Jeff L. Lieberman

Lieberman was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and is a graduate of The Mini School at Prince of Wales Secondary School,{{Cite news|url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/movies/vancouver-director-jeff-lieberman-tells-the-amazing-story-of-nina-simone|title= Vancouver director Jeff Lieberman tells the 'amazing' story of Nina Simone|last= Derdeyn|first= Stuart|date=June 12, 2016|newspaper=The Vancouver Sun}} Ryerson University’s RTA School of Media, and UCLA's Professional Program in Producing.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tft.ucla.edu/programs/professional-programs/producers-directors/|title= Professional Programs Alumni Producers and Directors|website=UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television}} Lieberman’s first training in tv/film was through Vancouver’s community access TV program, The Complaint Department, which he helped produce for several years while in high school. He also received theatrical training during a summer at Stagedoor Manor in New York's Catskill Mountains.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

While in college, Lieberman interned at Business News Network, The Mike Bullard Show, Pearson Television in London, and at KGTV, the ABC Affiliate in San Diego, California. An internship with CNN brought Lieberman to the network's New York Bureau, working directly with Maria Hinojosa and Rose Arce, where during the last month of 1999, they covered stories on the impending Y2K technical glitch, the changing demographics of America in the year 2000, and the events surrounding the trials of four NYPD officers charged in the murder of Amadou Diallo.{{cite AV media | people=Lipps, Jessica | date=April 1, 2016 | title= Interview: Jeff L. Lieberman, Director of The Amazing Nina Simone| medium=audio | url= http://lippsonlife.com/portfolio/interview-jeff-l-lieberman-director-of-the-amazing-nina-simone/| location=New York | publisher=Lipps on Life}}

Lieberman went on to write, produce and edit news stories at CBS News and The New York Post, where he covered events all over New York and Washington, DC, including the Obama inauguration, The Times Square terrorist attack, New York’s Fashion Week and the 10-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Speaking to LGBT Weekly, he told them: "I’m a journalist at heart and hope that my films invite people to consider situations in different ways and provoke them into action."{{dead link|date=June 2024}}

From 2002–2008, Lieberman was the Senior Producer of Hurwitz Creative, producing behind-the-scenes documentaries on the making of films, including Ratatouille, The Incredibles, The Chronicles of Narnia, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Troy, I, Robot, and The Bucket List.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Lieberman interviewed actors, directors, producers and crafts people, producing programs that aired on HBO, Fox, Starz, Discovery Channel, and the DVDs of films from Warner Bros, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate. In 2022, Lieberman joined CNN as a Senior Producer in the new documentary unit created for the short-lived CNN+. During that period, Lieberman led a team in the creation of a documentary film on the proliferation of copyright lawsuits in the music industry.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Taking on Taylor Swift had a 2022 primetime broadcast on CNN and received a 2023 Emmy nomination.{{Cite web|url=https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/news-44th-program-v2.pdf/|title=44 News & Doc Emmys|website=National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|access-date=February 24, 2024|archive-date=August 7, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807161614/https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/news-44th-program-v2.pdf|url-status=dead}}

For his first independent feature, Lieberman wrote, directed, produced, filmed and edited the 2013 documentary, Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria. Lieberman journeyed around Nigeria, operating as a one-man crew, meeting Jewish communities throughout Nigeria. The film centers around one young Igbo man named Shmuel, and his quest to find "the true Judaism." The film debuted in 2013, opening at New York's Quad Cinema and in LA at Laemmle Theatres. It was also shown at film festivals in Washington DC, Boston, Toronto, Vancouver, Israel and Switzerland.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Lieberman established Re-Emerging Films in 2007, at the outset of his first documentary feature. Lieberman named his company after his first feature: Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria. Through Re-Emerging Films, Lieberman produced three feature documentaries, two TV pilots (Beauty Queens, Mario The Magician) and hours of content for Disney, Coca-Cola,{{cite AV media | people=Lieberman, Jeff L. (Director) | date=January 6, 2012 | title=COCA-COLA Tour Adelante FEATURETTE-desktop.mov| medium=video | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lJHTCiQTjM | location=Los Angeles | publisher=Coca-Cola}} Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Elsevier, Marlo Thomas and Showtime’s Homeland. Lieberman also co-produced the pro-Obama election video, "Call Your Zeyde".{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Lieberman has said that he is a longtime fan of Nina Simone,{{Cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/2015/07/26/arts-entertainment/nina-simone-misunderstood-no-more/|title= Nina Simone, misunderstood no more|last= Wishna|first= Victor|date=July 26, 2015|newspaper=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}} discovering her music while in high-school. In 2012, Lieberman visited Simone's hometown of Tryon, North Carolina to research the musician. He met many of the men and women that grew up with Simone (then named Eunice Waymon), and began the journey to reconstruct the story of the often misunderstood singer, songwriter and civil rights activist. Lieberman interviewed over 50 of Simone's friends, family, band members, lovers, and fellow activists, including Nikki Giovanni, Eric Burdon of The Animals, Chuck Stewart, Billy Vera, Horace Ott, Lester Hyman, Tom Schnabel, Roscoe Dellums, Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt and Sam Waymon, Nina's brother and longtime band member. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015 and has since played over 100 theatres in 10 countries, being described by The Hollywood Reporter as "frequently dry but comes packed with performance footage",{{Cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/amazing-nina-simone-film-review-832317|title='The Amazing Nina Simone': Film Review|last=DeFore|first=John|date=October 15, 2015|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter}}

