Louie Schwartzberg (born February 21, 1950) is an American director, producer, and cinematographer. Since 2004, Schwartzberg has worked as a director for films, including the 2019 film, Fantastic Fungi, and the 2014 Netflix series, Moving Art.
Schwartzberg is recognized as a pioneer of high-end time-lapse cinematography. Schwartzberg is a visual artist who explores the connections between humans and the subtleties of nature and the environment.
Early life and education Schwartzberg grew up in Brooklyn, and his parents were Jewish 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 Schwartzberg 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 he 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 the company Moving Art, which produces High Definition 2D and 3D movies featuring nature, cityscapes, and visual effects. He 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 (OWN TV) 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, is the film Fantastic Fungi, released in 2019. Netflix has an additional six topics lined up: Koh Samui, Iceland, Africa, Angkor Wat, whales and dolphins, Big Sur and the Galapagos.
His imagery was previously featured at the Vatican on December 8, 2015, when Pope Francis permitted art and nature projections on St. Peter’s Basilica for the Jubilee celebration, highlighting climate awareness.
In 2022, Schwartzberg released Gratitude Revealed, a documentary 40 years in the making that explores how gratitude can reconnect us to ourselves, each other, and the planet. The film has been featured in over 200 in-person events, more than 50 virtual screenings, and 200 nonprofit partnership showings. It received extensive social media engagement and curriculum downloads, expanding its educational impact.
In 2023, Schwartzberg’s visuals appeared at Tomorrowland and CORE Festival in Brussels. At Tomorrowland, mushroom visuals from Fantastic Fungi were displayed across a 130-foot-wide screen during performances. At CORE Festival, he gave a keynote in a 360° LED installation that immersed audiences in the world of fungi.
In 2024, Schwartzberg’s nature imagery was projected on the 580,000 sq ft LED exterior of The Sphere in Las Vegas as part of a two-year Earth Day installation, using 16K resolution visuals viewed by thousands daily.
Schwartzberg’s upcoming projects include: GAIA, a story of ecological rebirth through a journey into the mycelium network following a planetary cataclysm; Hidden Beauty, a consciousness-shifting project developed alongside psilocybin-based clinical trials; WONDER, a film examining unseen natural phenomena that provoke a sense of awe and exploration.
Speaking engagements Schwartzberg 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 60 million views. Schwartzberg has also spoken at major international events and venues not currently listed in the article, including:
United Nations Climate Summit (COP22 in Paris and COP26 in Glasgow) The Emmy Awards, where he presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to David Attenborough Mindvalley (Estonia) CORE Festival and Tomorrowland (Brussels), where he gave keynotes and immersive art experiences based on Fantastic Fungi The Vatican (St. Peter’s Basilica, 2015), where his imagery was projected as part of the “Fiat Lux” climate awareness installation sanctioned by Pope Francis
Filmography
Year Movie Title RoleNotes2022Gratitude RevealedDirector and Producer2019Fantastic FungiDirector 2019 Moving Art Director Season 3 2015 Moving Art: Waterfalls Director 2015 Moving Art: Underwater Executive producer Mostly focuses on sea animals 2014 A World of Solutions Director 2014 What's Possible Director 2014 4 original documentaries for Netflix: Moving Art Flowers Forests Oceans Deserts Director 2013 Mysteries of the Unseen World Director 2012 Wings of Life Director 2006 Chasing the Light 2004 America's Heart and Soul Director 2002 Men in Black II additional cinematography 2002 Stuart Little 2 additional cinematography 2000 Erin Brockovich additional cinematography 2000 America! for Hallmark Channel 1999 Any Given Sunday additional cinematography 1992 Oceans of Air for Discovery Channel 1988 Vice Versa Visual Effects Supervisor 1985 The Heavenly Kid visual effects 1984 The Ice Pirates time lapse photography 1984 The Glitter Dome time lapse photography 1983 The Jupiter Menace time lapse photography 1982 Koyaanisqatsi time lapse photography 1980 The Final Countdown time lapse photography 1980 Altered States time lapse photography 1980 Xanadu time lapse photography 1977 Aliens from Spaceship Earth
Bibliography Year Title Publisher 2004 America's Heart and Soul Black Light Films 2013 A Good Day: A Gift of Gratitude Sterling Ethos
Awards YearAwardNominated work 2014 NASA Exploring Leadership Colloquium: Award of Honor 2014 Jackson Hole Science Media Awards IMMERSIVE IMAX 3D 2014 Dimension 3 Festival: Best 4K Film 2014 NAPPC Pollinator Protector Award 2013 AwareGuide Editor's Choice for Top Transformational Film of the Year Wings of Life 2013 AwareGuide Inspiration Award Wings of Life 2012 Best Theatrical Program at the Jackson Hole Science Media Awards Wings of Life 2011 Wild Talk Africa Roscar Award Wings of Life 2005 Movieguide Awards Best Film Documentary America's Heart and Soul 2005 Movieguide Awards 10 Best Movies of 2004 for Families America's Heart and Soul 2004 Top 70 Cinematographers, On Film Kodak Salute Series 2001 Hallmark Entertainment Telly Awards America! 1994 Clio Public Service Earth Communications Office “The Power of One” 1994 Clio Public Service Earth Communications Office “Connections” 1994 The Mobius Award The Power of One 1992 Emmy nominated Discovery Channel: Oceans of Air 1992 Telly Award We’ll Amaze You 1990 Gold Promax Medallion The Spirit of Hampton Roads 1989 International Monitor Award for Best Paint Film Design “America" for Baskin-Robbins Schwartzberg 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. Schwartzberg 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.
References
External links Moving Art by Louie Schwartzberg, website