Alice Brooks

Brooks grew up in Los Angeles and New York, the daughter of Candace Coulston of South Bristol, ME, and Stephen Levi, the late playwright who had numerous plays published by New York publishing company Samuel French.^[3][4][5] As a child, she acted in various national television commercial spots and was in a recurring skit on Late Night With David Letterman.^[6][7] Brooks graduated USC School of Cinematic Arts magna cum laude in 2001.^[8]

Her work includes In the Heights, the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway production directed by Jon M. Chu,^[9][10] which received widespread critical acclaim for its cinematography;^[11] and Tick, Tick... Boom!, Miranda's directorial debut starring Andrew Garfield and produced by Ron Howard, based on the stage show by Jonathan Larson.^[12]

Brooks collaborates with Chu frequently; prior to In The Heights, the two worked together on The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers in 2011,^[13] Jem and the Holograms in 2015^[14] and Home Before Dark, Apple TV+'s 2020 crime-drama series.^[15][16][17] She worked again with Chu on the two-part film adaptation of Stephen Schwartz's Broadway musical Wicked for Universal Pictures. The first part was released in November 2024, with the second part scheduled for release in November 2025.^[18]

Her work on The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion from directors Farah X and Lisa Cortés premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win awards from Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, Napa Valley Film Festival and the Sidewalk Film Festival.^[19] Her work has been featured on the cover of ICG Magazine ^[20] Brooks also worked on 2021's Queen Bees, director Michael Lembeck's comedy-drama starring Ellen Burstyn, Jane Curtin, Loretta Devine, and James Caan.^[21]

In 2004, Brooks was nominated and awarded WorldFest-Houston's Independent Short Subject-Films & Video - Cinematography - Shorts Platinum Award for her work on Charlie 2.0, Matthew Hsu's comedy short.^{[citation needed]} In 2024, she and gaffer Dave Smith became the first recipients of the SUMOLIGHT Creative Synergy Award at the 2024 Manaki Brothers Film Festival for their work on Wicked.^[22]

She has been married to Samuel Spencer since September 8, 2012.^[23]