Arnold Leibovit (born June 18, 1950) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter of feature films and musical productions. An acting member of the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New media, New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing esta ...

, he has produced, directed, and written several feature films. As part of his career, he has devoted over 40 years to the work of

George Pal George Pal (born György Pál Marczincsak; ; February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after ...

. Included is the production of the George Pal biopic ''

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal ''The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal'' is a 1985 American documentary film about Academy Award-winning producer/director George Pal. It was written, directed, and produced by Arnold Leibovit. Summary The film follows Pal's career, beginning w ...

'', for which he received a

CINE Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer to ...

Golden Eagle Award in the Arts category in 1986 and

The George Pal Memorial Award The George Pal Memorial Award is presented each year, by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, in conjunction with their annual Saturn Award ceremony. The award is given to those who have shown exemplary work in the respective f ...

(also known as the Saturn Award) from The Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror Films in 1987. In addition, he produced other works focusing on Pal including ''

The Puppetoon Movie ''The Puppetoon Movie'' is a 1987 animated film written, produced, and directed by Arnold Leibovit. It is based on the Puppetoons characters created by George Pal in the 1930s and 1940s which feature the eponymous Puppetoon animation, and features ...

''. In 2002 he served as the executive producer for ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

''. Leibovit had earlier obtained the rights to the H.G. Wells

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

and the 1960 MGM motion picture through the George Pal estate. This film was produced under the direction of Wells' great-grandson

Simon Wells Simon Finlay Wells (born 1961) is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing ''The Prince of Egypt'' with Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner. Ear ...

. Arnold Leibovit was born and raised in south Florida, a child of Hungarian ancestry. George Pal was also Hungarian and had fled from Germany to Holland and then to the United States as Hitler was beginning his reign in Europe. Leibovit became interested in Pal and his movies and, as he embarked on his career in filmmaking, Pal rose to the top of his interests. In 1985, he produced the first and only filmed documentary of the life of George Pal.Dvdreview.com

Selected filmography

* (1975) ''Penny Lane'' (writer, director) * (1980) ''Rascal Dazzle'' (associate director, editor) * (1985) ''

'' (writer, director, producer) * (1987) ''

'' (writer, director, producer) * (2002) ''

'' (executive producer)

References

External links

*
Arnold Leibovit on THE FANTASY FILM WORLDS OF GEORGE PALArnold Leibovit on THE PUPPETOON MOVIE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leibovit, Arnold 1950 births Living people American animated film directors English-language film directors Film directors from Florida People from Miami Beach, Florida Historians of animation