David Leaf

Career Highlights

• Grammy nominated for writing and directing Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson & The Story of SMiLE
• Graduated from George Washington University
• Nominated for an Emmy for America: A Tribute to Heroes
• Historical consultant for Time-Life’s “History of Rock n’ Roll”
• A voter for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Wrote the best-selling authorized biography of the Bee Gees

Career Overview

David Leaf is an American writer, producer and director known for documentaries, music programs and pop culture retrospectives. Among his best-known documentaries are The Night James Brown Saved Boston, The U.S. vs. John Lennon and the Grammy nominated Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of SMiLE. He also wrote the landmark Brian Wilson biography The Beach Boys and The California Myth along with the best-selling authorized biography of the Bee Gees.

Leaf also writes TV tributes and network specials. His most notable include the landmark all-network Emmy-nominated telethon America: A Tribute to Heroes, Disney's Salute To The American Teacher, TNT’s All Star Tribute To Brian Wilson, and A&E’s Emmy-nominated Billy Joel: In His Own Words. Some of his network specials include “The Kennedy Center Honors”, “Farm Aid”, “The Billboard Awards” and “Carnegie Hall Salutes The Jazz Masters.” Leaf also serves as consulting producer for A&E's Live By Request series, and is a historical consultant and voter for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a member of such nationally prestigious institutions as the Writers Guild, Authors Guild, Society of Professional Journalists, NARAS, ATAS, and ASCAP.

John Scheinfeld

Career Highlights

• Wrote and directed the Bette Midler Biography for A&E’s award winning series, Biography
• Received a B.A. in Communications and Sociology from Oberlin College
• Received a M.F.A in Radio/Television/Film from Northwestern University, the first such degree ever awarded by the school
• Also received a Grammy nomination for writing and directing Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and The Story of SmiLE
• Created and written pilots for ABC, NBC, UPN and first-run syndication

Career Overview

John Scheinfeld – L.A. based writer, director and producer – graduated with a B.A. in Communications and Sociology from Oberlin College and a M.F.A in Radio/Television/Film from Northwestern University, the first such degree ever awarded by the school. Scheinfeld has written and directed many works for TV such as show pilots, holiday specials, mini series and biography pieces for A&E. For many of these projects he teamed up with David Leaf. He and Leaf also wrote, directed and produced documentaries together including the critically acclaimed The Unknown Marx Brothers, Grammy-nominated Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and The Story of SmiLE and The U.S. vs. John Lennon. On his own, Scheinfeld has written and produced such documentary programs as With The President: 1961-63, Dinosaurs: Myths And Realities, One Small Step, We Are The World: A 10th Anniversary Tribute and Forever Wild, a six-part series narrated by Ted Danson.

Our Interview

David Leaf and John Scheinfeld join ThinkTalk host Kimberly Holmes to discuss the making of The U.S. vs. John Lennon to answer student questions. Georgetown students asked the directors questions regarding the historical footage used in their documentary, sharing directorial duties on set and the scariest thing about starting a new project.