Barry Levinson

In his two-hour-and-fifteen-minute interview, Barry Levinson discusses growing up in Baltimore and attending American University, where he first became interested in pursuing a career in radio or television. He describes moving to Los Angeles, meeting Craig T. Nelson in an acting class, and how he and Nelson became writing partners, working on Lohman and Barkley and The Tim Conway Show. He tells stories of writing for The Carol Burnett Show, of working on Mel Brooks movies, and how Brooks encouraged him to write his film Diner. For Diner, he describes writing and directing the movie, the process of filming it, the use of improvisation, and how the movie was received. He goes on to describe working on his other successful movies including Rain Man and Good Morning, Vietnam. He then tells stories of his work in television, including how he came to executive produce Homicide: Life on the Street and Oz and working on HBO movies including You Don’t Know Jack and Phil Spector. He concludes by discussing the then-current state of the film and television industries, giving advice to aspiring writers, sharing what he loves about directing, and career highlights and regrets. Jenni Matz conducted the interview on September 20, 2016 in New York, NY.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

Barry Levinson on the influence that seeing "Marty" on Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse as a kid had on him as a director and writer - the importance of ordinary moments that show character

02:54

Barry Levinson on the production schedule on The Carol Burnett Show and the high bar that Carol Burnett set for the entire cast

02:33

Barry Levinson on pitching Oz at HBO to executive Chris Albrecht and what made the show different from previous prison dramas

02:40

Barry Levinson on how he came to be the executive producer of Homicide: Life on the Street

04:34

Barry Levinson on the genre of "Diner": "it is a drama and the reason that it's humorous is because that's the way we react at times"

01:57

Barry Levinson on the role of television in our lives, the danger of contemporary people's comfort in front of the camera, and the way in which television creates disillusionment

04:24

Barry Levinson on writing for The Carol Burnett Show

02:02

Barry Levinson on the cast of The Carol Burnett Show memorizing the script rather than reading off of cue cards

01:28

Barry Levinson on the writing process on The Carol Burnett Show

00:46

Barry Levinson on the production schedule on The Carol Burnett Show and the high bar that Carol Burnett set for the entire cast

02:34

Barry Levinson on winning two Emmys for his work on The Carol Burnett Show

00:28

Barry Levinson on how he came to be the executive producer of Homicide: Life on the Street

04:34

Barry Levinson on directing the pilot of Homicide: Life on the Street

02:12

Barry Levinson on why he wanted to shoot Homicide: Life on the Street in Baltimore

00:46

Barry Levinson on the casting of Homicide: Life on the Street

01:04

Barry Levinson on the naturalistic manner of shooting Homicide: Life on the Street and his input into the editing style of the show

01:52

Barry Levinson on NBC's reaction to Homicide: Life on the Street and the one episode the network objected to

02:37

Barry Levinson on Richard Belzer's Homicide: Life on the Street character, "John Munch," being a crossover character with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

01:19

Barry Levinson on Homicide: Life on the Street's web series: "Second Shift"

00:25

Barry Levinson on working with Tom Fontana on Homicide: Life on the Street

01:05

Barry Levinson on the end of Homicide: Life on the Street and the show's legacy

01:18

Barry Levinson on pitching Oz at HBO to executive Chris Albrecht and what made the show different from previous prison dramas

02:40

Barry Levinson on the opening sequence of Oz, which featured show creator Tom Fontana getting a real tattoo of the title on his arm

01:03

Barry Levinson on his involvement on Oz as executive producer

01:48

Barry Levinson on HBO's input on Oz and the show's audience

00:57

Barry Levinson on the end of Oz and the show's legacy

01:28

Barry Levinson on what interested him in the show, Shades of Blue, which he executive produces

02:20

Barry Levinson on working with Jennifer Lopez on Shades of Blue

00:54

Barry Levinson on the best advice he's received about the business

03:34

Barry Levinson on working with his son on HBO's The Wizard of Lies and advice he gave him

03:27

Barry Levinson on radio and television classes he took in college, and a training program in television he took part in

01:53

Barry Levinson on his professor at American University who opened his eyes to opportunities in the entertainment industry

02:04

Barry Levinson on the political climate in 2016 and how it related to the media climate of the time

01:37

Barry Levinson on directing HBO's You Don't Know Jack and the effect of the movie on the dialogue surrounding assisted suicide

01:30

Barry Levinson on Homicide: Life on the Street's web series: "Second Shift"

00:25

Barry Levinson on new opportunities in television and why talented actors are flocking to TV over movies

01:41

Barry Levinson on radio and television classes he took in college, and a training program in television he took part in

