WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to the Deep Dive. This is where we give 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.799 you that ultimate knowledge shortcut. We take, 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:07.660 well, stacks of sources, articles, interviews, 00:00:07.860 --> 00:00:10.980 deep research, and we boil down decades of work 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:13.619 into just the essential stuff you need. That's 00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:15.679 the mission. Exactly. So you can be, you know, 00:00:15.699 --> 00:00:17.679 really well informed without spending weeks reading. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.019 Today, we're diving deep into the career of filmmaker 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:24.660 Barry Levinson, an American great. He really 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:28.440 is. And he's fascinating because, as you said, 00:00:28.460 --> 00:00:32.350 his resume. It just doesn't fit into one neat 00:00:32.350 --> 00:00:35.710 box. He's not just a director. He's a screenwriter, 00:00:35.850 --> 00:00:38.270 a successful one, a really prolific producer, 00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:40.710 and something we'll definitely get into, a key 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:43.770 figure in shaping modern TV drama. Okay, so our 00:00:43.770 --> 00:00:45.850 goal today. We want to distill the key phases 00:00:45.850 --> 00:00:48.450 of his work, figure out what holds it all together 00:00:48.450 --> 00:00:50.890 because it seems so varied, and maybe find some 00:00:50.890 --> 00:00:52.909 surprising facts along the way. There are definitely 00:00:52.909 --> 00:00:54.850 a few. All right, let's unpack that a bit. We're 00:00:54.850 --> 00:00:56.530 talking about the guy who directed Rain Man. 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:59.920 Academy Award Best Director 1988. I mean, that 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.659 film was massive everywhere. A global phenomenon. 00:01:02.740 --> 00:01:05.219 Absolutely. But then you look just six years 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:08.879 earlier and he's got deep roots in writing so 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:12.280 deep. He was an uncredited co -writer on Tootsie. 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:14.819 Yeah. Dustin Hoffman's huge hit, which is just 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:18.980 wild. That range right there from basically script 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:22.219 doctoring a major comedy to directing this epic 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:25.159 award winning drama. That's the Levinson touch, 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:28.019 really, that duality. He can do the intensely 00:01:28.019 --> 00:01:30.439 personal, the character -driven stuff, but also 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:35.210 tackle these huge subjects, war, crime. Even 00:01:35.210 --> 00:01:37.209 in the bigger films, it often comes down to the 00:01:37.209 --> 00:01:39.430 dialogue, doesn't it? Those small moments between 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:41.030 characters. Exactly. So we're going to trace 00:01:41.030 --> 00:01:42.930 that. We'll start with his Baltimore roots, where 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:45.269 Diner came from, then move through the big hits, 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:47.730 like you mentioned Rain Man, but also Good Morning 00:01:47.730 --> 00:01:50.670 Vietnam. Zeitgeist films. Totally. Yeah. And 00:01:50.670 --> 00:01:52.250 then we'll look at him as a satirist, especially 00:01:52.250 --> 00:01:54.269 with Wag the Dog. And you mentioned TV. We absolutely 00:01:54.269 --> 00:01:56.650 have to cover that. His production company, the 00:01:56.650 --> 00:01:59.530 shows he launched. It's a huge part of the story. 00:01:59.689 --> 00:02:02.030 Absolutely fundamental. Change the game. So for 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:04.340 you listening, this is your shortcut. Your way 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.599 to really get a handle on a filmmaker who shaped 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:09.659 so much of American cinema and TV for decades. 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:12.539 Okay, let's start right at the beginning. The 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:16.240 origin story. Because Levinson's own life feels 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:19.240 pretty cinematic sometimes. Barry Lee Levinson, 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:23.240 born April 6, 1942. Baltimore, born and bred. 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:26.199 And Baltimore. It's not just a backdrop for him, 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:29.840 it's everything. It's the cultural DNA, the emotional 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.460 core of so much of his work. It's his anchor. 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:34.889 Totally. Yeah. He grew up in the Forest Park 00:02:34.889 --> 00:02:37.750 neighborhood. His dad, Irvin, was in the furniture 00:02:37.750 --> 00:02:39.330 and appliance business. Yeah. You know, tough 00:02:39.330 --> 00:02:42.069 sales job. His mom was Violet, or V. And the 00:02:42.069 --> 00:02:44.449 family background. Russian -Jewish descent. And 00:02:44.449 --> 00:02:47.030 that specific experience, growing up Jewish in 00:02:47.030 --> 00:02:49.530 mid -century Baltimore, the immigrant story, 00:02:49.849 --> 00:02:51.930 a simulation that really feeds into his most 00:02:51.930 --> 00:02:54.669 personal films, like Avalon. What gets me is 00:02:54.669 --> 00:02:56.949 you often see these hugely successful creative 00:02:56.949 --> 00:02:59.409 people, and they have this very driven academic 00:02:59.409 --> 00:03:02.189 background. Levinson. Not so much. Not at all. 00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:04.050 The sources are really clear on this. He was, 00:03:04.129 --> 00:03:07.169 let's just say, not a star student. You're being 00:03:07.169 --> 00:03:09.949 kind. The sources say terrible student. Okay, 00:03:10.009 --> 00:03:13.530 yeah. Terrible. Maybe even abysmal in his own 00:03:13.530 --> 00:03:15.810 telling. He graduated Forest Park Senior High 00:03:15.810 --> 00:03:19.449 in 1960. He tried broadcast journalism, bounced 00:03:19.449 --> 00:03:21.389 between Baltimore Junior College and American 00:03:21.389 --> 00:03:24.090 University down at D .C. And there's that famous 00:03:24.090 --> 00:03:26.050 statistic. The one that says it all. All right. 