For more than 30 years, filmmaker Sandra Levine, has used her skills in great storytelling to inspire good. From producing documentaries, to reporting news, to helping raise tens of thousands of dollars for charity, Sandy has devoted much of her professional life to social journalism. She has been nominated 10 times for regional Emmy Awards.
Sandy’s career began in 1985, “pulling cable” at a television station in New Jersey. She worked as a producer and reporter for NJN Public Television, New Jersey’s PBS affiliate, for 23 years, where a highlight was creating a documentary about the great white sharks off South Australia. For that production she donned scuba gear and dove into a steel cage to film the awesome creatures.
The daughter of a veterinarian, Sandy is a lifelong lover of wildlife, pets, and nature, and today uses storytelling about them to help reconnect us to joy. She was the longtime host and producer of NJN’s Homeless Tails, a television program that helped homeless dogs and cats in New Jersey find loving caregivers, and educate viewers about important humane issues. She also was the host of The Best Years on Ocean County College’s Ocean TV-20.
In an effort to help others facing difficult challenges, Sandy also presents keynote speeches and seminars including “The Chaos of Caregiving & Stories of Healing,” sharing the story of her husband’s near death from a rare neurological illness, and his eventual remarkable recovery. She also uses multimedia journalism to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease, as she supports her own mother along her devastating journey.
As a Jersey Shore native, Sandy considers her company’s poignant documentary, Heartbreak & Healing After Sandy to be among its most important work. The one-hour film that aired on NJTV and WHYY (PBS), explores 2 years of recovery in northern Ocean County following Superstorm Sandy’s devastation. In addition to documentary films, Sandra Levine Productions creates projects for higher education, corporate, and nonprofit clients. A favorite assignment involved going on safari in South Africa to create the “African Sojourn” video that helped raise $80,000 at a charitable art show.
Sandy is a graduate of Rutgers University and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She served on the board of the United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties for 10 years, and is past secretary of the Ocean County Business Association’s board of trustees. For her work on television and in the community, Sandy has been inducted into the Toms River Schools Hall of Fame, and she has been honored by organizations including The Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey.