ZAK LEVITT
Zak Levitt is a two-time Emmy, Peabody, NAACP Image, New York Press Club, and Deadline Award-winning documentary film and podcast creator, who has helmed some of the most popular and acclaimed documentaries of the last several years.
In June of 2023, Levitt released The Set, a 10 part podcast documentary series telling the inside story of the biggest corruption scandal in NYPD history. The Set reached #1 on Apple's Society and Culture chart, and was named by the The Atlantic as one of its Top 10 Podcasts of the Year. In 2022, Levitt's podcast, The Sunshine Place, in association with Team Downey, reached #1 on Apple's overall top chart, and went on to win a Deadline Award for Investigative Reporting. Also in 2022, Levitt won the NY Press Club Award for Investigative Journalism, as well as two Signal Awards for Best Documentary and Public Service & Activism, and was nominated for a Webby Award for Season 3 of the hit podcast series, Gangster Capitalism. The season focused on Jerry Falwell Jr. and Liberty University. Levitt's reporting led directly to the successful lawsuit of 22 Jane Does against the university, as well as a $14M fine levied by the US Department of Education - the largest ever imposed by the DOE. In 2021, Season 2 of Gangster Capitalism told the story of the graft and dysfunction inside the NRA. It won an AVA Digital Award, was a Webby Award Honoree, and was nominated for an ASME Award. In 2020, Season 1 of Gangster Capitalism dove deep into the College Admissions Scandal. It was nominated for a Peabody Award. Gangster Capitalism debuted at #2 on Apple's overall top chart. In 2020, Levitt also created the series, Relative Unknown, about a woman who grew up in the Witness Protection Program, and her father, a notorious member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. It debuted at #4 on Apple's overall top chart, and was nominated for a Deadline Award for Investigative Reporting.
In 2019, Levitt's smash hit true-crime podcast, Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia, reached #1 on Apple's overall top chart, and was nominated for Best True Crime Podcast of the Year for 2019. Entertainment Weekly recently named it as its fifth best true crime podcast of all time in 2024, and Rolling Stone named it their sixth best true-crime podcasts of all time in 2023.
Prior to making podcast documentaries, Levitt made documentary films. In 2015, Levitt won an Emmy, an NAACP Image Award, and a Clio Award for his film, Bad Boys, a two-hour entry in ESPN’s groundbreaking 30 for 30 series. Bad Boys was ranked #8 in ESPN's Top 30 for 30s of All Time. In 2014, Levitt’s film, The Doctor, won the Sports Emmy for Most Outstanding Documentary. In 2013, two Levitt films, The Dream Team, and The Announcement, were both nominated for Most Outstanding Documentary at the Sports Emmy Awards in the same year. In 2010, Levitt produced Once Brothers, another ESPN 30 for 30 which was part of ESPN’s Peabody-winning and Primetime Emmy nominated inaugural 30 for 30 set of films. Dime Magazine called it, “The best basketball documentary since Hoop Dreams.” Once Brothers was ranked #10 in ESPN's Top 30 for 30s of All Time.
In total, Levitt has been nominated for eight Emmy Awards. In addition to films, the nominations include docu-series and promos. Levitt, also a commercial director, has been honored with a CLIO Award and multiple ProMax Marketing Awards. He has directed several digital promo campaigns for Adidas.
Through all of his work, Levitt has long stood out as a fearless and dogged storyteller, equally at ease working with the biggest names in entertainment as he is with unknown characters whose stories he brings to light.