00:03:26.169 --> 00:03:30.050 At one point, he ranked 460th. In a class of 00:03:30.050 --> 00:03:34.449 460. Dead last. Literally. Dead last. So it wasn't 00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:37.150 about smarts, clearly. It seems like he just 00:03:37.150 --> 00:03:39.550 didn't connect with that formal, structured learning 00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:41.610 environment. He was more interested in the real 00:03:41.610 --> 00:03:43.990 world. The stuff happening around him. I think 00:03:43.990 --> 00:03:46.789 so. The way people talked. The local scene. The 00:03:46.789 --> 00:03:50.169 hangouts. That was his real education. College 00:03:50.169 --> 00:03:52.449 structure just wasn't clicking. He dropped out 00:03:52.449 --> 00:03:55.129 of junior college after, like, five months. Then 00:03:55.129 --> 00:03:57.449 what? Then comes the hustle phase. He tried selling 00:03:57.449 --> 00:03:59.900 used cars. That's a classic. Gotta make a buck. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.520 Right. He even thought about law school for a 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:05.340 minute. Imagine being a tax lawyer, making bank. 00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:07.780 That apparently didn't go well either. Then stick. 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:10.219 Nope. It wasn't until he went back to journalism, 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:13.060 ended up at American University, that something 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:15.180 seemed to resonate a bit more. But yeah, his 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:18.139 early path was all about trying things, pivoting, 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:20.819 finding his way outside the usual channels. And 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:23.139 that hustle eventually takes him to Los Angeles, 00:04:23.339 --> 00:04:25.579 which is the classic move, right? Go West, young 00:04:25.579 --> 00:04:29.399 man. Yep. Moved out there to act, to write, started 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:31.839 doing comedy routines. Pretty standard Hollywood 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:34.370 dream story so far. But this is where we hit 00:04:34.370 --> 00:04:36.470 that really wild piece of trivia, the roommate 00:04:36.470 --> 00:04:39.810 story. Oh, yeah. This is where it gets kind of 00:04:39.810 --> 00:04:41.550 mind -blowing. It really shows you what a strange 00:04:41.550 --> 00:04:44.990 melting pot L .A. could be back then. Levinson, 00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:47.750 the guy who'd go on to make these heartfelt Baltimore 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:50.819 movies, shared an apartment with... George Jung. 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.540 George Jung. The George Jung from the movie Below. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:55.759 The very same. The guy who became, you know, 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:58.980 a massive cocaine smuggler in the 70s and 80s. 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:01.579 A key player for the Medellin cartel for a while. 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:04.199 So Barry Levinson, future Oscar winner, is roommates 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:07.240 with George Jung, future international drug kingpin. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:10.459 That's hard to picture. Isn't it? Just imagine 00:05:10.459 --> 00:05:12.970 the conversations in that apartment. It says 00:05:12.970 --> 00:05:15.990 so much about who was drawn to L .A. back then. 00:05:16.069 --> 00:05:18.430 All kinds of ambitions, all kinds of characters, 00:05:18.569 --> 00:05:22.769 some more legitimate than others. You have to 00:05:22.769 --> 00:05:24.870 think that being around someone like Young, even 00:05:24.870 --> 00:05:26.970 early on, must have given him some perspective 00:05:26.970 --> 00:05:30.980 on, well... Unorthodox character. Had to. Fed 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:33.339 the writer's eye, no doubt. But professionally, 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:37.259 Levinson stuck to the slightly more legal path 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:39.699 of comedy writing. Before he directed, he really 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:41.420 made his name writing for television. Right, 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:43.120 the variety show circuit. That was his training 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:45.060 ground. Exactly. He wrote for the Marty Feldman 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:47.339 Comedy Machine, the Lohman and Barclay Show. 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:50.899 And importantly, shows like The Tim Conway Show 00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:53.339 and The Legendary Carol Burnett Show. That's 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:55.699 serious comedy boot camp. Oh, absolutely. Writing 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:58.060 sketch comedy forces you to be incredibly economical. 00:05:58.420 --> 00:06:01.620 You need jokes, character, setup, payoff, boom, 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.819 boom, boom, in minutes. That training, that discipline, 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:06.899 you can see it in his early screenplays. They're 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:10.300 tight. The dialogue snaps. And that TV work opened 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:12.579 doors for film writing. Definitely. It led straight 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.149 to collaborating with Mel Brooks. That's a huge 00:06:15.149 --> 00:06:18.310 step. He co -wrote Silent Movie in 76 and High 00:06:18.310 --> 00:06:21.709 Anxiety in 77. And didn't he pop up in High Anxiety? 