graduated from California State University, Northridge and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. [2]

He produced Mysterious Skin and The Hawk Is Dying . His other productions include Chain , Thirteen, Laurel Canyon , Wendigo , American Saint, and Limon. [2] Prior to 2000, Levy-Hinte produced Lisa Cholodenko's film High Art and co-edited the Academy Award-winning documentary When We Were Kings . In 2003 Levy-Hinte was selected as one of Variety's "Producers to Watch". [3]

Additionally, he produced the eco-horror thriller The Last Winter (released by IFC Films) and the documentary Bomb It , an investigation of graffiti covering street art from all around the world. He also produced Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired , a documentary directed by Marina Zenovich. Winner of the Documentary Editing Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, the film was released domestically by HBO and THINK Films and internationally through The Weinstein Company and the BBC. He made several documentaries, including Soul Power (produced and directed by Levy-Hinte) and The Dungeon Masters , both of which premiered at the 2009 AFI Dallas International Film Festival, the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival and the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. [4] In 2013, he produced Fading Gigolo, starring Woody Allen and Sharon Stone. [5]

He serves as the Chair of the Board for the Independent Features Project in New York City. [2]

In 2003, Daily Variety reported Antidote's plans for a film adaptation of the JT LeRoy novel Sarah, to be directed by Steven Shainberg. [6] According to The New York Times , when Shainberg learned that LeRoy was a literary persona and that Laura Albert was the actual author of Sarah, he decided "to make a 'meta-film,' a triple-layered movie that would blend the novel with the lives of its real and purported authors in a project he took to calling 'Sarah Plus.'" [7] The Times also reported that this new project "required the rights to Laura Albert's story, rights that she in no uncertain terms refused to grant." [8] In June 2007, Antidote sued Albert for fraud, claiming that a contract signed with LeRoy to make a feature film of Sarah was null and void. [9] After a Manhattan jury found Albert liable in monetary damages for the tort of fraud because she had signed her nom de plume to the movie contract, The New York Times noted that Levy-Hinte said, "if Ms. Albert, who never made a fortune from her literary works, could not afford to pay the judgment, he might have to consider laying claim to the rights to her past and future books." [10] Levy-Hinte's chief lawyer insisted, "Neither Jeff nor I want to ruin Laura Albert. We just want her to behave with a little more integrity." [8] After an appeal, the damages awarded were reduced by settlement with Antidote in 2009, and Albert retained the rights to her books and her life story. [11]

Film productions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JT LeRoy</span> Literary persona adopted by writer Laura Albert

Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy, or simply JT LeRoy, is a literary persona created in the 1990s by American writer Laura Albert. LeRoy was presented as the author of three books of fiction, which were purportedly semi-autobiographical accounts by a teenage boy of his experiences of poverty, drug use, and emotional and sexual abuse in his childhood and adolescence from rural West Virginia to California. Albert wrote these works, and communicated with people in the persona of LeRoy via phone and e-mail. Following the release of the first novel Sarah, Albert's sibling-in-law Savannah Knoop began to make public appearances as the supposed writer. The works attracted considerable literary and celebrity attention, and the authenticity of LeRoy has been a subject of debate, even as details of the creation came to light in the 2000s.

<i>The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things</i> 2004 film by Asia Argento

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is a 2004 drama film co-written and directed by Asia Argento and starring Argento, Jimmy Bennett, Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse. The screenplay by Argento and Alessandro Magania is based on JT LeRoy's novel of the same name. The film received a limited release in North America on March 10, 2006, shortly after Laura Albert was revealed to be the actual author of the JT LeRoy books.

<i>High Art</i> 1998 film by Lisa Cholodenko

High Art is a 1998 independent romantic drama written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. It premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and saw a limited release in the United States on June 12, 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savannah Knoop</span> American filmmaker

Savannah Knoop is an American artist and filmmaker. From 1999 to 2005, Knoop performed the public role of literary hoax JT Leroy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Albert</span> American author

Laura Victoria Albert is an American author who invented the literary persona JT LeRoy, whom Albert described as an "avatar." She published various works of purportedly autobiographical fiction under the LeRoy name before being revealed as the true author. Albert has also used the aliases Emily Frasier and Speedie, and published other works as Laura Victoria and Gluttenberg. After the true authorship was revealed, Albert was sued for fraud for having signed a film-option contract as the fictitious LeRoy; a jury found against her. The damages to be paid to the film company were settled out of court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antidote Films</span>

Antidote Films, also known as Antidote International Films, Inc., is an independent film production company founded by producer Jeff Levy-Hinte based in the Hudson Square neighborhood of New York City. In 2008, Antidote completed several documentaries, including Soul Power and The Dungeon Masters, both of which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

Lisa Cholodenko is an American screenwriter and director. Cholodenko wrote and directed the films High Art (1998), Laurel Canyon (2002), and The Kids Are All Right (2010). She has also directed television, including the miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014) and Unbelievable (2019). She has been nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe and has won an Emmy and a DGA Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Fessenden</span> American actor and filmmaker

Laurence T. Fessenden is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits include No Telling, Habit (1997), Wendigo (2001), and The Last Winter, which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He has also directed the television feature Beneath (2013), an episode of the NBC TV series Fear Itself (2008) entitled "Skin and Bones", and a segment of the anthology horror-comedy film The ABCs of Death 2 (2014). He is the writer, with Graham Reznick, of the BAFTA Award-winning Sony PlayStation video game Until Dawn. He has acted in numerous films including Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Broken Flowers (2005), I Sell the Dead (2009), Jug Face (2012), We Are Still Here (2015), In a Valley of Violence (2016), Like Me (2017), and The Dead Don't Die (2019), Brooklyn 45 (2023), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

<i>Sarah</i> (LeRoy novel)

Sarah is a novel by Laura Albert, written under the name JT LeRoy, a persona that she has described as an "avatar," asserting that it enabled her to write things she could not have said as herself.

