Shawn Levy Net Worth

What Is Shawn Levy's Net Worth and Salary?

Shawn Levy is a Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter who has a net worth of $60 million. Shawn Levy is probably best known for directing many successful comedies and producing the Netflix series "Stranger Things." He also directed 10 episodes of the show. Levy earned four Primetime Emmy nominations for his work on "Stranger Things," and he received an Academy Award nomination for the 2016 film "Arrival," which he produced. Shawn began acting in low-budget films in the '80s, and he soon landed guest roles in more notable TV series and TV movies. It was in 2002 that Levy made his directorial debut with the feature film "Big Fat Liar," a hilarious comedy that turned out to be a great success.

Levy has more than 40 directing credits to his name, including the films "Cheaper by the Dozen" (2003), "The Pink Panther" (2006), "Night at the Museum" (2006), "Date Night" (2010), "This Is Where I Leave You" (2014), and "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024) and the television series "The Secret World of Alex Mack" (1996–1998) and "The Famous Jett Jackson" (1998–2001). In November 2022, it was announced that Shawn was in talks to direct a "Star Wars" film, and in April 2025, Lucasfilm announced that the film would star Ryan Gosling and be titled "Star Wars: Starfighter." All in all, Shawn Levy ranks as one of the most commercially successful filmmakers of the past decade as his films have grossed more than $3.5 billion at the worldwide box office.

Netflix Deal

Levy's most notable recent hit is the Netflix series "Stranger Things." That show was such a huge hit that in December 2017, Shawn signed a multi-year production deal with Netflix that was rumored to come with a $100+ million payday.

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Early Life

Shawn Levy was born Shawn Adam Levy on July 23, 1968, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He grew up in a Jewish household with two siblings. Shawn attended Montreal's St. George's High School, and he studied acting at the Catskills' Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center. He graduated from Yale's performing arts program in 1989, and as a college student, he also became interested in directing. After graduation, Levy moved to Los Angeles and studied film directing at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, earning an MFA degree in 1994.

Career

Levy appeared in his first film, "The Vindicator," in 1986, and he followed it with the films "Wild Thing" (1987), "Zombie Nightmare" (1987), and "The Kiss" (1988). He also guest-starred on "China Beach" (1989), "21 Jump Street" (1990), "Thirtysomething" (1990), "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1993), and "Step by Step" (1993). From 1996 to 1998, Shawn directed six episodes of "The Secret World of Alex Mack," and in 1997, he directed the films "Address Unknown" and "Just in Time." Throughout the rest of the '90s, he directed episodes of "The Journey of Allen Strange" (1997–1998), "Lassie" (1998–1999), "First Wave" (1998), "Animorphs" (1998–1999), and "So Weird" (1999). From 1998 to 2001, Levy directed more than 40 episodes of "The Famous Jett Jackson," and he was an executive producer on the show. In 2001, he directed and executive produced "Jett Jackson: The Movie," then he directed the films "Big Fat Liar" (2002), "Just Married" (2003), "Cheaper by the Dozen" (2003), "The Pink Panther" (2006), "Night at the Museum" (2006), and "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (2009). Five of those films grossed more than $100 million at the box office, with the most commercially successful, "Night at the Museum," earning $574.5 million. On television, Shawn directed episodes of "Do Over" (2002) and "Birds of Prey" (2002), and he executive produced "Pepper Dennis" and directed the pilot (2006).

Next, Levy directed and produced the films "Date Night" (2010), "Real Steel" (2011), "The Internship" (2013), "This Is Where I Leave You" (2014), and "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" (2014), and he directed episodes of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" (2016) and "Imaginary Mary" (2017). From 2016 to 2025, he directed 10 episodes of the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things," and he served as an executive producer on the show. In the 2020s, Shawn has directed and produced the Ryan Reynolds films "Free Guy" (2021), "The Adam Project" (2022), and "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024), and the two co-wrote "Deadpool & Wolverine." In 2023, Levy directed and produced the 2023 miniseries "All the Light We Cannot See." He has also produced numerous projects that he didn't direct, including "The Spectacular Now" (2013), "Arrival" (2016), "There's Someone Inside Your House" (2021), and "Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again" (2022), and he executive produced the television series "Last Man Standing" (2011–2016), "Cristela" (2014), "I Am Not Okay with This" (2020), "Dash & Lily" (2020), "Unsolved Mysteries" (2020), "Shadow and Bone" (2021–2023), "Lost Ollie" (2022), and "The Perfect Couple" (2024).

Personal Life

Shawn and his wife, Serena, have been married since 1995. They have welcomed four daughters together: Tess, Colette, Sophie, and Charlie. In 2008, Levy officially became a U.S. citizen. He lived in Los Angeles for many years, then in the early 2020s, his family moved to Manhattan.

Awards and Nominations

In 2017, Levy earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Motion Picture of the Year for "Arrival." He received Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series for "Stranger Things" in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022. In 2017,  Shawn earned two BAFTA Award nominations: Best Film for "Arrival" and Best International Programme for "Stranger Things." He has received four PGA Award nominations, winning for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama for "Stranger Things" in 2017. Shawn was also nominated for the show in 2018, and his other nominations were for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures for "Arrival" (2017) and Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television for "All the Light We Cannot See" (2024).

In 1998, Levy earned a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs for "The Secret World of Alex Mack," and in 2024, he was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for "All the Light We Cannot See." In 2002, he won a Directors Guild of Canada Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Television Movie/Mini-Series – Children's for "Jett Jackson: The Movie," and in 2013, "The Spectacular Now" was named Best Feature at the deadCenter Film Festival. In 2025, Shawn received Saturn Award nominations for Best Film Direction and Best Film Screenwriting for "Deadpool & Wolverine," and he was honored with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

Real Estate

In 2010, Levy spent $13 million to buy a home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He sold that house a few years later to Trent Reznor for $16.65 million. In June 2018, Shawn spent $11 million to buy a Los Angeles mansion. In June 2021, he sold this mansion for $13.4 million. Around the same time as the Brentwood sale, Levy paid $7 million for a three-bedroom apartment in NYC's Tribeca neighborhood.

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