00:06:21.930 --> 00:06:24.550 He did. Little cameo as a billboy. Yeah. Though 00:06:24.550 --> 00:06:26.209 he was right in the thick of the Brooks comedy 00:06:26.209 --> 00:06:29.269 machine, learning about satire, physical comedy, 00:06:29.370 --> 00:06:31.610 the whole deal. That comedy background gave him 00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:34.050 credibility, but then he pivoted again, showing 00:06:34.050 --> 00:06:36.250 he could handle drama. Right. Proved he could 00:06:36.250 --> 00:06:39.110 write, period. Which let him tackle something 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:44.509 much heavier. And justice for all. The 1979 courtroom 00:06:44.509 --> 00:06:47.329 drama with Al Pacino. He co -wrote that script 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:49.269 with Valerie Curtin. And got an Oscar nomination 00:06:49.269 --> 00:06:51.529 for it. Yep. Best original screenplay nomination. 00:06:52.110 --> 00:06:55.290 So now he's shown range, comedy, intense drama, 00:06:55.589 --> 00:06:58.230 social commentary. Which leads us back to Tootsie, 00:06:58.329 --> 00:07:01.569 the uncredited work. Exactly. This is that high 00:07:01.569 --> 00:07:03.810 -level script doctoring. The kind of work you 00:07:03.810 --> 00:07:05.709 only get called in for if you're really trusted. 00:07:05.769 --> 00:07:08.149 Being an uncredited writer on a massive hit like 00:07:08.149 --> 00:07:10.810 Tootsie in 82. It means the biggest players like 00:07:10.810 --> 00:07:13.069 Guston Hoffman, the studios, they knew Levinson 00:07:13.069 --> 00:07:15.110 could fix things, could polish a script, make 00:07:15.110 --> 00:07:18.189 it work. It cemented his reputation. He was a 00:07:18.189 --> 00:07:20.310 serious creative force even before he stepped 00:07:20.310 --> 00:07:22.589 behind the camera himself. So all that writing, 00:07:22.649 --> 00:07:26.569 all that experience culminates in 1982. He finally 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:29.430 gets his shot to direct. And the film is Diner. 00:07:29.709 --> 00:07:32.410 And what a debut. Diner wasn't just his first 00:07:32.410 --> 00:07:34.750 film. It was like his mission statement. He wrote 00:07:34.750 --> 00:07:36.970 it, too. Wrote it himself. Got another Oscar 00:07:36.970 --> 00:07:39.370 nomination for that screenplay. Best original. 00:07:39.470 --> 00:07:42.470 And right away, it established him as this auteur 00:07:42.470 --> 00:07:46.329 of place of Baltimore. It's basically just guys 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:48.910 talking in a diner. Right. But it feels so much 00:07:48.910 --> 00:07:51.209 bigger. It is. It's just conversations. Yeah. 00:07:51.310 --> 00:07:54.350 These young guys in 1959 Baltimore hanging out, 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:57.509 talking about girls, music, football, commitment, 00:07:57.689 --> 00:08:00.910 wrestling with growing up. Yeah. But the dialogue 00:08:00.910 --> 00:08:04.079 feels so real. So specific. It really captured 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.139 something authentic about male friendship, that 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:08.720 sort of rambling, funny, sometimes kind of desperate 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:11.439 talk. People call it one of the first real hangout 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:14.300 movies. Totally. And crucially, Diner kicked 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:17.120 off what became known as his Baltimore Tetralogy, 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:19.899 four films exploring his hometown. Okay, so this 00:08:19.899 --> 00:08:22.500 Tetralogy, understanding this is key to understanding 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:25.240 his core artistic voice, you're saying? I think 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:27.720 so. It's where he digs deepest into his own experience. 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:30.639 Diner was the first looking at that transition 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:33.450 to adulthood. Then came the second one, Tin Men. 00:08:33.590 --> 00:08:36.070 Tin Men, yeah, 1987. Set a bit later in the early 00:08:36.070 --> 00:08:39.730 60s. Focuses on these rival aluminum siding salesmen. 00:08:40.289 --> 00:08:42.610 Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito. Great chemistry. 00:08:42.909 --> 00:08:45.409 What was that one exploring? Petty rivalry, sure. 00:08:45.950 --> 00:08:48.370 But also consumer culture starting to boom, the 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:50.870 changing face of work, blue collar ambition. 00:08:51.269 --> 00:08:54.389 Again, very specific Baltimore texture. OK, that's 00:08:54.389 --> 00:08:57.110 two. What's the third? Third is Avalon from 1990. 00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:00.470 And this one is maybe his most emotional, most 00:09:00.470 --> 00:09:02.450 sweeping of the four. This is the immigrant family 00:09:02.450 --> 00:09:05.230 story. Exactly. Tracks this Jewish family from 00:09:05.230 --> 00:09:07.750 Eastern Europe settling in Baltimore. And you 00:09:07.750 --> 00:09:10.139 see the generations drift apart. traditions fading 00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:12.720 as America changes them. It's incredibly nostalgic. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.960 And it had Elijah Wood, right, really young. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.539 Yeah, key early role for him. It's a beautiful 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:19.860 film. And the fourth one. The fourth came quite 00:09:19.860 --> 00:09:22.740 a bit later, Liberty Heights in 1999. That one 00:09:22.740 --> 00:09:25.019 loops back to the 50s, exploring the racial and 00:09:25.019 --> 00:09:26.960 religious tensions in Baltimore during that era. 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:29.840 So across all four, even though the stories are 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.139 different, the common threads are. Baltimore. 