Sam Levinson (born January 8, 1985) is an American director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor. He is the son of director Barry Levinson but has become better known for his individual career in film and television, particularly as the creator of Euphoria and a co-creator of The Idol, both HBO series.
Levinson made several appearances in movies directed by his father, usually in minor or supporting roles. His first screenwriting credit is as a co-writer of the action-comedy Operation: Endgame, along with Brian Watanabe. His directorial debut, Another Happy Day, which he also wrote, was released in 2011, premiering at Sundance before being picked up for a general release. His next writing credit was 2017's The Wizard of Lies, which was directed by his father. Afterwards, he wrote and directed Assassination Nation, which premiered at Sundance in 2018.
His arguable big break came in 2019 with the premiere of Euphoria, a loose Foreign Remake of an Israeli TV miniseries of the same title, for which he has served as creator, writer, executive producer, and showrunner as well as the director of most episodes. To date, the series has had two seasons, respectively released in 2019 and 2022 (as well as two special episodes released in 2020 and 2021); a third season is planned for release by 2025. He also worked with Euphoria lead actress Zendaya again when she starred alongside John David Washington in the 2021 film Malcolm & Marie, which Levinson wrote and directed.
Levinson's next big project was The Idol, which was co-created alongside Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye and Reza Fahim and released in the summer of 2023. Originally just attached as an executive producer, Levinson replaced the original showrunner, Amy Seimetz, when she left due to scheduling conflicts and alleged Creative Differences. After assuming her role, Levinson reportedly scrapped the approximate 80% of the series that had been filmed, drastically retooled the series, replaced most of the main cast and reshot almost everything that had been filmed. The series was critically panned upon release and cancelled after the first season had aired.
Levinson dated actress Ellen Barkin from 2008 to 2011. He is currently married to Ashley Lent Levinson, with whom he has two children.
Filmography:
- Operation: Endgame (2010) — co-wrote the screenplay
- Another Happy Day (2011) — directed and wrote; his directorial debut
- The Wizard of Lies (2017) — screenwriter
- Euphoria (2019 - present) — creator, writer, showrunner, executive producer and director
- Pieces of a Woman (2020) — executive producer only
- Malcolm & Marie (2021) — wrote, directed and co-produced
- Deep Water (2022) — screenwriter
- Irma Vep (2022) — executive producer only
- X (2022) — executive producer only
- Breaking (2022) — executive producer only
- Pearl (2022) — executive producer only
- The Idol (2023) — co-creator (with Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye and Reza Fahim), writer, showrunner, executive producer and director
Trivia about Levinson and tropes present in his works:
- Creator Couple: He was in a relationship with actress Ellen Barkin at the time that she starred in his directorial debut Another Happy Day.
- Write What You Know:
- Euphoria main character Rue's struggle with drug addiction was inspired by Levinson's own drug problems when he was young.
- The inciting incident of Malcolm & Marie, Malcolm forgetting to thank Marie at the premiere of his film, was inspired by Levinson himself forgetting to thank his wife Ashley at the premiere of his own film Assassination Nation.
