| Thunder Levin | |
| Birth Name: | Thunder Levin |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Known For: | Sharknado |
Thunder Levin is an American screenwriter and director, most famous for writing the first four Sharknado films.[1] [2] Levin's work was largely responsible for the resurgence of sharksploitation films.[3]
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.
Levin graduated from Hunter College High School, and received his BFA in Film from NYU.[4]
Levin moved to Los Angeles at the age of 23. In the late 1980s he worked as a still photographer on three movies for the legendary film producer Roger Corman.
Levin's feature-film directorial debut was the 2008 horror comedy Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood![5] [6] starring C. Thomas Howell.[7] Levin subsequently wrote and directed multiple films for production company The Asylum,[8] including the 2012 science-fiction action film American Warships and the 2013 sci-fi film .
See main article: 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 Syfy attracted nearly 1.37 million viewers and generated nearly 5,000 tweets a minute at its peak.[9] In 2014 Levin penned a sequel, , which pulled in 3.9 million viewers.[10] Levin subsequently wrote two more sequels, 2015's and 2016's . 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.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie Tidal Wave | 2019 | story by | [11] | |
| 2018 | based on characters created by | also appeared as "Bar Patron" | ||
| Megalodon | 2018 | story by | ||
| Geo-Disaster | 2017 | director, written by | ||
| 2017 | based on characters created by | |||
| Creature Features | 2017 | appeared as self | TV series | |
| Mind Blown | 2016 | written by | ||
| 2016 | written by | |||
| Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy | 2015 | appeared as self | documentary | |
| 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 | |
| 2014 | written by | |||
| Sharknado | 2013 | written by | ||
| From the Sea | 2013 | screenplay by | ||
| 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 aka Evil Lives | 1992 | director | ||
| Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II | 1989 | still photographer | ||
| 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 |