FLEX TIME BRUNSWICK CAREER CENTER
‘Billions’ Producer ‘Driven by Passion’ Rapid Ascent Followed Rounders Screenplay
I
T ALL HAPPENED in a New York minute. David Levien’s life changed the moment Miramax bought
his original screenplay for Rounders, the future cult classic about the underground world of high-stakes poker.
At the time, in 1998, he was bartending in the Big Apple and
had just written his first novel, scraping by and making rent from paycheck to paycheck. Little did he know, he’d soon be on a star-studded movie set with the likes of Hollywood A-listers Matt Damon and Edward Norton — along with his lifelong friend Brian Koppelman, with whom he’d collaborated on the script. It was just the break they needed. The duo went on to work together and write Ocean’s Thirteen, later producing The Illusionist and directing Solitary Man on their climb up the ranks of the business. They are now co-creators, writers, and executive producers of the smash Showtime hit Billions. Levien, a Brunswick parent, spoke to an audience of Brunswick alumni and Upper School students at a summer Q&A sponsored by the Brunswick Career Center. He covered the full gamut of his entertainment experience — from his early days in Los Angeles working at a talent agency, to his morning rituals of meditation and longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing, to luring top guns Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis onto the cast of Billions. And he had some advice for those aspiring to follow in his footsteps. “If you want to do it to get rich, there are probably easier and better ways to do that,” Levien said. “If you’re driven by passion and a real desire to do the work — and you’re doing things for
David Levien, parent of Joseph ’21, discussed his illustrious entertainment career with an engaged audience of alumni, including Daniel Osemobor ’18 (above) and Jeff James ’81.
For more photos, visit bwick.org/tob_fall2018
the right reasons — the right results will come out of it. “And be sure to work diligently and to put the elbow grease in.”
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