{{short description|American screenwriter and director}} {{Use mdy dates |date=November 2024}} {{Use American English |date=November 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Thunder Levin | image = Thunder Levin by Gage Skidmore.jpg | birth_name = Thunder Levin | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = New York University | spouse = | children = | occupation = {{hlist|Screenwriter|director}} | known_for = ''Sharknado'' }} '''Thunder Levin''' is an American screenwriter and director, known for writing the first four ''Sharknado'' television films.<ref name="Wiser">{{cite web|url=https://www.ocmoviereviews.com/movie-news/thunder-levin-interview/|title=Interview With Sharknado Writer Thunder Levin|last=Wiser|first=Curt|date=December 3, 2019|website=OC Movie Reviews}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sharknado-plot-holes_n_55aeb03ce4b0a9b94852d3b0|title=7 Glaring 'Sharknado' Plot Holes Are Finally Explained|last=Bradley|first=Bill|date=July 22, 2015|website=HuffPost}}</ref> Levin's work was largely responsible for the resurgence of sharksploitation films.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://podcastingthemsoftly.com/2016/11/20/thunder-levin-an-interview-by-kent-hill|title=Thunder Levin: An Interview by Kent Hill|last=Hill|first=Kent|date=November 20, 2016|website=Podcasting Them Softly}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Levin was born and raised in New York City. His father, Michael, was an award-winning journalist, while his mother, Glenis, was an immigrant from Liverpool, England.
He graduated from Hunter College High School, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film from New York University.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.btrcdn-beta.com/rithebard/2018/09/29/chatting-with-sherri-welcomes-producerdirectorwriter-thunder-levin|title=Chatting With Sherri Welcomes Producer/Director/Writer; Thunder Levin!|date=September 28, 2018|website=BlogTalkRadio|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref>
==Career== ===Early career=== Levin moved to Los Angeles at the age of 23. In the late 1980s, he worked as a still photographer on three films for the film producer Roger Corman.<ref name="Wiser" />
His feature-film directorial debut was the 2008 horror comedy ''Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood!'',<ref name=Dendle>{{cite book|last=Dendle|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Dendle|year=2012|title=The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|pages=133–134|isbn=978-0-7864-6163-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2013/07/sharknado-sharknado-sharknado-sharknado-sharknado|title=Can a "Sharknado" Really Happen?|last=Suebsaeng|first=Asawin|date=July 11, 2013|website=Mother Jones|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref> starring C. Thomas Howell.<ref name=Dendle /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2008/film/reviews/mutant-vampire-zombies-from-the-hood-1200508527/?fbclid=IwAR3YYTQEBIz0utf4fLGzY4qclLKIYG7_t9PuxCEULNxW1GmSdcys1co5g_g|title=Mutant Vampire Zombies From the Hood!|date=July 7, 2008|website=Variety|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref>
Levin subsequently wrote and directed multiple films for production company The Asylum,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenmayhem.com/thunder-levin-interview-sharknado-writer-talks-the-asylum-science-and-why-hes-never-made-a-mockbuster|title=Thunder Levin Interview: Sharknado Writer Talks The Asylum, Science and Why He's Never Made a Mockbuster|last=Salt|first=Paul|date=July 9, 2019|website=Screen Mayhem|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref> including the 2012 science-fiction action film ''American Warships'' and the 2013 science fiction film ''AE: Apocalypse Earth''.
===''Sharknado''=== {{Main|Sharknado (film series)}} In 2013, Levin wrote the made-for-television disaster film ''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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thesportsbank.net/entertainment/sharknado-writer-field-museum-scientist-gave-fascinating-insights-film|title=Sharknado Writer, Field Museum Scientist Gave Fascinating Insights into Film|last=Banks|first=Paul M.|date=August 6, 2017|website=The Bank|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref>
In 2014, Levin wrote a sequel, ''Sharknado 2: The Second One'', which had 3.9 million viewers.<ref name="CNN">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/29/entertainment/sharknado-last-sequel/index.html|title='Sharknado' set to end with No. 6|last=France|first=Lisa Respers|date=March 29, 2018|website=CNN}}</ref> 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 book, a one-shot comic book, a documentary, and a mockumentary.
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Title ! Year ! Role ! Notes |- | ''Zombie Tidal Wave'' | 2019 | story by | <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.syfy.com/zombietidalwave|title=Zombie Tidal Wave|website=SyFy}}</ref> |- | ''The Last Sharknado: It's About Time'' | 2018 | based on characters created by | also appeared as "Bar Patron"<ref name="CNN" /> |- |'' Megalodon'' | 2018 | story by | |- | ''Geo-Disaster'' | 2017 | director, written by | |- | ''Sharknado 5: Global Swarming'' | 2017 | based on characters created by | |- | ''Creature Features'' | 2017 | appeared as self | TV series |- | ''Mind Blown'' | 2016 | written by | |- | ''Sharknado: The 4th Awakens'' | 2016 | written by | |- | ''Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy'' | 2015 | appeared as self | documentary |- | ''Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!'' | 2015 | written by | also appeared as "Mr. Benchley from The Post" |- | ''Infolist Pre Comic-Con Bash'' | 2015 | appeared as self | documentary short |- | ''Weekends with Alex Witt'' | 2014 | appeared as self | TV series |- | ''Sharknado 2: The Second One'' | 2014 | written by | |- | ''Sharknado'' | 2013 | written by | |- | ''From the Sea'' | 2013 | screenplay by | |- | ''AE: Apocalypse Earth'' | 2013 | director, written by | |- | ''American Warships'' | 2012 | director, writer | |- | ''200 M.P.H.'' | 2011 | written by | |- | ''Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood!'' | 2008 | director, written by, executive producer | |- | ''Venice Beach Sketches'' | 2002 | editor | |- | ''Soulmates'' A.K.A. ''Evil Lives'' | 1992 | director | |- | ''Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II'' | 1989 | still photographer | |- | ''Stripped to Kill II: Live Girls'' | 1989 | still photographer | |- | ''Saturday the 14th Strikes Back'' | 1988 | still photographer | |- | ''Hydrosub: 2021'' | 1987 | off-line assistant / production associate / appeared as "Crewman" | video game |- | ''The Rescue of Pops Ghostly'' | 1987 | off-line assistant / production associate | video game |}
==See also== {{Portal|Biography|Film|Los Angeles|New York City|Television}} * List of American writers * List of film and television directors * List of New York University alumni * List of people from Los Angeles * List of people from New York City * List of science-fiction authors
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=nm0505736|name=Thunder Levin}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Thunder}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:20th-century births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American male artists Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American photographers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:21st-century American male artists Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American photographers Category:21st-century American screenwriters Category:American action film directors Category:American comedy film directors Category:American horror film directors Category:American male television writers Category:American television writers Category:American science fiction film directors Category:American science fiction writers Category:Hunter College High School alumni Category:Film directors from Los Angeles Category:Film directors from New York City Category:Movie stills photographers Category:New York University alumni Category:Photographers from Los Angeles Category:Photographers from New York City Category:Screenwriters from Los Angeles Category:Screenwriters from New York City