The 95-year-old won an Honorary Academy Award in 2018, the first publicist to do so
The post Steven Spielberg’s Longtime Publicist Marvin Levy to Retire at the End of July appeared first on TheWrap.
Marvin Levy, a publicist and influential figure in the professional and personal life of Steven Spielberg, is retiring at the end of the month at the age of 95.
Spielberg made the announcement via an email to his Amblin team, which reads: “As one of the entertainment community’s most skilled marketers, Marvin was always reinventing the marketing of Amblin’s product — always striving to make sure our campaigns reflected the innovation and change that successful marketing required in order to evolve with audiences over the decades,” Spielberg wrote. “Without his expertise, many films would never have succeeded as well as they did — and we, along with many filmmakers, executives and colleagues, owe him a huge debt of gratitude.”
Levy began his career in New York, where he worked at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer office in the Advertising and Exploitation Department, helping to sell movies like “Ben-Hur” and “Gigi.” He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, working at Columbia Pictures on projects like “Taxi Driver” and “Kramer vs. Kramer.” As Spielberg mentions in his note, he met Levy at Columbia in 1977, as Levy worked on “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” The two hit it off and, in 1982, came to Amblin Entertainment, eventually moving (with Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen) to DreamWorks Pictures in 1994.
Additionally, Levy has served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, first from 1991 to 2002 and again since ’04. In 2018, Levy became the first publicist to receive an Honorary Academy Award. And as Spielberg notes, Levy is “a devoted father and husband (he and his wife Carol have been married 72 years!) and an avid supporter of the Shoah Foundation’s ongoing work.”
Read Spielberg’s memo in full, below:
Team Amblin,
This week will mark the end of an era at Amblin as our colleague, friend, and resident PR genius, Marvin J. Levy has announced that at the age of 95 he will be retiring effective July 31st.
To say that Marvin has been an integral part of my personal and professional life is an understatement. He has been a key member of our team for over 40 years and a leader in our industry for even longer. His deep knowledge of publicity and marketing, coupled with his loyalty, generosity, humanity and commitment to always being a teacher and mentor are traits that only scratch the surface of his talents. A revered figure in marketing, publicity and awards circles, Marvin served on the board of AMPAS for decades, and is the only member of the PR branch to ever receive an Honorary Oscar, which is further proof of the impact he has had on his profession (and all of us at Amblin). Whether it was at Columbia Pictures where I first met him in 1977 or during our decades together at Amblin and Dreamworks and finally as the eminence gris at Amblin Partners, all of us have been incredibly lucky to benefit from his dedication to our company and to film as an art form. As one of the entertainment community’s most skilled marketers, Marvin was always reinventing the marketing of Amblin’s product — always striving to make sure our campaigns reflected the innovation and change that successful marketing required in order to evolve with audiences over the decades. Without his expertise, many films would never have succeeded as well as they did — and we, along with many filmmakers, executives and colleagues owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
Beyond his professional achievements, Marvin is a true mensch — a devoted father and husband (he and his wife Carol have been married 72 years!) and an avid supporter of the Shoah Foundation’s ongoing work.
It goes without saying that we hope that even though he is officially retiring, Marvin will continue to visit us frequently. We will always need his steady, wise advice, and always love hearing his funny one-liners and memorable retorts that are pure Marvin. He will always occupy a unique place in the history of Amblin and a permanent spot on the list of people who have my deep respect, appreciation and love.
The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news.
The post Steven Spielberg’s Longtime Publicist Marvin Levy to Retire at the End of July appeared first on TheWrap.
