David Leaf
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Musicology, Music Industry (Music Documentary, Songwriters), Music Industry

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

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
Catherine Provenzano
Assistant Professor of Musicology, Music Industry (Critical and Contemporary Perspectives on Music Technology)
Stig Edgren
Lecturer in Music Industry (Concerts and Live Events)
Lauren A. Spalding
Lecturer in Music Industry (Music and Activism, Artist Management)
Tiffany Naiman
Director of Undergraduate Programs, Music Industry; Instructor, Music Industry & Musicology (Critical Perspectives, Capstone Sequence, History of Popular Music)
Allison Wolfe
Lecturer in Music Industry (Music Journalism, Audio Storytelling)
Don Franzen
Adjunct Professor of Music (Music and Law, Forensic Musicology)
Amy Kathryn Kuney
Lecturer in Music Industry (Songwriting)
David MacFadyen
Professor of Musicology, Music Industry (History of Music Industry, Music and the Internet, Digital Humanities)
Tony Brancato
Guest Lecturer in Music Industry (Influence and Data Mining)
Thomas Hodgson
Assistant Professor of Musicology, Music Industry (Music and Data, Global Music Industry)
Gigi Johnson
Academic Administrator (Emeritus), Director, Center for Music Innovation
Jessica Schwartz
Associate Professor of Musicology, Music Industry (Punk and DIY)
Monica Chieffo
Lecturer in Music Industry (Influence and Data Mining)
Robert Beamer
Lecturer in Music Industry (Finance and Accounting)
Dae Bogan
Lecturer in Music Industry (Entrepreneurship)
Lee John
Lecturer in Music Industry (Rock/Pop Ensemble)
Catherine Gregory
Lecturer in Music, Music Industry (Artistic Outreach and Citizenship)
Natasha Pasternak
Lecturer in Music Industry (Songwriting, Touring, Songwriter’s Workshop)
Adam Moseley
Lecturer in Music Industry (Studio Production)
Jeffery Jampol
Lecturer in Music Industry (Artist Management and Promotion)
Hans Fjellestad
Lecturer in Music Industry (Music Supervision)
Robert Fink
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Bobby Borg
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Lauren Kop
Lecturer in Music Industry (Digital Production and Beat Design)
Mark Tramo
Adjunct Associate Professor of Neuroscience (Music, Mind, and Brain)
Jonathan Beard
Lecturer in Music (Electronic Music), Music Industry (Audio Engineering)
Judith Finell
Adjunct Professor in Musicology (Forensic Musicology)

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