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:36.019 Baltimore. Yes. But also that intense focus on 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:39.600 dialogue, how people actually talk, the power 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.320 of memory, of nostalgia. and how people are shaped 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:46.440 by their very specific time and place. That personal, 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.580 regional focus was his foundation. But the success 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:52.179 he had, especially with Diner, allowed him to 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:54.779 start working on a much bigger scale in the 80s. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:57.360 Oh, yeah. This is when he really ascends, leads 00:09:57.360 --> 00:09:59.500 right to his biggest critical and commercial 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:03.620 success. Which has to be Rain Man, 1988. No question. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.409 Rain Man. Dustin Hoffman again as Raymond, the 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:10.110 autistic savant. Tom Cruise as Charlie, the selfish 00:10:10.110 --> 00:10:12.769 brother. Road trip movie sibling drama. Yeah. 00:10:12.889 --> 00:10:14.529 It was a tough project to get made. Levinson 00:10:14.529 --> 00:10:16.590 wasn't the first director attached, was he? No. 00:10:16.690 --> 00:10:18.690 He came in after others had left. He stabilized 00:10:18.690 --> 00:10:20.470 it, found the heart of it. And the result, I 00:10:20.470 --> 00:10:22.129 mean, it was massive. It wasn't just a hit movie. 00:10:22.330 --> 00:10:24.570 It genuinely changed the public conversation 00:10:24.570 --> 00:10:26.929 about autism. Brought it right into the mainstream. 00:10:27.090 --> 00:10:30.509 In a huge, empathetic way. Yeah. And the awards 00:10:30.509 --> 00:10:34.179 followed. Four Oscars, Best Picture, and Best 00:10:34.179 --> 00:10:36.679 Director for Levinson himself. That really put 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:38.320 him on the map globally. And he couldn't resist 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.039 the little cameo, right? Popped in as a doctor 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:42.720 for a second. Just shows his comfort level, even 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.039 on a huge production like that. And its impact 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.639 wasn't just domestic. It won the Golden Bear 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:50.220 at the Berlin Film Festival. Top prize there. 00:10:50.419 --> 00:10:53.080 Huge international validation. This period also 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:56.460 shows his skill with major stars. Managing big 00:10:56.460 --> 00:10:58.899 talents, often intense ones. Definitely. Look 00:10:58.899 --> 00:11:01.120 at his work with Robert Redford. Levinson directed 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:03.320 Redford and the Natural back in 84, that iconic 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.940 baseball movie. Beautiful film. Mythic almost. 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:09.620 Yeah. And then that respect was clearly mutual 00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:12.700 because a decade later, Redford directed Quiz 00:11:12.700 --> 00:11:16.159 Show. And who did he cast as the TV host? Dave 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.559 Garroway. Levinson. Barry Levinson, the actor. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.139 That kind of role reversal, directing someone 00:11:21.139 --> 00:11:23.159 and being directed by them, that's pretty rare. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.059 Speaks volumes about collaboration. And then 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:27.919 there's the Robin Williams connection. Right. 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:32.019 Good morning. Vietnam in 1987, another massive 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:34.360 hit, another defining role for its star. That 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:35.899 must have been a challenge directing Williams 00:11:35.899 --> 00:11:39.779 in that role. Adrian Cronauer, so much improvisation. 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:41.720 Oh, absolutely. You have to create a structure 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.759 that lets Williams fly, but still tells the story, 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:47.039 deals with the seriousness of the Vietnam setting. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:49.279 It's a real balancing act. But they pulled it 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.080 off. The film was huge. Huge. And they clearly 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:53.799 clicked because they worked together again on 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:57.779 Toys in 92, which was, well. Toys was ambitious. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.580 A bit strange. A bit strange, yeah. Dark fantasy. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.200 Didn't quite land the same way. And then they 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:05.539 did Man of the Year in 2006, the political comedy. 00:12:06.100 --> 00:12:08.340 But that initial collaboration on Good Morning 00:12:08.340 --> 00:12:11.200 Vietnam showed Levinson could handle these absolute 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.460 powerhouses and get incredible performances. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.080 Hashtag tech tech five feet. Genre mastery, satire, 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:19.990 and production power. Okay, so as we hit the 00:12:19.990 --> 00:12:22.490 1990s, Levinson really shifts gears again. He 00:12:22.490 --> 00:12:24.549 proves he's not just the Baltimore guy anymore. 00:12:24.769 --> 00:12:28.429 He becomes this master of genre. Yeah, the versatility 00:12:28.429 --> 00:12:30.889 is pretty stunning. He can do historical epics, 00:12:30.889 --> 00:12:32.850 political thrillers, whatever the story demands. 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:35.009 Exactly. Think about the jump. He makes the very 00:12:35.009 --> 00:12:38.889 personal, nostalgic Avalon in 1990. Then just 00:12:38.889 --> 00:12:42.990 one year later, 1991, he directs Bugsy. Warren 00:12:42.990 --> 00:12:46.539 Beatty as Bugsy Siegel. Big. Glamorous, violent, 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:48.820 a totally different scale. Totally different. 