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“The power of filmmaking — we believe this very strongly as a company— is to capture human stories and allow audiences to empathize with people that way,” said vice president of Leviathan Productions Jared Sleisenger ’16 in an interview with The Crimson.

Rarely do films or TV shows capture the diversity of the contemporary Jewish experience. Sleisenger aims to remedy this in his work at Leviathan Productions, a production company centered around capturing Jewish challenges and triumphs.

Sleisenger noted that despite growing up in Los Angeles, surprisingly, it was his time at Harvard that cultivated his love for the arts. He credited an older student who acted as a mentor figure to him for this discovery. The student invited him to produce a Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) show, “Yellow Moon,” which ignited in him a passion to share critical stories.

As he saw his peers at Harvard rush into more traditional career paths, Sleisenger — a self-identified contrarian — was “energized by the idea” of pursuing a path in the arts. He soon realized that there was a “pretty robust” Harvard alumni community in film and TV.

“I just fell in love with that whole world and that whole process, and felt like there was a future career path that could lie in that arena,” Sleisenger said.

Soon after graduating, he began his career at the studio Paramount, where he worked in TV development. He found that although he didn’t concentrate in Film Studies at Harvard, the skills he gained as an English concentrator seemed to inform his work. Learning how to perform critical analyses of literature at Harvard in turn prepared him to do the same for scripts and TV concepts when deciding which projects would ultimately appeal to a larger audience.

Whereas film has been traditionally considered to be more prestigious than TV, Sleisenger argued for the contrary saying that “that stigma is eroding.”

“Streaming opened up a certain kind of budget that just enhanced the creative possibilities of the medium,” Sleisenger said.

Furthermore, Sleisenger emphasized that TV is perhaps a more “communal medium” than other forms of entertainment. People from all over can connect about the new episode of a trending show, often initiating cultural conversation and dialogue.

TV and film can easily reach the same caliber of quality differing in form and strengths.

“There are many creative possibilities that you can pursue in TV that you can’t always in features,” Sleisenger said.

Paramount provided Sleisenger with various perks. He noted that, especially when just starting out in the industry, it was inspiring to be at a large company where something is always in production.

After a few years in Paramount’s corporate environment, however, Sleisenger no longer wanted to be “stuck in a specific role” and wanted to balance the larger entertainment industry “with a more entrepreneurial mindset.”

Moreover, Sleisenger wanted to engage with his passion for Jewish storytelling, rejecting the notion that Jews are monolithic and combating common Jewish stereotypes.

Leviathan Productions offered the perfect opportunity for Sleisenger to combine his desire to work at a smaller company and to produce Jewish stories. At Leviathan, Sleisenger hopes to combat the lack of accurate and modern Jewish representation.

“We surprise people by often saying we are not making Holocaust movies,” Sleisenger said.

Holocaust movies are “amazingly important” and “hopefully continue to get made forever,” but Sleisenger finds it frustrating to see that people are more comfortable with Jewish representation when considering Jews solely as victims of historical atrocities.

Sleisenger shared that Leviathan Productions aims to present different kinds of Jewish stories: ones that highlight “a more authentic, more complex picture” and, most perhaps most importantly, portray “Jewish joy”. He hopes to depict “Jews as heroes of their own stories.”.

According to Sleisenger, the point of watching movies is to put yourself in the shoes of another person and “to set your own personal politics or assumptions aside.”

Anyone should be able to watch a Jewish series or film with no affiliations and still get something out of it.

Sleisenger found his niche in Jewish filmmaking. At its core, film and television are about conveying essential narratives, offering the ability to experience the world through a new perspective. He hopes that more people decide to share their own stories and consider working in entertainment even when it perhaps poses more challenges than a traditional career.

“Don't be deterred that it’s a bit of an unconventional choice,” Sleisenger said.

Sleisenger highlighted that, especially today, it is a great time to choose a career in the arts. He mentioned that “we’re at an inflection point” of AI and streaming, which “presents a lot of opportunities” for innovation. In other words, the industry is looking for new voices.

Sleisenger gave one final piece of advice. He encourages people to experiment and find what their true passions are.

“Find the story you’re trying to tell and how best to tell it,” Sleisenger said.

For Sleisenger, he learned that he wants to center on Jewish storytelling. We each have a story worth telling, a greater narrative to change, and he urges us to share it.