Marc Levy (edit name/settings)

At the age of eighteen Marc Levy joined the Red Cross in Paris, France and within three years was appointed Regional Director of the Western Paris Department of Emergency Relief. He spent a total of six years with the organization. During this time, Marc Levy also studied at Paris-Dauphine University. At the end of 1983, in his second year of studies, he founded his first company, Logitec France. The following year he left for the United States where he created two companies specializing in computer graphics, one based in California the other in Colorado.
By 1988, he was overseeing the launch of a department dedicated to the treatment of synthetic images in Sophia Antipolis, near Cannes in France. In 1990 he lost majority control of the group and resigned. He was twenty-nine.

Starting from scratch in 1991, in a totally different sphere, he co-founded an interior design and construction company with two friends; an architect and an engineer. The team developed a concept linking technology, architecture and structural engineering. Over the next few years their company, Eurythmic-Cloiselec, became one of the leading architectural firms in France, completing more than 500 corporate headquarters including those of Coca-Cola, Perrier, Evian, Norton, Canal Plus Satellite, and L'Express magazine.

During 1998, Marc Levy spent his spare time working on a manuscript called 'If Only it Were True', based on a story he had invented for his son, Louis. At the beginning of 1999 his sister, a screenwriter, encouraged him to send it to Editions Robert Laffont. Eight days later he received a call saying that it would be published. In October 1999 the film rights of were sold to DreamWorks. Marc Levy subsequently left his architectural firm and moved to London to dedicate himself to writing.

To date, Marc Levy's literary career has been marked by extraordinary success:
His first novel 'If Only it Were True' was the bestselling hardback novel in France for 2000.
'Will You be There?' - bestselling paperback novel in France for 2003.
'Seven Days for an Eternity' - bestselling hardback novel in France for 2003.
'In Another Life' sold over 400,000 copies in hardcover in 2004 making him the number 1 bestseller of the year.
'Finding You' sold over 700,000 copies and made him the best selling author of 2005.
'London Mon Amour' published in France in July 2006, number one on the bestseller lists selling 525,000 copies in hardcover.
'Children of Freedom' published in May 2007, sold over 500 000 copies in hardcover.
The screen adaptation of his novel, 'London Mon Amour' was scheduled for national release in France in July 2008
'All Those Things We Never Said', was published in France in May 2008.
(Source for all rankings and figures: Ipsos / Livres Hebdo)

In March 2008, the combined worldwide sales of Marc Levy's five books exceeded the 15 million copy mark. Marc Levy's books have been translated into 39 languages. His success is not confined to France: all of his novels have been bestsellers in Germany and his total sales there exceed 2 million copies.

When Marc is not writing, he devotes his time to his second great love: cinema. His first short film, 'Nabila's Letter', shot for an international communications campaign for Amnesty International, was screened in March 2004 in three languages: English, French and Spanish. The film was selected for the Valenciennes Short Film Festival and was aired on French TV.

Key Dates:
16 October 1961: Born in Boulogne Billancourt
1969: Primary School in Beaulieu sur Mer
1973: Return to Paris
1979: Joins the Red Cross - (Urban Emergency Unit)
1982: Begins university in Paris (Paris-Dauphine)
1982: Named Regional Director of the Department of Emergency Relief for the Red Cross for the region of Paris
1983: Sets up his first company in France
1984: Leaves for the USA where he founds Rainbow Image
10/1989: Birth of Louis, his son
1991: Founding of Eurythmic-Cloiselec
1998: Writes 'If Only It Were True'
10/2000: Sale of audiovisual rights to book to DreamWorks.
01/2000 Publication in France of his first novel, 'If Only It Were True'
11/2001: Publication of his second novel, 'Will You Be There?'
10/2001 - 04/April 2002: Writes his first original screenplay, 'A Deux Pas de Chez Toi'
02/2003: Publication of his third novel, 'Seven Days for an Eternity'
05/2003: Co-authored (with Sophie Fontanelle) a short story for the collection Short Stories for Freedom for Amnesty International
Autumn 2003: Adaptation of his short story in to a film for a communications campaign for Amnesty International
03/2004: Publication of his fourth novel, 'In Another Life
06/2005: Publication of his fifth novel, 'Finding You'
09/2005: US release of 'Just Like Heaven', the DreamWorks adaptation of 'If Only it Were True'. Starring Reese Witherspoon and Marc Ruffalo, the film opened number 1 at the US Box Office.
07/2006: Publication of his sixth novel 'London, Mon Amour'
05/2007: Publication of his seventh novel 'Children of Freedom'
05/2008: Publication of his eigth novel 'All Those Things We Never Said'
07/2008: Release of film adaptation of 'Mes Amis Mes Amours'