00:12:48.899 --> 00:12:52.279 It's a prestige Hollywood crime epic. Needed 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:55.179 that scope, that polish. And he nailed it. Bugsy 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:58.019 got 10 Oscar nominations, won two. So he showed 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:00.960 he could handle the intimate dialogue driven 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.779 stuff like Diner, but also command this big, 00:13:03.779 --> 00:13:07.250 complex period filmmaking. Precisely. But then 00:13:07.250 --> 00:13:09.470 maybe the film from this era that feels the most 00:13:09.470 --> 00:13:13.009 relevant now is Wag the Dog, 1997. Oh, absolutely. 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:16.389 That film became like instant shorthand for manufactured 00:13:16.389 --> 00:13:19.450 reality political spin. It was incredibly prescient. 00:13:19.509 --> 00:13:21.870 The whole premise, a spin doctor, Robert De Niro, 00:13:21.990 --> 00:13:24.490 hires a Hollywood producer, Dustin Hoffman, to 00:13:24.490 --> 00:13:27.049 fake a war in Albania to distract from a presidential 00:13:27.049 --> 00:13:29.090 sex scandal. And it came out right before the 00:13:29.090 --> 00:13:31.309 Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. Literally weeks 00:13:31.309 --> 00:13:33.909 before. It was uncanny. Suddenly this sharp political 00:13:33.909 --> 00:13:36.620 satire felt disturbingly real. Like a documentary 00:13:36.620 --> 00:13:39.340 almost. It really cemented him as a master satirist, 00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:41.200 right? Able to take these heavy political ideas 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.940 but make them darkly funny. And the world noticed. 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:46.919 It won the Silver Bear, the special jury prize, 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:50.919 at the Berlin Film Festival that year. So international 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:54.080 recognition for that specific satirical edge. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.980 When you look at his output during the 90s and 00:13:56.980 --> 00:14:00.559 even into the 2000s, the sheer variety is wild. 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:03.139 It really is. It's not just prestige dramas. 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:05.500 He's jumping all over the map. You've got Young 00:14:05.500 --> 00:14:08.139 Sherlock Holmes way back in 85, which was more 00:14:08.139 --> 00:14:10.360 of a family adventure. Right. The Spielberg production. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.840 Then Disclosure in 94, that corporate sexual 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:15.299 harassment thriller. based on the Creighton model. 00:14:15.539 --> 00:14:18.360 Very tense. Very topical then. Sleepers in 96. 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:20.820 The legal drama with that heavy -hitting cast. 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:24.220 De Niro, Hoffman, Pitt, Bacon. Dark stuff. And 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:26.500 then Sphere in 98. Another Creighton adaptation. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.019 Deep Sea sci -fi thriller with Hoffman again. 00:14:29.220 --> 00:14:31.559 Sharon Stone. Samuel L. Jackson. Wait, wait. 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:34.200 The guy who made Tin Man also made Sphere. That's 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.169 quite the leap. Isn't it? It's almost like two 00:14:37.169 --> 00:14:40.029 different directors. And it continues. Bandits 00:14:40.029 --> 00:14:42.750 in 2001, the heist comedy with Bruce Willis and 00:14:42.750 --> 00:14:45.690 Billy Bob Thorne. Envy in 2004, that quirky black 00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:48.690 comedy with Ben Stiller and Jack Black. It suggests 00:14:48.690 --> 00:14:52.070 he's driven more by the story itself, the challenge 00:14:52.070 --> 00:14:54.769 of a particular narrative, than by sticking to 00:14:54.769 --> 00:14:58.250 one specific style or brand. I think that's exactly 00:14:58.250 --> 00:15:00.690 right. He's interested in telling good stories, 00:15:00.809 --> 00:15:03.610 period, whatever genre they happen to fall into. 00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:05.950 And while he's directing all these varied films, 00:15:06.169 --> 00:15:09.669 he's also building power behind the scenes, becoming 00:15:09.669 --> 00:15:13.009 a major producer. Yes, this is crucial. He forms 00:15:13.009 --> 00:15:15.769 both more pictures with Mark Johnson. That partnership 00:15:15.769 --> 00:15:18.720 was key. Why was forming the company so important? 00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:22.000 Control. Independence, basically. By producing 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.779 successful films, some quite commercial, they 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:27.490 generated revenue and clout. That gave them the 00:15:27.490 --> 00:15:29.570 freedom to develop and back projects they really 00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:32.629 believed in, maybe smaller or riskier ones. Like 00:15:32.629 --> 00:15:35.769 Avalon. Exactly. Avalon was their first production 00:15:35.769 --> 00:15:38.309 under the Baltimore Pictures banner. Even after 00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:41.570 Johnson left in 94, Levinson's name stayed on 00:15:41.570 --> 00:15:44.129 as producer or executive producer for some pretty 00:15:44.129 --> 00:15:46.710 huge movies. And not just small art films. You 00:15:46.710 --> 00:15:48.669 mentioned The Perfect Storm. He was an EP on 00:15:48.669 --> 00:15:50.929 that. Executive producer, yeah. Wolfgang Peterson 00:15:50.929 --> 00:15:54.330 directed it. Huge disaster movie in 2000. Totally 00:15:54.330 --> 00:15:57.169 different from, say, Diner. That's pure spectacle. 