Greg Scott Reitman ( born May 10, 1971) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, executive producer, national best-selling author, public speaker, and founder of Blue Water Film Institute, Blue Water Film Festival, and Blue Water Summit. He is best known for directing, producing, and writing films: ‘Hollywood’s Magical Island- Catalina’ (2003), ‘Fuel’ (2008), ‘Rooted in Peace’ (2016), ‘Crypto’ (2019) and ‘5 Pounds’ (2024). Widely regarded as Hollywood’s “Green Filmmaker” Movie Maker Magazine describes him as “one of the top ten filmmakers producing content that impacts our world.” He is the founder of Blue Water Entertainment, Inc. (2000), an independent production company focused on environmentally conscious broad-based entertainment.
Blue Water Institute
In 2020, Greg Reitman founded the Blue Water Institute, a non-profit committed to preserving the planet through the art of environmental storytelling. The Blue Water Film Institute’s mission is to encourage attendees to think broadly about how climate change affects planet Earth and deeply about the universal concerns and actions needed to bring us into balance.
Reitman went on to found the Blue Water Film Festival, an annual event in San Diego, CA, that features 40 shorts, features, documentaries, and animated films from 34 countries. The festival concludes with the Blue Water Awards. Past honorary recipients include Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, Yvon Chouinard, surf legends Damon Hopgood and Rob Machado, film director Robert Connolly, and underwater photographer Valerie Taylor.
Reitman also founded the Blue Water Summit USA, an annual gathering of leading marine scientists, activists, and storytellers coinciding with World Oceans Day, June 8th. Past recipients include Fabien Cousteau, Dr. Gregory Stone, Hannah Testa, Heather White, Captain Paul Watson, Romio Shrestha, Keb Mo, Vasser Seydel, Sean Stone, Daisy Kendrick, Peter Harper, Danni Washington, Dr. Dan Siegel, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, Stephanie Rainey, Joolz Jones, Ronee Martin, Dianna Cohen, Kristal Ambrose, Emily Broughton, Kate Nelson, Joao Sousa, Ashlan Cousteau, Philipe Cousteau, David Rothschild, Captain Oona Layalle, Aaron Berger, Amir Dousal, Jessi Turner, Andrea Neal, UN Ocean Ambassador Peter Thomson, Tina Dalton, Sally Aitken, John Weller, Cassandra Brook, Tim Gabriel Andrea Crosta, Susan Koehler, Kalani Souza, Garth Stevenson.
In 2022 Reitman co-founded the Blue Water Summit Australia with William Ehmcke focusing on the greater Pacific region. Past recipients Dan Monceaux, Jane Bamford, Mickey O’brien, Prue Francis, Tony Bartram, Alex Noble, Matt Blyth, Derek Walker, Kate Rodda, Lyn Goldsworthy, Peter Maddern, Rob Lewis, and filmmaker Mike Libecki.
About Greg Reitman
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
Reitman was born in Long Island, New York, the son of Albert A. Reitman and Harriet Friedman. Reitman has one older sister, Elizabeth Reitman. Reitman is of Greek, Austrian, and Ukrainian ancestry. His patrilineal great-great-great-great-grandfather, a Jewish Rabbi named Isaac Isaac Luria, commonly known in Jewish religious circles as “Ha’ARI” (meaning “The Lion”), “was considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah. Reitman attended Camp Oquago in his early adolescent years, which inspired him in the fields of arts, theater, sports, and entertainment. In 1989, Reitman graduated from Nanuet High School in New York. Reitman attended the University of Arizona, where he was a Zeta Beta Tau fraternity member before transferring to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Reitman received a BA in History. His early roots for the love of the oceans and nature crystallized during university life, where he became a certified PADI underwater scuba diver, underwater photographer, and organizer of a tree planting mission, The Giving Tree: Rooted in Peace with Hillel and Jewish National Fund. He studied abroad at Tel-Aviv University in Tel-Aviv, Israel; Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan; and the Syracuse abroad program in Florence, Italy. In Florence, he studied the Italian cinema masters, which nurtured his early interest in film. Reitman returned to attend graduate school in 2000 at UCLA Film & Television Extension program, receiving a degree in Film & Television and Marketing and Distribution. For his first directing assignment, he was hired by legendary musician Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar. In 2008, he continued his film education, receiving a Producers Masters Film Certificate through the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and Tel-Aviv University. In 2010, Reitman befriended film director David Lynch, where he learned ™ meditation. In 2019, Reitman became an adjunct professor at NYU-Tisch, teaching the essentials of marketing and distribution.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
Film Career Reitman’s first feature film, Hollywood’s Magical Island – Catalina, Reitman, produced with Mike Fenton and narrated by Peter Coyote, debuted at the 2003 Temecula Film Festival and was the recipient of the Audience Award. The documentary was released nationally through American Public Television to PBS. It aired as a pledge show in 2004 with Reitman and talents Tony Dow and Kathleen Quinlan on KOCE and in 2010 on KCET with Reitman, actor Tony Dow, and co-producer Chuck Liddell. In 2023, Blue Water Entertainment re-released the film in the Avalon Theatre as a 20th Anniversary special with Reitman and actors Gregory Harrison and Kathleen Quinlan, where it plays throughout the year on Catalina Island. His second feature film, Fuel, generated great buzz after it premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival winning the Sundance Audience Award for Best Documentary, was released theatrically in the United States and became a global sensation gaining over 1 million viewers on Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, and CNBC. The movie was screened in the White House for energy and environment staff working in the Obama Administration. His third feature film, Rooted in Peace, 2016 debuted at the United Nations, won the New York Festival Best Feature Documentary, Impact Award for Excellence, was released theatrically, and subsequently streamed on Amazon Prime and iTunes. The film features Deepak Chopra, Donovan, Mike Love, David Lynch, Greg Reitman, Pete