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steven leckart

@leckart

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filmmaker • investigative journalist

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Today — Sept. 29, 2025 — is the 10-year anniversary of the pub date for our Cabin Porn book! We spent 2014 traveling, photographing, writing, editing, and designing our original hardback book that’s since been translated into eight languages. Kudos to our team — @zachklein, @noahkalina, @mattcassity, and @kristen_fortier! Special shoutout to all of our contributors. And, of course, many thanks to our readers🌲#cabinporn

📸: @noahkalina by @leckart

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a year ago

Feeling very proud of my good friend Steven Leckart for the upcoming launch of his fantastic verite short AN UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE which premieres at the @montclairfilm later this month.

Steven came to us a number of years ago with a passionate plan to follow the work of outspoken Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza. However just as filming began, Vladimir was arrested during a trip to Russia, eventually being sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian penal colony for treason tied to his work denouncing the war in Ukraine.

Instead Steven turned his camera to Vladimir’s wife, the indomitable Evgenia, who was suddenly thrust into the spotlight and forced to leave her children at home to travel the globe doing everything she could to get her husband freed.

The resulting film is a portrait of resilience of the highest order as Evgenia bravely confronts not only a personal tragedy, but the machinations of the Putin regime. by @leckart

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13 days ago

Grateful to see that 4+ years later, listeners are still discovering WILD THINGS: Siegfried & Roy 🪄💫 by @leckart

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4 months ago

Thrilled to share that AN UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE will have its U.S. premiere at the Montclair Film Festival on October 18.

I started talking about making this film in 2021 with my close friend Orlando von Einsiedel, who — among many other things — signed on to produce and encouraged me to film all the vérité myself... something I’d never done before.

Over three years, I followed Evgenia Kara-Murza across seven countries as she fought to free her husband, Russian opposition politician and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

When our executive producer Meghan McCain first introduced me to Vladimir in 2021, we had intended to follow and film him as he continued his work with @4freerussia. By the time filming started in 2022, none of us knew whether Vladimir would ever come home. Then, in August 2024, he was unexpectedly freed as part of the largest multinational prisoner exchange since the Cold War.

What began as a film about political activism became, for me, a story about love and endurance — and what it takes to keep someone present when they’ve been taken away.

I’m incredibly proud that we are finally sharing our finished film with an audience. And I’m even more grateful that Vladimir has been able to watch what we captured.

Screening as part of SHORTS FROM THE FRONT LINES on October 18 at 4:30 PM at The Clairidge in Montclair, NJ. by @leckart

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21 days ago

Highlighting director Steven Leckart!

Steven is a long time friend of Grain’s and we are currently in production with him on a highly creatively ambitious feature doc.

Steven is an Emmy-winning filmmaker and investigative journalist whose work spans film, television, podcasts, and long-form journalism.

His credits include STANS, CHALLENGER: THE FINAL FLIGHT, WHAT’S MY NAME: MUHAMMAD ALI, and LEGACY: THE TRUE STORY OF THE LA LAKERS. His wildly popular original podcast WILD THINGS: SIEGFRIED & ROY is currently being adapted into an Apple TV+ limited series starring Jude Law and Andrew Garfield.

Look out for our new project together dropping in 2027… by @leckart

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4 months ago

We almost made a documentary about Civil War reenactors.

Then COVID killed the shoot before we ever made it to the battlefield.

Years later, Steven Leckart and I looked back at the emails, the pitch, the subject, the podcast version, and the lesson hiding inside the wreckage:

In docs, waiting for permission can become its own battlefield.

New Almost Greenlit. Link in bio.

#AlmostGreenlit #DocumentaryFilmmaking #IndieFilm #FilmIndustry #CreativeProcess #Gettysburg #Storytelling #NonfictionFilm #Substack #FilmCommunity by @leckart

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4 months ago

Nine years ago, on June 14, my friend Mikey was shot and killed at his work in San Francisco.
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I met Mikey in 2007, when I moved to the neighborhood where he drove his UPS route. For 9 years, we saw each other a few times a week, every week. I’d be out walking my dog and suddenly hear a deep bellowing “STEEEEVE!” From his truck, Mikey would wave and smile, and often slow down for a chat. ⁣When my wife was pregnant, he would stop just to ask how she was feeling.

Mikey was a big man with a big heart and a big family that includes his five children. He and I talked about parenthood all the time; we agreed it’s a difficult but amazing and rewarding experience. After my wife and I had our second kid, Mikey told me, “Embrace the chaos.”
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The fact Mikey died young, at age 46, is a tragedy. That my friend Mikey is a victim of gun violence is an outrage.⁣
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Today, I made a donation to @momsdemand to support gun control taken in San Francisco, California by @leckart

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4 months ago

making @cabinporn, 2014

📸: @noahkalina taken in Wonder Valley, California by @leckart

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8 months ago

Happy Birthday, @llsf! 👸♾️ by @leckart

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9 months ago

#annuallist_sl #2025 by @leckart

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10 months ago

New and very exciting work in production with the wonderful @leckart in the directing chair.

Steven joins us hot the on heels of his smash hit @eminem documentary #Stans by @leckart

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a year ago