00:15:57.389 --> 00:16:00.230 Pure spectacle. But his producing credits also 00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:04.169 include comedy sequels like Analyze That in 2002, 00:16:04.450 --> 00:16:06.389 De Niro and Billy Crystal Back Again. Right, 00:16:06.490 --> 00:16:09.169 the neurotic mob boss. And even complex literary 00:16:09.169 --> 00:16:13.470 adaptations like Possession in 2002 based on 00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:16.370 that dense A .S. Byatt novel. So the producing 00:16:16.370 --> 00:16:19.700 side shows a real strategic mind too. using commercial 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:22.299 success to enable artistic range. Speaking of 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:24.700 ambition, let's touch on projects that didn't 00:16:24.700 --> 00:16:27.059 quite happen under his direction. The source 00:16:27.059 --> 00:16:29.940 mentions a Whitey Bulger film he was developing. 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:32.399 Yeah, this sounded fascinating. Based on the 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.220 book by Dick Lair and Gerard O 'Neill, it wasn't 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:36.620 just going to be about Whitey, the gangster. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.899 That was bigger than that. Much bigger. Levinson 00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:41.179 wanted to tackle the whole ecosystem of corruption 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:43.639 around Bulger. His brother, Billy Bulger, the 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:46.480 powerful politician. the complicit FBI agent 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.200 John Connolly, even the history of the FBI's 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.840 Witness Protection Program under J. Edgar Hoover. 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:54.539 Wow, like a sprawling American epic about crime 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:56.899 and institutional failure. Exactly. He eventually 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:59.620 left that project. It got made later by someone 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:02.200 else's black mass. But just the idea of him tackling 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:05.359 that shows his continued interest in these huge, 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:08.559 complex, multilayered American stories. Okay, 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:10.980 so his film career alone is incredibly varied. 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:13.450 But then there's television. If his film work 00:17:13.450 --> 00:17:15.390 didn't seal the deal on his versatility, his 00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:17.309 impact on TV certainly does. Oh, absolutely. 00:17:17.589 --> 00:17:19.650 Yeah. We have to spend time here because his 00:17:19.650 --> 00:17:22.190 influence on television is profound and maybe 00:17:22.190 --> 00:17:24.430 sometimes gets overshadowed by the movie Oscars. 00:17:24.490 --> 00:17:26.529 He formed a company with Tom Fontana, right? 00:17:26.609 --> 00:17:28.750 Yes, the Levinson Fontana Company. That partnership 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:31.450 was critical. They really were pioneers pushing 00:17:31.450 --> 00:17:34.250 network TV and later cable towards the kind of 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:36.910 dark, complex, character -driven adult drama 00:17:36.910 --> 00:17:39.069 that we now take for granted. They were behind 00:17:39.069 --> 00:17:42.990 Homicide, Life on the Street. NBC, 1993 to 99. 00:17:43.329 --> 00:17:46.109 Homicide was revolutionary for network TV. Based 00:17:46.109 --> 00:17:48.910 on Dave and Simon's book, yeah, the guy who later 00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:51.569 did The Wire, homicide felt real in a way network 00:17:51.569 --> 00:17:55.519 cop shows just weren't. Incredibly gritty. Realistic. 00:17:55.539 --> 00:17:57.259 It didn't wrap everything up neatly in an hour. 00:17:57.539 --> 00:18:00.500 Cases went unsolved. It focused on the detectives, 00:18:00.539 --> 00:18:03.059 the psychological toll, the messy reality of 00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:05.180 crime in Baltimore. Back to Baltimore again. 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:07.460 But seen through a much harsher lens. And it 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:09.259 looked different, too, didn't it? That shaky 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:12.039 camera style. Totally. That verite -style jump 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.259 cuts, handheld camera, shooting in low light. 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:17.779 It felt urgent. Authentic. And Levinson directed 00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:22.480 the pilot. Won an Emmy for it. Outstanding. Directing 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.079 for a drama series for that first episode. Gone 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:27.359 for good. He set the visual tone for a whole 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.000 new kind of TV. So homicide broke ground on network. 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:32.019 Then they moved to cable. Then they went to HBO 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:35.160 and basically invented the modern HBO drama with 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:37.880 Oz. The prison drama. Intense doesn't even begin 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:41.599 to cover it. Right. 1997 to 2003. Oz took the 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:43.680 realism, the moral ambiguity of homicide and 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:46.339 just cranked it way, way up. Violence, complex 00:18:46.339 --> 00:18:49.210 characters, long arcs, existential dread. It 00:18:49.210 --> 00:18:51.789 was brutal. And it was HBO's first original hour 00:18:51.789 --> 00:18:54.450 -long drama series, wasn't it? It was. It really 00:18:54.450 --> 00:18:58.410 paved the way for The Sopranos, The Wire, everything 00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:01.029 that followed. Levinson and Fontana showed what 00:19:01.029 --> 00:19:03.670 was possible on premium cable, pushing boundaries 00:19:03.670 --> 00:19:07.029 on content, on violence, on long -form storytelling 00:19:07.029 --> 00:19:10.430 where choices had real... lasting consequences. 