01:53

Barry Levinson on signing up for an acting class when he first moved to Los Angeles

05:23

Barry Levinson on writing and performing with Craig T. Nelson on Lohman and Barkley

04:03

Barry Levinson on directing "Rain Man" and winning an Academy Award for it

10:42

Barry Levinson on his professor at American University who opened his eyes to opportunities in the entertainment industry

02:04

Barry Levinson on the "Diner" television pilot, which he wrote and directed

01:01

Barry Levinson on Homicide: Life on the Street's web series: "Second Shift"

00:25

Barry Levinson on the political climate in 2016 and how it related to the media climate of the time

01:37

Barry Levinson on the role of television in our lives, the danger of contemporary people's comfort in front of the camera, and the way in which television creates disillusionment

04:24

Barry Levinson on the experience of working with HBO on TV movies and how they make films that won't get made for theatrical release

05:07

Barry Levinson on the importance of characters in storytelling, and how there is now more room for strong, interesting characters in television than in movies

03:36

Barry Levinson on new opportunities in television and why talented actors are flocking to TV over movies

01:41

Barry Levinson on the best advice he's received about the business

03:34

Barry Levinson on working with his son on HBO's The Wizard of Lies and advice he gave him

03:27

Barry Levinson on directing his movie "Diner"

04:46

Barry Levinson on the audio in his movie "Diner," and how his desire to have the conversations sound real and messy led to him miking the actors who were off-camera

04:09

Barry Levinson on what he learned about scouting locations from his experience directing his movie "Diner"

02:31

Barry Levinson on how he directs actors and the atmosphere he hopes to create on a movie: "controlled freedom"

00:56

Barry Levinson on moments that were improvised in his movie "Diner"

01:42

Barry Levinson on the critical, studio, and audience response to "Diner," and how the movie ended up never being released nationally

09:34

Barry Levinson on directing "Rain Man"

07:33

Barry Levinson on using improvisation in his films: "you have to know what you want to get to"

00:59

Barry Levinson on directing Robin Williams in "Good Morning, Vietnam"

04:44

Barry Levinson in directing the pilot of Homicide: Life on the Street

02:12

Barry Levinson on films he directed in the 1990s and how they predicted certain cultural and political movements that happened after

02:49

Barry Levinson on how he approaches directing for television

01:36

Barry Levinson on directing actors

02:15

Barry Levinson on what he enjoys about directing and the importance of ordinary moments in movies and television shows that reveal character

03:37

Barry Levinson on what he liked about writing sketch comedy

01:50

Barry Levinson on his writing process

03:22

Barry Levinson on writing for The Tim Conway Show with Craig T. Nelson

01:42

Barry Levinson on writing for The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine

04:18

Barry Levinson on Homicide: Life on the Street

17:18

Barry Levinson on Oz

08:00

Barry Levinson on directing the HBO movie You Don't Know Jack

07:17

Barry Levinson on executive producing the HBO movie Phil Spector

01:12

Barry Levinson on the experience of working with HBO on TV movies

05:07

Barry Levinson on writing and performing with Craig T. Nelson on Lohman and Barkley

03:54

Barry Levinson on writing for The Tim Conway Show with Craig T. Nelson and Rudy De Luca

01:42

Barry Levinson on executive producing the HBO movie, Phil Spector, written and directed by David Mamet

01:12

Barry Levinson on his experiences with the Writers Guild and his dissatisfaction with how David Mamet was credited on "Wag the Dog"

02:41

Barry Levinson on leaving The Carol Burnett Show to work with Mel Brooks on his films "Silent Movie" and "High Anxiety"

03:35

Barry Levinson on how Mel Brooks encouraged him to write a movie about "the diner guys" Levinson often told him about, and how that led to him writing his movie, "Diner"

02:47

Barry Levinson on casting Andre Braugher and Richard Belzer on Homicide: Life on the Street

01:04

Barry Levinson on Richard Belzer's Homicide: Life on the Street character, "John Munch," being a crossover character with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

01:19

Barry Levinson on writing for The Tim Conway Show with Craig T. Nelson and Rudy De Luca

01:42

Barry Levinson on writing for The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine with Rudy De Luca, and working with the head writer on the show, Larry Gelbart

02:00

Barry Levinson on how Ron Clark asked he and Rudy De Luca to work on a movie with Mel Brooks, which ended up being "Silent Movie"

01:50

Barry Levinson on working with Tom Fontana on Homicide: Life on the Street

01:05

Barry Levinson on the opening sequence of Oz, which featured show creator Tom Fontana getting a real tattoo of the title on his arm

01:02