Seeger, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His fourth feature film, Crypto, starring Kurt Russell, Reitman served as an Executive Producer with Siena Oberman. In 2019, it was released theatrically by Lions Gate, Film Mode International, and streams on Hulu. In his fifth feature film,5 Pounds, starring Luke Evans, Reitman served as an executive producer with Zac Adams. In 2024it was released theatrically by Lions Gate and streams on Hulu. Author In 2004, Greg Reitman self-published the mini coffee table book Hollywood’s Magical Island – Catalina. In 2016, after the movie Rooted in Peace was released and garnered worldwide attention, publisher Llewellyn Publications published his work Rooted in Peace: An Inspiring Story of Finding Peace. In 2017, Reitman became a national best-selling author winning: Best Spiritual Author (Spirituality & Health Magazine); Best Spiritual Real-Life Story (Spirituality & Health Magazine); & Best Memoir (Living Now Book Awards). In 2018, Brilliance Publishing, an Amazon Company, released the audible narrated by Reitman. Journalist In 2008, after producing the acclaimed documentary Fuel, Reitman was asked to chronicle climate change and the movement as a journalist, first for The Environmentalist and then for The Huffington Post. His environmental articles published include Chasing Ice – The Climate Debate Is Over; UN Launches Year of the Int’l Forest; Is Climate Change Reversible? Can Regenerative Agriculture Farming Solve the Climate Crisis?; “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”; Investigates the Making And Unraveling of a Radical Environmental Group; “Ode to Peace” to Resound Around the World on International Day of Peace; The Climate War Comes to Australia: The Great Barrier Reef; The man behind Earth Day Texas Trammel S Crow leads the nation honoring the 45th Anniversary of Earth Day; Your Brain on Ocean: Neuroscience and Ocean Exploration; Global Green kicks off Oscar Week with Singer/Songwriter Stevie Wonder; and Madécasse Chocolate Raises the Bar this Earth Day in providing Money for Madagascar Disaster Relief. Host In 2014, Reitman produced a weekly show in Hollywood with TradioV On The Green Carpet. Weekly episodes featured the latest developments in the green marketplace, from fashion to sports to music to an inside profile of Hollywood’s greenest celebrities leading the green movement. Featured season one guests included head of Marketing, Fender Musical Instruments Corp, Del Breckenfeld, producer Steven Powers, music producer Mark Johnson, screenwriter Mark Monroe, activist Peter Greenlaw, nutritionist Marilyn Diaz, composer Miriam Cutler, singer/songwriter Margie Balter, animator Kurt Kushin, filmmaker Jonathan Blank, filmmaker Betsy Chasse, filmmaker Eliza Kubaraska, musician Ronny Morris, manager Charisse Reneau, filmmakers Kurt Pitzer and Kimberly Levin, producer Seth Caplan, actress Hayley Lu Richardson, filmmaker David Salzberg, producer Mike Trella, war veteran Jerry Yellin, Dr. Dubin, music supervisor Mike Meeker, producer Keen Wang, filmmaker Michael Pearlman, activist Jennifer Zeng, producer Holly Mosher, filmmaker John Wellington Ennis, and producer Brad Friedman. Public Speaking Reitman began his public speaking career back in 1996 when working for Meta Group Australia and Meta Group USA as a featured speaker in multimedia, electronic document management, and media. He continued his writing and public speaking career while working at LSI Logic, speaking at the NAB 2000 technology conference as the keynote speaker. He continued his public speaking career focusing on transformative thought and entertainment at leading eco summits and film festivals and guest lecturing at universities such as Aspen Renewable Energy Summit, ASU – Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Boston University, Cannes Int’l Film Festival, Columbia College, Columbia University, David Lynch Masters Film Program, Digital Hollywood, Earth X, Fordham University, Int’l Screenwriter’s Association, Oracle Conference, Maharishi School of Management, Montreal World Film Festival, NYU-Tisch, Sequent Computer Systems New Zeland, SMPTE, Sundance Film Festival, UCLA, UMASS Amherst, United Nations, UNOPS, University of Santa Cruz, Vancouver Sustainable Forum and the Waldorf Schools to name a few.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
Think big, dream big, and never forget the people who helped you along the way.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
On the set filming my feature film Snap in Australia
Greg Reitman & Our Community
Q: What are a few of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Jake’s Del Mar, Il Fornaio, Del Mar Seaside Grill, to name a few.
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
Greg Reitman has been working in the Del Mar community for the past five years.
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
Mary Munk at the Walter Munk Foundation.
Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?
WildCoast and Ego Id Media.
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
Love how we all find our way down to the beach for those Ocean sunsets.
Q: If you could choose anyone alive today who is not a relative, with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where would you meet locally for this lunch?
Yvon Chouinard at the Del Mar Seaside Grill
For Fun
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, One Flew Over the Cookoo Nest
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
That I love to garden
Q: What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
Someone who shows up early, pays for the bill, and asks, “what can I do help?”!
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
I love it when I meet people who care about the environment and want to do something about it
Q: What community organizations and/or local nonprofits do you admire/support?
Wildcoast
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
He who fails to prepare prepares to fail. The key to life is all about the preparation.
Q: What Neighborhood do you live in?
Del Mar
What I love about my Neighborhood:
The chirping of the birds.
Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend:
I’ll wake up and have a smoothie. I’ll walk on the beach with my girlfriend, Oksana. I’ll come home and make homemade pesto. I’ll watch a movie.
Q: Finally, what three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Peace, tranquility, and love.