00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:12.809 So they didn't just make shows. They fundamentally 00:19:12.809 --> 00:19:15.210 changed the landscape. Absolutely. They helped 00:19:15.210 --> 00:19:18.109 build the foundation for this golden age of television 00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:19.910 we've been living through. And Levinson is still 00:19:19.910 --> 00:19:21.789 involved in TV at a high level, right? Still 00:19:21.789 --> 00:19:24.509 is. Just recently, in 2021, he was co -executive 00:19:24.509 --> 00:19:27.170 producer on Dope Sick for Hulu, the miniseries 00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:29.759 about the opioid crisis. He directed the first 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.339 two episodes, too. Tackling another huge, complex, 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:35.240 very contemporary American issue. Exactly. Same 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:37.400 instinct, just adapted for the streaming era. 00:19:37.539 --> 00:19:39.680 And he's even popped up acting in TV sometimes. 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:43.279 He played a judge, uncredited, in a short -lived 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.640 series called The Jury. He just seems willing 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:48.200 to engage with every facet of the process. Writing, 00:19:48.299 --> 00:19:50.859 directing, producing, even acting. Seems like 00:19:50.859 --> 00:19:53.099 it. Which brings us to another medium entirely. 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:56.680 The guy wrote a novel. Right. 66, published in 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:00.099 2003. Let me guess the setting. Ah, go on. Baltimore, 00:20:00.259 --> 00:20:03.420 1960s. Bingo. Semi -autobiographical, set in 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:06.500 Baltimore in the 60s. It's his touchstone. Film, 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:10.359 TV, novel. When he goes deep into character and 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:12.380 memory, he always seems to find his way back 00:20:12.380 --> 00:20:14.819 home. He even dabbled in early digital stuff, 00:20:15.019 --> 00:20:17.440 directing those Seinfeld and Superman ads for 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.359 American Express. Yeah, the webisodes back in 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:21.960 2004, which is kind of cool, right? Seinfeld, 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:24.700 Superman, Amex, early web content. He was right 00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:26.980 there at that intersection. Shows he's adaptable, 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.059 willing to play in different sandboxes. And he 00:20:29.059 --> 00:20:31.119 directed a documentary, too. Poliwood, yeah, 00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:33.819 in 2009. Focused on the Democratic and Republican 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:37.740 National Conventions in 2008. Bringing that sharp 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:40.460 observational eye, maybe the... wag the dog eye 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:43.299 to real world political theater. It's important, 00:20:43.339 --> 00:20:45.460 though, to circle back to writing, because despite 00:20:45.460 --> 00:20:47.880 the directing Oscar, the producing, the TV work, 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:50.400 people in the industry consistently recognized 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.720 him first and foremost as a writer. That's a 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.740 really key point. His foundation is the script. 00:20:55.059 --> 00:20:57.279 He got the Distinguished Screenwriter Award from 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:59.700 the Austin Film Festival in 2004. And then the 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:01.779 big one from the Writers Guild. The really big 00:21:01.779 --> 00:21:05.140 one, the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:08.180 in 2010. That's their Lifetime Achievement Award. 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:10.589 It says, look, No matter what else you've done, 00:21:10.730 --> 00:21:13.410 we recognize you as one of the great screenwriters. 00:21:13.609 --> 00:21:15.569 Okay, let's try and wrap our heads around the 00:21:15.569 --> 00:21:18.250 sheer volume of recognition here. His career 00:21:18.250 --> 00:21:20.990 is just loaded with awards, both critical and 00:21:20.990 --> 00:21:23.029 commercial. Yeah, the trophy case must be pretty 00:21:23.029 --> 00:21:25.349 full. Just looking at the Academy Awards alone, 00:21:25.690 --> 00:21:29.230 his films, collectively, have racked up something 00:21:29.230 --> 00:21:33.170 like 34 nominations and six wins. That's huge! 00:21:33.490 --> 00:21:35.789 Including his own Best Director win for Rain 00:21:35.789 --> 00:21:38.599 Man. Puts him in pretty elite company. Absolutely. 00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:40.960 But remember, he got his Oscar bona fides first 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.819 as a writer, nominated twice for Best Original 00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:46.240 Screenplay personally. Right. For Diner in 82, 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.240 that amazing dialogue. And way back in 79 for 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:51.440 Anne. And Justice for All for its moral weight. 00:21:51.539 --> 00:21:53.859 He really did launch from the page. And the industry 00:21:53.859 --> 00:21:56.339 guilds reflect that duality. Yeah. He won the 00:21:56.339 --> 00:21:58.799 DGA, the Director's Guild Award for Rain Man. 00:21:59.130 --> 00:22:00.950 That's the directors recognizing one of their 00:22:00.950 --> 00:22:02.789 own at the highest level. But the writers did, 00:22:02.829 --> 00:22:05.549 too. He won the WGA Writers Guild Award for Best 00:22:05.549 --> 00:22:07.990 Original Screenplay for Avalon. Think about that. 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:11.730 Avalon. That quiet, personal, immigrant family 00:22:11.730 --> 00:22:16.019 story. In 1990, it wins Best Original Screenplay 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:17.980 against all the big studio movies that year. 00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:20.440 That tells you how powerful that writing was, 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:22.720 how emotionally resonant. It's that consistent 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.059 quality across different kinds of projects, and 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:27.079 internationally, too. You mentioned The Golden 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:29.240 Bear in Berlin for Rain Man. Top prize there. 