Laurent Bouzereau


Laurent Bouzereau is a French-American documentary filmmaker, producer, and author. He is the co-founder of Nedland Films, with his partner Markus Keith. Together, they are developing narrative films, television series and documentaries.

Life and career

Laurent Bouzereau is the director and co-producer of JAWS @ 50, produced by NatGeo, Amblin Documentaries & Nedland Films, and of the acclaimed feature documentary Music by John Williams about the life and career of composer John Williams, produced by Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Lucasfilm, Amblin Documentaries, Imagine Documentaries & Nedland Films. The film premiered at the AFI Film Festival and received the Best Music Documentary Award from the Critics' Choice Awards.
Bouzereau directed and co-produced Faye, about actress Faye Dunaway, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was released on HBO and Max in 2024. His other films include Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail for StudioCanal which premiered at the 2024 Lumière Film Festival,Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford for Lucasfilm / Disney+ and the HBO feature-length documentary Mama's Boy, based on the best-selling memoir by Dustin Lance Black. The film was produced by LD Entertainment, Amblin Television, Playtone and Nedland Media and opened the 2022 NewFest - LGBTQ+ Film and Media festival. Bouzereau is also the director / co-producer of Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, for HBO and Amblin Television. The film was selected at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and presented in the Documentary Premiere selection. He directed and co-produced the acclaimed Netflix series Five Came Back, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Amblin Television, based on the best-selling book by Mark Harris, with an Emmy-winning narration by Meryl Streep. The documentary features Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Greengrass, Lawrence Kasdan, and Steven Spielberg.
Bouzereau was born and raised in a suburb of Paris, France. He began his career in New York as a freelance journalist and author with The De Palma Cut while working in publicity and promotion for the independent distribution company Spectrafilm. Upon moving to Hollywood, he was story editor and graduated to director of development for Bette Midler's production company, All Girl Productions. He got his start in home entertainment when he recorded audio commentary for the Criterion Collection on the LaserDisc for Carrie in 1991. In 1995, he directed and produced his first of many documentaries for Steven Spielberg when he was asked to work on the LaserDisc restoration of the film 1941. That year he also directed and produced The Making of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws', a feature-length documentary that was included on the LaserDisc release of Jaws in 1995, and later on the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film. Following the success of this documentary, Bouzereau continued to direct and produce retrospective documentaries for Laserdisc, including the making of Scarface and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial in 1996, the making of Psycho in 1997 and the making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1998. In 2002, for the production of A.I. Artificial Intelligence, he began documenting the filmmaking process on-set.
Bouzereau has directed and produced documentaries on the making-of some of the biggest films in the history of cinema, by some of the most acclaimed directors of all-time. He has directed and produced most of the documentaries on the making of Steven Spielberg's films. In total, he has documented over 150 films, including the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park film franchises. Among the many titles include American Graffiti by George Lucas, Titanic and Avatar by James Cameron, Universal and Warners Bros. Alfred Hitchcock collections, Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai by David Lean, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Casino by Martin Scorsese, Scarface, Carrie, and Dressed to Kill by Brian De Palma, Cruising and The Exorcist by William Friedkin, Back to the Future by Robert Zemeckis, Reds by Warren Beatty, Chinatown and Tess by Roman Polanski, and The Last Picture Show by Peter Bogdanovich.
As an author, Bouzereau's credits include Steven Spielberg: The First Ten Years, The De Palma Decade, ''West Side Story: The Making of the Steven Spielberg Film, Hitchcock: Piece by Piece, The Art of Bond, The New York Times Best-Seller The Making of Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, The Cutting Room Floor: Movie Scenes Which Never Made It To The Screen, Ultra Violent Movies: From Sam Peckinpah to Quentin Tarantino, and The De Palma Cut: The Films of America's Most Controversial Director.
Bouzereau wrote, directed and produced the documentary on legendary film producer Richard D. Zanuck entitled Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking, executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Zanuck watched the film three days before he died. He also wrote, directed and produced the TCM/Amblin Television series A Night at the Movies. Episodes include George Lucas and the World of Fantasy Cinema, The Horrors of Stephen King, Hollywood Goes to Washington, The Gigantic World of Epics, The Suspenseful World of Thrillers, Merry Christmas!, and Cops & Robbers and Crime Writers''.

