Don Levy

Brainstormer, Concerned citizen, Connector, Consultant, Educator/Teacher, Explorer, Idea generator, Marketer, Parent, Startup

Don Levy has been at the forefront of the entertainment industry’s digital transformation, developing “the intersection of entertainment and technology” throughout his career and during a remarkable 17 year run at Sony Pictures Entertainment (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Digital). During his tenure at SPE, he was a key member of Sony Pictures Digital’s senior executive team, involved in the management, marketing, communications, public relations, organizational development and digital policy functions of his division and the company. He was instrumental in the growth of SPE’s visual effects, animation, post-production and digital entertainment businesses. Levy originally joined Sony Pictures as the studio’s awards campaign consultant where his efforts resulted in a Best Picture nomination for “Sense and Sensibility” and the Academy Award for its screenplay adaptation by Emma Thompson. At Sony Pictures Imageworks and for Sony Pictures Animation, he helped earn more than a dozen Oscar™ nominations and Academy Awards for Best Animated Short (The ChubbChubbs) and Best Visual Effects (Spider-Man 2). Don is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, serving on its feature animation nominating committee and recently chaired a working group for the Science and Technology Council. He also is a member of The Television Academy’s Interactive Peer Group, The Visual Effects Society, ASIFA Hollywood, the International Photographers Guild and METAL, the Media, Entertainment and Technology Alliance. Levy is a frequent speaker on the subjects of innovation, digital creativity and visual effects. His 2012 talk on the principles and evolution of visual effects at the TED Conference in Long Beach, CA was posted on TED.com in January 2013. http://bit.ly/YcdWUQ. Since 2013, he has been organizing a 3-hour seminar on visual communication at the FMX Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. Don also is active in education issues, from public school funding to the future of education, and the relationship between art, science and invention. He moderates and/or speaks at various conferences around the world. He is a longtime attendee of the TED Conference and produces the independently organized TEDxConejo, which he produces with the Conejo Valley (California) Unified School District and sells out annually. Levy is on the faculty of Boston University’s L.A. Program, where he teaches Entertainment Marketing a graduate course in Multiplatform Entertainment Marketing. . He holds a visiting scholar post at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, exploring collaborative production models, and he is a consultant to USC’s Entertainment Technology Center. He is an advisor to Cosmic Forces, a content start-up specializing in animation and mobile applications; Smartoonz, an animation production company; Quickbreak, a new platform for branded short-form entertainment; as well as several other early-stage and emerging start-ups. In 2012, Don created Smith Brook Farm, a creative consultancy to help thought leaders and businesses grow. Levy studied dramatic literature, theater history and cinema at NYU and graduated from the University of Denver, with a BA in Mass Communications. He also has certificates from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA, where he studied marketing strategy in the information age, and the UCLA Technical Management Program. He completed a certificate program in Fitness Training, also at UCLA, and is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Personal Fitness Trainer.

Human potential. I believe in the the potential that every individual has within themselves to pursue their interests, realize their dreams and make a difference.

Animation, education, Leadership, Marketing + Communications, mentoring, co-worker therapist, Public Relations, Visual Effects Production, Writer/Editor

TED Opens eyes and senses...mine and others...a remarkable community of thinkers and doers.

narration and juggling