Laurent Bouzereau

Laurent Bouzereau is the director of the upcoming event documentary on composer John Williams, produced by Amblin Documentaries, Imagine Documentaries & Nedland Media.

Recent films include 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 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 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 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 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 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, the 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 (2023), 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.

Laurent Bouzereau is the co-founder of Nedland Media, with his partner Markus Keith. Together, they are developing narrative films, television series and documentaries.

Bouzereau directed and produced a documentary about actress Faye Dunaway. Faye is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and later on HBO and Max in 2024.

Documentaries

• Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck (2013)
• Steven Spielberg & John Williams: The Adventure Continues (2017)
• Five Came Back (2017)
• Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2019)
• Mama's Boy (2022)
• Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford (2023)
• John Williams (2024)
• Faye (2024)

Television

• A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics (2009)
• A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)
• A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011)
• A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! (2011)
• A Night at the Movies: Hollywood Goes To Washington (2012)
• A Night at the Movies: Cops & Robbers and Crime Writers (2013)
• A Night at the Movies: George Lucas and the World of Fantasy Cinema (2014)

Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries (selected titles)

• The De Palma Cut: The Film of America's Most Controversial Director (1988)
• The Alfred Hitchcock Quote Book (1993)
• The Cutting Room Floor: Movie Scenes Which Never Made It To The Screen (1994) ISBN 978-0806514918
• Ultraviolent Movies: From Sam Peckinpah to Quentin Tarantino (1996)
• Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays (1997)
• The Making of Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) (Co-author with Jody Duncan)
• E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial: From Concept to Classic (2002) (Contributor)
• Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind The Man (2003) (Co-author with Pat Hitchcock O'Connell)
• The Art of Bond: From Storyboard to Screen (2006)
• The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films (2008) (Co-author with J.W. Rinzler)
• Hitchcock, Piece By Piece (2010)
• Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2011) (Contributor)
• Lincoln, A Steven Spielberg Film: A Cinematic and Historical Companion (2012) (Contributor)
• West Side Story: The Making of the Steven Spielberg Film (2021)
• Spielberg: The First Ten Years (2023)
• The De Palma Decade (2024)