David Leaf
Adjunct Associate Professor - Music Industry and Musicology

Since 2010, David Leaf has been an adjunct professor at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of music where he teaches undergraduate courses in music documentary, songwriting and “The Reel Beatles.”

Off campus, Leaf is a Peabody Award-winning writer best known as a writer/producer/director of such acclaimed films as The Night James Brown Saved Boston, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, the Grammy-nominated feature Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and The Story of SMiLE, and The Bee Gees: This Is Where I Came In.  His most recent films as a director include To Tell The Truth, a documentary on Japanese Internment, and Born To Cry, the story of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dion Dimucci.

As an author, Leaf’s most recent book is 2022’s God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys & the California Myth.

You can learn more about his distinguished body of work at www.leafprod.com

Professor David Leaf's Book Named One of Top 2023 Rock Books
Next to Bob Dylan’s Philosophy of Modern Sound and Bono’s memoir (yes, that Bono), one of the top rock books of 2023 is David Leaf’s God Only Knows: the Story
Top rock-era songwriters share life lessons of success, setbacks in popular UCLA class
Music and movies have been the main components of David Leaf’s 30-plus-year career as an award-winning filmmaker-biographer. His projects have opened up the lives of the greatest music makers of
Marc Cimino
Lecturer - Music Industry (Music Publishing)
Kathryn Frazier
Lecturer - Music Industry
Justin Paul
Lecturer - Music Industry
Jason Feinberg
Lecturer - Music Industry (Digital Marketing and Promotion)
Hans Fjellestad
Lecturer - Music Industry (Music Supervision)
Jeffery Jampol
Lecturer - Music Industry (Artist Management and Promotion)
Erik Madrid
Lecturer - Music Industry (Mixing)
Thomas Hodgson
Assistant Professor - Musicology and Music Industry (Music and Data, Global Music Industry)
Michelle Moreno
Lecturer - Music Industry (Finance and Accounting)
Allison Wolfe
Lecturer - Music Industry (Music Journalism, Audio Storytelling)
Jonathan Beard
Lecturer - Music Industry (Electronic Music, Audio Engineering)
Mark Tramo
Adjunct Associate Professor - Neuroscience and Music Industry (Music, Mind, and Brain)
Ryan Svendsen
Lecturer, Music Industry (Advanced Music Supervision)
Lauren Kop
Lecturer - Music Industry (Digital Production and Beat Design)
Adam Moseley
Lecturer - Music Industry (Studio Production)
Judith Finell
Adjunct Professor - Musicology and Music Industry (Forensic Musicology)
Lauren A. Spalding
Lecturer - Music Industry (Music and Activism, Artist Management)
Dawnyelle Addison
Manager - Music Industry Program
Tony Brancato
Guest Lecturer - Music Industry (Influence and Data Mining)
Stig Edgren
Lecturer - Music Industry
Don Franzen
Adjunct Professor - Music Industry (Music and Law, Forensic Musicology)
Amy Kathryn Kuney
Lecturer - Music Industry (Songwriting)
Catherine Provenzano
Assistant Professor - Musicology and Music Industry (Critical and Contemporary Perspectives on Music Technology)
Tiffany Naiman
Instructor - Music Industry & Musicology (Critical Perspectives, Capstone Sequence, History of Popular Music), Director of Undergraduate Programs in Music Industry
Catherine Gregory
Lecturer - Music, Music Industry (Artistic Citizenship and Community Engagement), Director of the Gluck Fellowship Program
Lee John
Lecturer in Music Industry (Rock/Pop Ensemble)
Monica Chieffo
Lecturer - Music Industry (Influence and Data Mining)
David MacFadyen
Professor and Chair of Music Industry, Professor - Musicology and Comparative Literature
Natasha Pasternak
Lecturer - Music Industry (Songwriting, Touring, Songwriter’s Workshop)
Jessica Schwartz
Associate Professor - Musicology and Music Industry (Punk and DIY)
Chyna Ellis
Assistant to the Chair - Music Industry Program
Robert Fink
Special Academic Senior Associate Dean, Professor - Music Industry, Musicology and Humanities (Music Theory, Analysis of Popular Music, Internships and Industry Partnerships)

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