In March 2015, Lieberman weighed in on the casting of Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone for the separate bio-film, Nina. In a guest column in The Hollywood Reporter, Lieberman stated that he found the script and trailer of the film to offer an "ugly and inaccurate portrayal."{{cite web|title=Director of Nina Simone Documentary Calls Zoe Saldana Film an "Ugly and Inaccurate Portrayal" (Guest Column)|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/director-nina-simone-documentary-calls-876837|last=Lieberman|first=Jeff L.|accessdate=March 18, 2016|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|date=March 18, 2016 }} Lieberman stated that the sensationalized script was one of the reasons he made his documentary film, in order to counter the dramatic liberties used in the telling of Simone's story in other films. The article was also re-published in People Magazine, The Huffington Post,{{Cite news|title= Director Of 'The Amazing Nina Simone' Doc Slams Forthcoming Biopic|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/director-of-the-amazing-nina-simone-doc-slams-forthcoming-biopic_us_56f174c9e4b084c6722198cd |last= Williams|first= Brennan|date=March 22, 2016|newspaper=The Huffington Post}} The Root,{{Cite news|title= Director of Nina Simone Documentary Says Zoe Saldana Film Is 'Ugly and Inaccurate'|url=http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/director-of-nina-simone-documentary-says-zoe-saldana-fi-1790888117|last= Callahan|first= Yesha|date=March 21, 2016|newspaper=The Root}} BET,{{Cite news|title= Director of Nina Simone Documentary Calls Biopic 'Ugly and Inaccurate'|url=https://www.bet.com/article/5cuv6o/director-of-nina-simone-doc-biopic-is-ugly-and-inaccurate |last= Cummings|first= Moriba|date=March 19, 2016|newspaper=BET}} and Complex.{{Cite news|title= Director of Nina Simone Documentary Calls Zoe Saldana Film "Ugly and Inaccurate"|url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/03/director-of-nina-simone-documentary-calls-zoe-saldana-film-ugly-and-inaccurate|last= Landsbaum|first= Claire|date=March 19, 2016|newspaper=Complex}}

In 2016, Lieberman announced the completion of his first feature screenplay, entitled My Harlem, written in response to an anti-gay Harlem church.{{Cite news |last=Yohannes |first=Alamin |date=September 13, 2016 |title=Filmmaker Takes a Stand Against Anti-Gay Harlem Church |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/filmmaker-takes-stand-against-anti-gay-harlem-church-n646786 |newspaper=NBC News}} Lieberman launched a crowd-funding campaign for the project.{{Cite news |last=Isaac |first=Tim |date=September 11, 2016 |title=Gay Film Set Around Harlem Hate Church Needs Your Help |url=http://www.biggaypictureshow.com/bgps/2016/09/gay-film-set-around-harlem-hate-church-needs-help// |newspaper=Big Gay Picture Show}}{{Cite news |last=Duffy |first=Nick |date=September 16, 2016 |title=Filmmaker sets gay love story outside real-life 'stone the gays' church |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/09/08/filmmaker-sets-gay-love-story-outside-real-life-stone-the-gays-church/ |newspaper=Pink News}} Lieberman says he also wrote the film because "I am a gay man who hardly ever sees my life and dreams on film. I want to see a beautiful, romantic love story between two men that is based in reality with the challenges of dating and relationships but without the pitfalls of dramatic gay tragedy."

Lieberman's 2023 film, Bella!, chronicled the political career of Congresswoman Bella Abzug, with The New York Times calling it a film that "illustrates the merciless challenges of electoral endurance even for the fiercest fighter."{{Cite news |last=Rapold |first=Nicolas |date=August 17, 2023 |title='Bella!' Review: Taking the Fight to the Streets and the House |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/movies/bella-review-bella-abzug.html |newspaper=The New York Times}} The film opened in theatres in August 2023 and continued to tour throughout 2024. Bella! was nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay at The 76th Writers Guild of America Awards,{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Michael |date=February 24, 2024 |title=WGA Nominations: 'Oppenheimer', 'Barbie', 'The Bear', 'Succession' Among 2024 Nods |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/awards/writers-guild-award-nominations-2024-full-list-1235918306/ |website=Variety}} and was selected as joint winner of The Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film at an awards ceremony at The Library of Congress in October 2022. The award is a finishing grant designed to help filmmakers with completion funding.

{{reflist|2}}

• [http://www.re-emergingfilms.com Official Website]
• {{IMDb name|1373686}}

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Category:1978 births

Category:Living people

Category:Toronto Metropolitan University alumni

Category:Film directors from Vancouver

Category:Writers from Vancouver

Category:Jewish Canadian writers

Category:American documentary film producers

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American television journalists

Category:American television producers

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni

Category:Jewish American film people

Category:Jewish Canadian film people

Category:American documentary film directors