<i>The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things</i> (novel) 2001 short story collection by JT LeRoy (Laura Albert)

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is a novel-like book of ten related short stories written by Laura Albert under the name JT LeRoy, a persona that she has described as an "avatar," asserting that it enabled her to write things that she was incapable of expressing as Laura Albert. These stories predate the 2000 JT LeRoy novel Sarah but were published in 2001, after Sarah was released. The title is taken from Jeremiah 17:9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Klein (photographer)</span> Photographer and filmmaker (1928–2022)

William Klein was an American-born French photographer and filmmaker noted for his ironic approach to both media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in the context of photojournalism and fashion photography. He was ranked 25th on Professional Photographer's list of 100 most influential photographers.

<i>Wendigo</i> (film) 2001 American psychological horror film

Wendigo is a 2001 American independent psychological horror film written and directed by Larry Fessenden, starring Patricia Clarkson and Jake Weber. The film concerns a photographer, George, and his family who experience the presence of a dark force in a cabin during their wintry weekend at upstate New York while being stalked by a local hunter after accidentally hitting a deer on the road. Meanwhile, George's son, Miles, begins to have vivid hallucinations of the legendary Wendigo, who he believes to be responsible for the dark forces.

A gigolo is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship, often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call.

<i>Soul Power</i> (film) 2008 American film

Soul Power is a 2008 documentary film directed by Jeff Levy-Hinte about the Zaire 74 music festival that took place in Kinshasa, Zaire, in September 1974. Although it was planned to accompany the Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, the festival went ahead as scheduled when the fight was delayed until October after Foreman sustained an injury during training. The film was made from archival footage; other footage shot at the time focusing on the fight was edited to form the 1996 film When We Were Kings.

Zaire 74 was a three-day live music festival that took place on 22 to 24 September 1974 at the Stade du 20 Mai in Kinshasa, Zaire. The concert, conceived by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and record producer Stewart Levine, was meant to be a major promotional event for the heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, known as The Rumble in the Jungle. When an injury forced Foreman to postpone the fight by six weeks, the festival's intended audience of international tourists was all but eliminated and Levine had to decide whether or not to cancel the event. The decision was made to move forward, and 80,000 people attended.

Jeff Feuerzeig is an American film director and screenwriter best known for The Devil and Daniel Johnston, his profile of cult musician and outsider artist Daniel Johnston, for which he was awarded the Directing prize for Documentary at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and which was released theatrically in March 2006 by Sony Pictures Classics.

The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival (MVFF) is an annual film festival founded in 2001 and held in West Tisbury, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The festival takes place in March. The MVFF also produces a summer film series in July and August, and special events at other times of the year. Annually, the festival screens more than 35 films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Kelly (director)</span> American film director, screenwriter and editor

Justin Kelly is an American film director, screenwriter and film editor. He came to prominence as director and writer of Sundance Film Festival 2015 select I Am Michael, starring James Franco and Zachary Quinto. He then wrote and directed King Cobra, which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival starring Christian Slater and James Franco, followed by Sony Pictures 2018 release Welcome the Stranger starring Riley Keough and Caleb Landry Jones, and most recently JT LeRoy (2018) starring Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern.

<i>JT LeRoy</i> (film) 2018 film

JT LeRoy is a 2018 biographical drama film directed by Justin Kelly based on the memoir Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy by Savannah Knoop. It stars Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Diane Kruger, James Jagger, Dave Brown, Jim Sturgess and Courtney Love.

Author: The JT LeRoy Story is a 2016 American documentary film about American writer Laura Albert and her literary persona JT LeRoy. It examines the critical acclaim given the JT LeRoy books and their international popularity, and the subsequent scandal when it was revealed that LeRoy did not exist and Albert had written the books. Jeff Feuerzeig, the film's writer/director, told Kevin Lally of Film Journal International, “I thought it was the wildest story about story I had ever heard,” and noted, “one voice glaringly missing from all these accounts [was] the voice of the author of the fiction on and off the page, Laura Albert. She had held her story back, and I said: Wow! That’s the voice I would like to hear.”

References

  1. ↑ Bloom, Nate (February 18, 2011). "Jewish Stars 2/18". Cleveland Jewish News . Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Director's Biography". charlottethefilm.com. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Rooney, David (May 2003). "10 Producers to Watch". Variety. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14.
  4. ↑ DOC SHOT Q&A: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Director/Producer: 'Soul Power' by Tamara Krinsky. documentary.org September 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2011. Archive here.
  5. ↑ "Jeffrey Levy-Hinte: Filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15.
  6. ↑ Dunkley, Cathy (September 5, 2003). "Antidote taps Louiso, Shainberg". Daily Variety. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  7. ↑ Feuer, Alan (June 22, 2007). "In Writer's Trial, a Conflict Over Roles of Art and Money". New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-01.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. 1 2 Feuer, Alan (August 1, 1007). "Judge Orders Author to Pay Film Company $350,000 in Legal Fees". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  9. ↑ Feuer, Alan (June 20, 1007). "Writer Testifies About Source of Nom de Plume". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  10. ↑ Feuer, Alan (June 23, 2007). "Jury Finds JT LeRoy Was Fraud". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  11. ↑ Hogan, Ron. "Laura Albert Settles Film Company's 'Fraud' Suit". mediabistro.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.