Louie Schwartzberg


Louie Schwartzberg, also known as Louis Schwartzberg, is an American director, producer, and cinematographer. Schwartzberg is recognized as a pioneer in high-end time-lapse cinematography. Schwartzberg is the only cinematographer in the world who has been shooting time-lapse film 24 hours a day, 7 days a week continuously for over three decades. Schwartzberg is a visual artist who focuses on connections between humans and the subtleties of nature and environment.

Early life and education

Louie grew up in Brooklyn, and his parents were Holocaust survivors. He graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in the early seventies. Schwartzberg chaired and served as executive director of the Action! Vote Coalition and served on the board of the Earth Communications Office and the Environmental Media Association. He is a member of both the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.

Career

Louie is credited by many with pioneering the contemporary stock footage industry by founding Energy Film Library, a global company, which was acquired by Getty Images in 1997.
In 2012 completed Wings of Life, a documentary feature for Disneynature, narrated by Meryl Streep. It won Best Theatrical Program at the Jackson Hole Science Media Awards 2012, and also won a Best Cinematography Roscar Award. The film reveals the fragile relationship between flowers and their pollination partners.
In November, 2013 Mysteries of the Unseen World, a 3D-IMAX film with National Geographic was released in theaters worldwide. The film is a journey into invisible worlds that are too slow, too fast, too small and too vast for the human eye to see.
In 2013, Schwartzberg founded Moving Art™ to showcase High Definition 2D & 3D motion pictures featuring nature, cityscapes and visual effects. Louie's library of content is shot in 4K and available in High Definition. Schwartzberg also founded the large format film company, BlackLight Films, featuring content such as documentaries and children’s programming. Projects include America's Heart and Soul a story of Americans who are remarkable in their everyday lives, for Walt Disney Pictures; “America!,” a 26-episode half-hour series for The Hallmark Channel; and “Chasing the Light,” a one-hour documentary that aired on PBS.
On April 6, 2014, he appeared in an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Super Soul Sunday episode titled, The World Beyond What We Can See. For Netflix, he also made the series called Moving Art with six topics; flowers, forests, oceans, deserts, underwater and waterfalls. The seventh topic about mushrooms will soon be released and so far, seven more topics about Koh Samui, Iceland, Africa, Angkor Wat, whales and dolphins, Big Sur and the Galapagos are added on Netflix with the first six.

Speaking engagements

Louie is active in the TED community, having spoken in 2011 at the following: TEDxSoCal, TEDxSF and TEDxJacksonhole, TEDxSMU, and TED Vancouver in March 2014. He has delivered speeches at NASA, Global Spa and Wellness Summit, The Nantucket Project and Bioneers. His YouTube videos have collected over 30 million views.

Filmography

YearMovie TitleRoleNotes
2019Fantastic FungiDirector-
2019Moving ArtDirectorSeason 3
2015Moving Art: WaterfallsDirector-
2015Moving Art: UnderwaterExecutive producer-
2014A World of SolutionsDirector-
2014What's PossibleDirector-
20144 original documentaries for Netflix: Moving Art
  • Flowers
  • Forests
  • Oceans
  • Deserts
Director-
2013Mysteries of the Unseen WorldDirector-
2012DisneyNature: Wings of LifeDirector-
2007The Bourne Ultimatum-
2006Chasing the Light-
2005Syriana-
2004Disney presents America's Heart and SoulDirector-
2004Crash-
2002Men in Black IIadditional cinematography-
2002Stuart Little 2additional cinematography-
2000Erin Brockovichadditional cinematography-
2000America! for Hallmark Channel-
1999Any Given Sundayadditional cinematography-
1999American Beauty-
1998Sex and the City-
1996Jerry Maguire-
1996Twister-
1996Independence Day-
1992Oceans of Air for Discovery Channel-
1988Vice VersaVisual Effects Supervisor-
1985The Heavenly Kidvisual effects-
1984The Ice Piratestime lapse photography-
1984The Glitter Dometime lapse photography-
1983The Jupiter Menacetime lapse photography-
1982E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial-
1982Koyaanisqatsitime lapse photography-
1980The Final Countdowntime lapse photography-
1980Altered Statestime lapse photography-
1980Xanadutime lapse photography-
1977Aliens from Spaceship Earth-

Awards

Louie has won two Clio Awards for Best Environmental Public Service Spots, an Emmy nomination for Best Cinematography for the Discovery Channel special Oceans of Air, and the Heartland Film Festival's Truly Moving Picture Award for Walt Disney Pictures’ release, America’s Heart and Soul. Louie was recognized as one of the top 70 Cinematographers for the On Film Kodak Salute Series. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.