Philip Alexander Gibney (/ˈɡɪbni/; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, Esquire magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time."[1]
Gibney developed an anti-authoritarian view from the journalism career of his father: "They say to succeed you're supposed to suck up and kick down. Well, he was the classic guy who sucked down and kicked up, which is never a good career path! He was at Time, then fired. At Newsweek, fired. At Life, fired." His stepfather was equally an influence on him. "There was something about my father, my mother, and then my stepfather, I think they all ruddered against authority in their own peculiar ways. And that probably rubbed off on me, too."[6]
[The Exterminating Angel is] dark, but it's also wickedly funny and mysterious in ways that can't be reduced to a simple, analytical explanation. I always thought that's what's great about movies sometimes—the best movies have to be experienced; they can't just be written about.[7]
"Objectivity is dead. There's no such thing as objectivity. When you're making a film, a film can't be objective.[8]
Gibney's frequent documentary mode is the expository style akin to Ken Burns- in which the filmmaker relies on testimony from subjects involved in the subject matter and voice-over narration.[9]
Gibney is president of Jigsaw Productions, which produces independent films, documentaries and television series. On June 16, 2020, Imagine Entertainment, a film, television and documentary production company run by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, invested in and acquired an ownership stake in the company.[11] Gibney has been honored by the Yale Film Studies program for his contributions to film culture. In 2010, Utne Reader listed him as one of "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World."[12]
In 2015, Gibney received the inaugural Hitchens Prize, awarded in honor of the late writer Christopher Hitchens.[14] Gibney had previously collaborated with Hitchens on a documentary film adaption of Hitchens's book The Trial of Henry Kissinger.
On June 19, 2008, Gibney's company filed for arbitration, arguing that THINKFilm failed to properly distribute and promote his film Taxi to the Dark Side.[22][23] He sued for over a million dollars in damages and stated that the film has grossed only $280,000.
Filmography (as director)
The Ruling Classroom (1980)
Manufacturing Miracles (1988)
Inside Japan, Inc." (1992)
The Fifties (1997), television mini-series documentary
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: Love Crazy (1998; TV special documentary)
The Sexual Century: Sexual Explorers (1999; TV movie)
The Sexual Century: The Sexual Revolution (1999; TV movie)
^"CBS News". CBS News. September 20, 2015. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
^Gibney, Alex. Interview by Robert K. Elder. The Film That Changed My Life. By Robert K. Elder. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2011. N. p95. Print.
^Gibney, Alex. "DP/30: Alex Gibney on We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks (LA Edition)" Online video clip. DP/30: The Oral History of Hollywood. YouTube, 29 Oct. 2013. Web.
^Tsai, Martin. "Alex Gibney's latest documentary corners Eliot Spitzer"Archived October 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, The Star-Ledger, November 10, 2010. Accessed October 14, 2018. "Even though Alex Gibney has an Oscar, an Emmy, a Peabody and a Grammy sitting on his mantel, his life seems pretty much that of an ordinary Jersey guy. He commutes daily from Summit to his Manhattan office via the Lincoln Tunnel."
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