Hi! I’m Lev Pakman, a writer and director in Los Angeles.

I was born and raised in New York City and began my life as a choir boy, which involved a solo role in Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at The Metropolitan Opera when I was 13. 

I later graduated from Fiorello H Laguardia High School and attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where I produced and directed my first short film, Side Effected. That film was voted an "Audience Favorite" at the 2013 Palm Springs International Shortfest, earned a Vimeo Staff Pick, and played at festivals internationally. I then wrote and directed For the Record, starring Pico Alexander, a narrative short which premiered at the 2014 Hamptons International Film Festival and Cpl. Brittany Jackson’s Smile, a short documentary about an LGBTQIA+ veteran in Pensacola, which premiered on Vimeo Staff Picks, played at the 2019 Sarasota Film Festival and received a write-up in The Advocate. 

Most recently, I wrote and directed Deal of a Lifetime, a short film starring David Cross, which played at the 2023 Montclair Film Festival, 2024 Cinequest Film & VR Festival, Lower East Side Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival, and premiered on the YouTube short film channel Omeleto, which touts nearly 4 million subscribers. 

Along the way, I co-wrote a feature-length screenplay called Mouthpiece with playwright Francisca Da Silveira, which was shortlisted for the 2020 Sundance Screenwriters Lab.

I’ve been repped by the Sharon Horgan-founded production company Merman since 2018, where I’ve directed commercials for brands like GEICO, Samsung, Kraft Heinz, T-Mobile, AT&T, Nathan’s Famous, The Glenlivet, Ajinomoto, and Captain Morgan in collaboration with globally recognized ad agencies including R/GA, BBH, Edelman Digital, 72andSunny, 22Squared, GUT, Wunderman+, Evoke Group, Bloomberg Studios, The Martin Agency, and Anomaly. My “Everybody Strip” campaign for Breathe Right was named “Ad of the Week” by Campaign US. My Captain Morgan “Shotface” commercial starring Charles Melton received shoutouts from Adweek and Us Weekly. And my “Redefine CRS” campaign starring Eddie Huang received Webby and Shorty Award nominations as well as attention from The New York Times, BBC, NBC News, CNN, Adweek, and Ad Age.

In July 2023, I became an executive producer at Crooked Letter Film, a Brooklyn-based production company backed by two-time Emmy and Golden Globe award winner Jeremy Allen White. At Crooked Letter, I’m helping shepherd a slate of projects for film, television, digital, and theater.