Producer and entrepreneur Alex Lieberman has launched Bright West Entertainment, a new film financing and production company with a focus on supporting documentary content.
The company is making a big leap this month. Three of his upcoming documentaries – “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story”, “Subject” and “Rudy! A Documusical” – will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival 2022, which kicks off Wednesday.
“I focus on funding interesting stories and trying to act as a catalyst to help projects come true,” says Lieberman. Variety. “I don’t have a brand filter or a set type of story that I’m interested in making. It is not original to say it, but I love human stories ”.
Directors who have worked with Lieberman say he’s committed to providing them with the resources they need to get their projects done, and commend him for understanding the difficult road non-fiction films often have to take before they are completed.
“I call it the football mom of documentaries,” says Camilla Hall, one of the directors of “Subject”. “It’s the guy who puts the extra hand sanitizer in his bag. He is there to help if there is a problem or a crisis. “
“Rudi! A Documusical producer Ross Dinerstein adds, “Alex is such a smart guy and he’s in tune with the producers’ needs. Independent documentary cinema is a grind and Alex perfectly understands the unpredictability that accompanies the territory and rolls with his fists. “
All three of Tribeca’s releases are hoping to secure distribution deals outside the festival. There’s “On the Line,” backed by Bright West and featuring a first-hand account of Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, as he retraces his family’s journey from the Compton courts to the top of world tennis. The film is directed by Stuart McClave and produced by Chavoita LeSane, son of Williams.
Then there’s “Subject,” the new film from Lady & Bird, the same directing and production team behind Rita Baghdadi’s “Sirens,” which Lieberman also helped finance. Explore the transformative experience of sharing your life on screen by watching subjects from five previous documentaries.
And perhaps most of the breaking cases are “Rudy! A Musical Document.” That is directed by Jed Rothstein (“WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $ 47 Billion Unicorn”) and produced by Campfire Studios and Dinerstein’s Forbes Entertainment. It focuses on the controversial life and career of American politician, Donald Trump’s lawyer and adviser Rudy Giuliani, who has been a public figure for more than five decades. But interspersed with that saga of rise and fall, musical performances by actors are staged. of Broadway.
In addition to Tribeca premieres, Bright West has upcoming projects with production companies such as Soledad O’Brien Productions, Film45 and several films with Campfire Studios, as well as documentaries by directors including Christopher Charles Scott (“Class Action Park”), Patrick Conway (“Black and Missing”), Jessie Deeter (“The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley”) and Steven Robillard (“Ottolenghi and the Pies of Versailles”), among others.
“From an investment perspective, I don’t have a set range,” says Lieberman. “It’s about giving directors the support they need. Sometimes it comes down to running out of $ 50,000 funds, and sometimes it completely finances a movie for well over $ 1 million. The goal is to help artists stop worrying about putting together fundraisers. “
Bright West Entertainment has also become the official partner and sponsor of the Camden International Film Festival’s Filmmaker Solidarity Fund, an initiative launched by the CIFF in 2020 to compensate filmmakers participating in the festival for both feature and short films. In previous years, Camden has offered a percentage of the festival’s virtual box office, but Bright West’s partnership for the 2022 fund ensures that all this year’s directors will receive payment by invitation to the festival. The fund aims to make the festival process easier and less stressful for attendees by alleviating any financial burden that might otherwise prevent them from exhibiting their work.
Prior to launching Bright West, Lieberman oversaw West Coast development for Optomen Productions. Prior to that, he worked on unscripted development at MGM and Stick Figure Productions.