Filmography

Documentaries

Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck The Secrets of The Force Awakens Five Came Back Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind Mama's Boy Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail Faye Music by John Williams

Television

A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! A Night at the Movies: Hollywood Goes To Washington A Night at the Movies: Cops & Robbers and Crime Writers
  • ''A Night at the Movies: George Lucas and the World of Fantasy Cinema''

Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries (selected titles)

Steven SpielbergWest Side Story (2021)The FabelmansDuelJawsClose Encounters of the Third Kind1941Raiders of the Lost ArkIndiana Jones and the Temple of DoomIndiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialThe Color PurpleJurassic ParkThe Lost World: Jurassic ParkSaving Private RyanA.I. Artificial IntelligenceMinority ReportCatch Me If You CanThe TerminalWar of the WorldsMunichThe Adventures of TintinWar HorseLincolnBridge of SpiesThe BFGThe PostReady Player One
Alfred HitchcockBlackmailForeign CorrespondentSuspicionShadow of a DoubtRopeStage FrightStrangers on a TrainI ConfessDial M for MurderRear WindowTo Catch a ThiefThe Trouble with HarryThe Man Who Knew Too MuchThe Wrong ManPsychoThe BirdsMarnieTorn CurtainTopazFrenzyFamily PlotAlfred Hitchcock Presents
David LeanThe Bridge on the River KwaiLawrence of ArabiaDoctor Zhivago Ryan's Daughter
Brian de PalmaCarrieObsessionDressed to KillScarfaceBody DoubleThe UntouchablesCasualties of WarCarlito's WayFemme FataleThe Black Dahlia
William FriedkinThe ExorcistCruisingThe Boys in the BandBug
Martin ScorseseTaxi DriverRaging BullCape FearCasino
Robert ZemeckisBack to the Future
Sidney LumetSerpicoDog Day AfternoonMurder on the Orient ExpressNetworkPrince of the City
Peter BogdanovichTargetsThe Last Picture ShowPaper MoonDaisy Miller
François TruffautFahrenheit 451Day for Night
Francis Ford CoppolaThe Godfather Collection
Roman PolanskiChinatownTessOliver TwistThe Ghost Writer
Walter HillThe Warriors
Warren BeattyReds
Arthur PennBonnie and Clyde
Cecil B. DeMilleThe Ten Commandments
William WylerBen-Hur
John BoormanDeliverance
Lawrence KasdanThe Big ChillSilveradoBody HeatDreamcatcher
George LucasAmerican Graffiti
Elia KazanA Streetcar Named Desire
John CarpenterChristine
David CronenbergThe Dead Zone
Orson WellesThe Lady from ShanghaiTouch of Evil
John MillusConan the Barbarian
Mel BrooksThe Producers
Robert WiseThe Andromeda Strain
Jeannot SzwarcSomewhere in Time
James BridgesThe China Syndrome
Joe DanteGremlins
Mel GibsonBraveheart
Gary RossSeabiscuit
Terrence MalickThe Tree of Life
Sean PennInto the Wild
Steve McQueen12 Years a Slave
Lasse HallströmThe Hundred-Foot Journey
Sam Taylor JohnsonFifty Shades of Grey
Colin TrevorrowJurassic World
J.J. AbramsStar Wars: The Force Awakens
Rupert SandersGhost in the Shell (2017)
Matt ReevesWar for the Planet of the Apes
Kenneth BranaghMurder on the Orient Express (2017)Death on the Nile (2022)A Haunting in Venice (2023)
J.A. BayonaJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
James GrayAd Astra
Felix Van GroeningenBeautiful Boy
Mike FlanaganDoctor Sleep (2019)
Miguel SapochnikFinch
André ØvredalThe Last Voyage of the Demeter
Wes Ball