Brett Caroline Levner, MFA
Associate Chair, Associate Professor
Biography
After graduating with honors from NYU and receiving a Founders’ Day Award, Brett got her start at MTV where she worked her way up from intern to producer on popular shows like True Life, Diary, My Super Sweet Sixteen and Made.
Brett attended Columbia University’s graduate film program where she became the first woman to win the Coca Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award in 2004, with her film Being Reel. The film went on to be screened on 21,000 movie screens across the country and was honored at the 2005 Association of Independent Commercial Producers show for “Excellence in Filmmaking.” It is currently included in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art.
After graduating with honors from Columbia with an MFA in Directing, Brett directed the music video for O.A.R.’s hit song Lay Down, which took home the MTVu Woodie Award for Most Streamed Video. In addition, she received the Comedy Central Award for Best Comedy Screenplay for her feature-length script, “Snow Whites of Suburbia” and has produced and camera operated on several hit shows including The First 48, Bridezillas, The Shift, Flip This House and Sister Wives.
Brett directed “The Track”, a feature film about underage sex trafficking in Las Vegas, starring Sam Trammell (True Blood), Michael Muhney (Veronica Mars) and Missy Yager (Mad Men). The film was awarded “Best Local Feature” and “Best First Time Feature Film Director” at the Las Vegas Film Festival. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Brett most recently directed the award-winning music video “China Blue” for R&B singer Cam Calloway and the feature film “Riot in Bloom,” which is in post-production. In addition, Brett serves on the board of the Nevada Women’s Film Festival and is the founder/faculty advisor of the 51ԹϺ student organization, Cinefemmes, which supports women in filmmaking. Under her tutelage, her students have gone on to win numerous awards including Pacific Southwest Student Emmy Awards, an Addy Award, a Best Nevada Filmmaker Award and a Spirit of Activism Award.