Shawn Levy, Mary McCartney, and Laurence Milstein join Yale Schwarzman Center Advisory Board

New Haven, Conn. — Yale Schwarzman Center announced today that film and television director/producer Shawn Levy ’89, acclaimed photographer and film director Mary McCartney P’21, and PRZM founder and leading Gen Z consultant Laurence Milstein ’17 have accepted roles as new members of the Schwarzman Center Advisory Board.

Shawn Levy, a 1989 Yale College alum, is one of the most prolific filmmakers of the past two decades and is the founder of renowned production company, 21 Laps Entertainment. His projects have consistently garnered massive worldwide success, including the multi-Oscar-nominated “Arrival” and the award-winning Netflix series “Stranger Things.” Most recently, Levy directed and produced all four episodes of the multi-award nominated hit mini-series “All the Light We Cannot See.”

As a director, Levy’s additional film credits include all three installments of the blockbuster “Night at the Museum” franchise, which he also produced. Other Levy successes include “The Adam Project,” “Free Guy,” “Date Night,” “Real Steel,” and “This Is Where I Leave You.” Currently, Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment is in post-production on “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which Levy also directed and which recently debuted the most watched movie trailer of all time.  He has also been tapped to direct and produce an upcoming Star Wars film.

Mary McCartney is a world-renowned photographer, filmmaker, sustainable food pioneer, and published author. As a leading British artist, she has been featured globally, with multi-disciplinary exhibitions in London, San Francisco, New York, Switzerland, and France. In 2015, she was invited by Buckingham Palace to take the official photograph to mark Queen Elizabeth II becoming the longest reigning Monarch. McCartney’s work is held in major private and public permanent collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the National Portrait Gallery, London; The Royal Academy, London; and the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, Paris; and has been commissioned by leading publications including National Geographic, British Vogue, and GQ.

In 2023, McCartney’s first feature documentary “If These Walls Could Sing,” the untold story of the Abbey Road Studios 90-year history, was selected to premiere at The Telluride Film Festival and nominated for a Critics Choice Documentary Award. In 2009, she co-founded the global collective Meat Free Monday with her father and sister and is a global ambassador for Green Monday in Asia. McCartney has also executively produced and presented three seasons of her EMMY nominated plant-based cooking show, “Mary McCartney Serves It Up!” for Discovery+. McCartney has authored a range of fine art photography books, and her latest book, “Feeding Creativity,” which was published by TASCHEN, is a unique hybrid coffee table, portrait, and recipe book.

Laurence Milstein, a 2017 Yale College alum, is the co-founder of PRZM, an award-winning next-gen communications agency with a community of more than 1,000 Gen Z and Gen Alpha members across 20 countries. He helped the American Ballet Theatre become the first U.S. performing arts institution to launch on TikTok and has worked with a range of Fortune 500 brands and non-profit institutions, including Netflix, Central Park Conservancy, American Express, Sony, and Sotheby's. Outside of PRZM, Milstein serves on the board of amfAR: The Foundation for AIDS Research and the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York. In 2021, he was named a Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree for Marketing & Advertising, and PRZM was named "Gen Z Agency of the Year" by the PRNet in 2023.

“I am delighted that Shawn Levy, Mary McCartney, and Laurence Milstein have agreed to contribute their expertise and distinctive perspectives to the Yale Schwarzman Center Advisory Board,” said Yale President Peter Salovey. “The Schwarzman Center is integral to campus life—bringing faculty, students, alumni, staff, New Haven neighbors, and visitors together to engage with the arts, to learn, and to connect. In their new role, Mary, Shawn, and Laurence will be crucial partners in creating opportunities to continue building collaborations and innovative programing. I look forward to joining them in supporting the center’s excellence and furthering its promise.”

Since opening to the public in November 2022, Yale Schwarzman Center has provided, for the first time, a center for university life and the arts at the historic heart of the New Haven campus. The historic 123,000-square-foot building today serves as a multipurpose cultural, hospitality, and wellness hub. The center was envisioned by the university's student governing bodies in 2015 and its six-year renovation project was made possible by a $162.8 million gift from Yale alum Stephen A. Schwarzman '69.

“I share President Salovey’s welcome and thank Shawn, Mary, and Laurence for lending their extraordinary talents to the board,” said Schwarzman. “They add to an incredible group of leaders who will help ensure the center has the greatest possible impact for students and the wider community.”

The Schwarzman Center produces performing arts programs and collaborative arts experiences, fostering community within and beyond Yale’s campus. Most of the center’s programming is free and open to the public, making a wide range of luminaries and emerging artists accessible to all in New Haven. Soprano Renée Fleming, the Jack Quartet, Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae, and musician Sonia De Los Santos are just a few of the names featured in the center’s 2023-24 season.

Peter Salovey, AB, AM, PhD '86 (Co-Chair)
President, Yale University, Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology

Stephen A. Schwarzman '69 (Co-Chair)
Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, Blackstone

Isha Ambani '13
Reliance Jio

Bruce Cohen '83
Filmmaker

Renée Fleming Hon. Music '20
Opera Singer

Kamilah Forbes
Executive Producer, Apollo Theater

Bing Gordon '72, P'11 and P'14
Technology Venture Capitalist, Chief Product Officer, Kleiner Perkins

Carol LeWitt
Director, LeWitt Collection

Tod Machover
Composer, Technologist, Professor, MIT Media Lab

Audra McDonald Hon. Music '16
Actress and Singer

Lorne Michaels P'20
Creator and Executive Producer, Saturday Night Live

Daryl Roth
Broadway Producer

Christine Schwarzman
Broadway Producer

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