00:22:29.579 --> 00:22:31.920 Huge international prestige for a film that was 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.220 also a massive commercial hit. But he went back 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:36.299 to Berlin later and won again, right? For something 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:38.220 totally different. Yeah, won the Silver Bear, 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:41.200 the Special Jury Prize for Wag the Dog, for that 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.630 sharp pull. So he gets top honors for the blockbuster 00:22:44.630 --> 00:22:47.309 and for the biting commentary. The critics recognized 00:22:47.309 --> 00:22:49.529 him, too. He won Best Director from the L .A. 00:22:49.549 --> 00:22:51.809 Film Critics for Bugsy. Right. So the pattern 00:22:51.809 --> 00:22:54.069 is clear. He's not easily pigeonholed. He can 00:22:54.069 --> 00:22:56.750 win major awards for the intimate Baltimore stories 00:22:56.750 --> 00:22:59.230 like Avalon, for the big Hollywood epics like 00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:01.750 Bugsy, and for the culture -shifting blockbusters 00:23:01.750 --> 00:23:05.029 like Rain Man. That range of acclaimed work is 00:23:05.029 --> 00:23:07.910 pretty remarkable. Hashtag, tag, tag, tag, seven. 00:23:08.170 --> 00:23:10.539 Conclusion and provocative final thought. Okay, 00:23:10.579 --> 00:23:12.400 so let's try to pull this all together. We've 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:15.140 taken this deep dive into Barry Levinson. We've 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:18.099 seen him come from this unconventional background, 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:21.559 the terrible student sharing digs with a future 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:23.900 drug lord. George Hume, yeah, still amazing. 00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:27.460 And somehow parlay that street smarts, that hustle, 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:30.700 into a foothold in Hollywood, starting as a comedy 00:23:30.700 --> 00:23:32.819 writer. becoming an Oscar -winning director, 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:36.599 then a key architect of modern prestige TV. And 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:38.759 what stands out, I think, is how he manages to 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:42.339 connect the personal with the broadly relevant. 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:45.119 He stays deeply committed to his Baltimore roots 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:48.839 for decades, using the tetralogy to explore that 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:51.180 world intimately. But at the same time. At the 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:53.299 same time, he's directing these massive American 00:23:53.299 --> 00:23:56.400 stories. Rain Man, sparking conversations about 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:58.779 autism. Good morning, Vietnam. Dealing with the 00:23:58.779 --> 00:24:02.339 war. Wag the dog. dissecting political spin before 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:05.160 it became, you know, a daily news item. He finds 00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:07.599 the humor, the history, the heart in these big, 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.920 complex subjects, makes them relatable. That 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:11.819 seems to be his great skill, synthesizing it 00:24:11.819 --> 00:24:14.259 all. And he keeps adapting, never just settles 00:24:14.259 --> 00:24:16.720 into one thing for too long. Which brings us 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:19.140 to today. He's still working, right? Still very 00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:21.440 active. Sources say he has a film called The 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:25.299 Alto Knights slated for 2025. So given that history 00:24:25.299 --> 00:24:28.259 of reinvention from the Baltimore chronicler 00:24:28.259 --> 00:24:30.339 to the political satirist now working in the 00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:32.759 streaming age, it makes you wonder. Exactly. 00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:35.160 And this is the final thought we want to leave 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:37.779 you, the listener, with. We've seen him tackle 00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:40.980 the immigrant story, war, media manipulation, 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:44.400 the justice system, the opioid crisis. What's 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:47.259 next? What contemporary American theme, what 00:24:47.259 --> 00:24:50.279 overlooked genre do you think a filmmaker with 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:53.500 his track record, his insight, might tackle to 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:55.500 capture this particular moment we're living in? 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:57.880 Will he go back to Baltimore again or maybe turn 00:24:57.880 --> 00:24:59.700 that satirical eye towards something like, I 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:03.099 don't know, AI, social media, influencer culture? 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:05.599 the political divisions. It's fascinating to 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.920 think about what part of the fractured American 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.700 experience might he zoom in on next. That's the 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:12.819 challenge he seems to set for himself again and 00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:15.039 again. And it's definitely something worth pondering. 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:17.200 What story does Barry Levinson still need to 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:17.400 tell?