Marshall Lewy '99 (Writer, Director, & Editor)

By Stacey Collins

Marshall Lewy '99 is a name to remember. He wrote and directed his debut feature film BLUE STATE starring Academy Award winner Anna Paquin and Breckin Meyer. BLUE STATE premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and is being distributed worldwide by MGM.

The film has semi-autobiographical elements. After finishing film school at Columbia University, Marshall drove from New York to Los Angeles. As chance would have it, the ‘04 presidential election coincided with his cross-country trip. He stopped over in Ohio to campaign for John Kerry. Disappointed by the election results, Marshall harnessed his frustration into the inspiring character of John Logue, who follows through with his promise of moving to Canada if George W. Bush is re-elected. Some of the opening scenes of his protagonist knocking on doors are based on actual events.

After arriving in L.A., Marshall completed the screenplay for BLUE STATE. He gave it to fellow alum Andrew Paquin ’00 – they had met as undergraduates and had already worked together on a short film. Andrew read the script, liked it, and came on board to produce. Andrew subsequently passed the script on to his sister, actress Anna Paquin, who also responded to the project. With Anna attached as the female lead, they were able to complete financing for the film. By Christmas they were in Winnipeg doing pre-production work. Shooting took place that spring. Adam Stein ‘99 was the editor for the film. Marshall and Adam knew each other from their undergraduate days as well. Of Adam, Marshall says, “I was excited to have a working relationship with someone I could trust.”

BALKANIZATION was Marshall’s first short film, about a war photographer returning home from the conflict in 1990s Yugoslavia. It starred Mark Feuerstein and appeared in a number of film festivals. Marshall had wanted to make this short film for a while when he ran into Andrew Paquin at a mutual friend’s birthday party. Andrew, working in finance at the time, offered to lend a hand. Marshall said he had heard this kind of offer frequently but that Andrew “really stepped up” and carried through in helping make his first short film.

Marshall values his friendships and relationships from Harvard. He feels that the bonds continue long after you leave Cambridge. As he says, “You’ll certainly be running into your classmates long after college.”

What’s next for Marshall Lewy? His second feature, EXODUS, is being produced by Ross Katz (LOST IN TRANSLATION, IN THE BEDROOM). EXODUS is a drama about three friends who take a trip to Jamaica, where things fall apart under difficult circumstances. Marshall also has an hour-long television pilot in the works.

Of filmmaking, Marshall says it “was always something [he] wanted to do.” A Russian History & Literature concentrator, he was involved with the campus television station Harvard-Radcliffe Television. At HRTV he was the Executive Producer for an original sitcom called The Asylum, about college roommates who operate a bar from their dorm room.

During his college summers, Marshall worked as a production assistant on movie sets. The New York native traveled to Baltimore to work on WASHINGTON SQUARE, directed by Agnieska Holland. His consistency in learning about filmmaking even materialized during a semester abroad in Russia. During that time, he interned at the Moscow Film Archives, working with animation archives going back to the 1920s.

After graduating from Harvard, Marshall headed out to L.A. and worked at Fine Line Features in acquisitions and development. He “learned a ton from that,” but he wanted to be on the creative side of the business. He also worked on the set of HOLLYWOOD ENDING, a film directed by none other than fellow New Yorker Woody Allen. Marshall received his MFA in directing from Columbia University. While at Columbia, he received the prestigious FMI Fellowship for screenwriting and was a finalist in the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmakers Award contest.

When probed for advice to neophytes, Marshall acknowledges the balancing act of networking and building a resume, but he emphasizes the need to “do that thing that you want to do. If you want to write, write; if you want to direct, shoot things.”
Clearly, this talented filmmaker is a good example to follow.

Photo above: Marshall Lewy (L.) on set directing Anna Paquin and Breckin Meyer