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MARTIN LEWIS MINI-BIOGRAPHY
(with additional notes relating to his work with Pete Townshend) Martin Lewis is a British-born commentator, columnist, writer and producer - based in Los Angeles - who covers politics and pop culture for a variety of American and British media - including Britain’s BBC. In recent years he has become a familiar presence on American TV speaking on topics ranging from politics to pop-culture on a wide range of networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, Court TV, HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, VH1 and E! Earlier in his life, Lewis was a successful producer of films, TV, stage-shows and records with some of Britain’s leading comedians (including Monty Python, Peter Cook, Billy Connolly and Rowan Atkinson) and rock musicians – including Pete Townshend. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, he personally recruited some of the world’s top rock musicians to the ranks of Amnesty International - including Pete Townshend, Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof - and produced their landmark benefit performances for the organization. Lewis suggested the then-radical idea that the musicians perform their hits acoustically - and the striking sets by those artists (which in the case of Townshend, Sting, Collins and Geldof were also their first-ever solo live appearances) are frequently cited as having been the inspiration for MTV’s “Unplugged” phenomenon which followed a few years later. Lewis’ productions for Amnesty are also widely credited with having contributed to the increased involvement of rock musicians in social and political issues in the succeeding years. Bob Geldof (who subsequently created Band Aid and Live Aid), Peter Gabriel, Sting and U2’s Bono have all publicly attributed their initial activism to Lewis’“Secret Policeman’s Ball” benefit shows with Pete Townshend. Lewis’ work with Amnesty culminated in the 1988 “Human Rights Now!” World Tour featuring Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel and Tracy Chapman - a tour which he conceived - and subsequently developed with Amnesty USA Executive Director, Jack Healey. Lewis was the Associate Producer of the DVD Edition of the film version of Pete Townshend's 1973 rock opera "Quadrophenia" - released by Rhino Home Entertainment in 1998. In June 2002 - Lewis produced and hosted "Won't Get Filmed Again!" - a one-day film festival tribute to The Who. It was presented under the umbrella of the American Cinematheque's annual "Mods & Rockers Film Festival" of 1960's related movies - held in Hollywood every year since 1999. With the sudden death of John Entwistle just three days before the event - the event was transformed into an impromptu tribute to Entwistle - and was attended by many grieving fans in the California area. Lewis is a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of The American Cinematheque – the Los Angeles-based non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating the art of the motion picture. On this Board he serves alongside such industry luminaries as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Mike Nichols, Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn and Barry Diller.
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