I met director Brian Gibson once—in 1989—but it was enough to make a lasting impression. He exhibited a wry sense of humor, an engaging intellect and soulful spirit. We talked about his spotwork and longform endeavors, including Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story, a film he had recently wrapped for HBO—well before HBO became known for its movie producing chops.
Relative to that project, he talked about his commitment to learning—and helping others to learn—about Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor and famed Nazi hunter. Prime ideals in that lesson, he said, are tolerance, justice and never allowing us to forget about the millions of Holocaust victims.
Gibson died on Jan. 4 in a London hospital at the age of 59, after a two-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. His funeral was held in London on Jan. 10. A memorial service is currently being planned in Los Angeles for the many people on the West Coast whose lives he touched. Among those is his friend and former business partner Don Block, executive producer of bicoastal GARTNER. Gibson and Block formed commercial production house Brian Gibson & Associates in ’87. The company went on to become Gibson Lefebvre Gartner, then GLG, which has since closed, but was the spawning ground for several shops, including the ongoing GARTNER.
Gibson’s commercialmaking career started in England. He made his feature directing debut in ’80 with the acclaimed Breaking Glass. Gibson’s successful spot helming career later carried over stateside, initially through the late legendary rep Ray Lofaro. Gibson took a hiatus from the ad arena to direct Poltergeist II: The Other Side in ’86. He returned to commercials via Lofaro, who at that point had transitioned his operation from a production house to a broad-based independent repping enterprise. Lofaro needed a production company for Gibson to work through, which led to his bringing the director together with Block.
"It was a Saturday," recalled Block, "and this meeting turned into an all-day proposition. We made an immediate connection—Brian was such a bright spirit, had a fantastic sense of humor and was highly intelligent. He had a science degree from Cambridge. … He wound up doing science documentaries for the BBC, then got into dramatic work, winning a British Academy [of Film and Television Arts] Award for directing [in ’79 for BBC’s Blue Remembered Hills starring Helen Mirren].
"For commercials, he could get on a conference call, disassemble a project down to its primary components and reassemble it before your eyes," continued Block. "By seeing the spot in a different way, he could fire up the people who created the project about their own work. He was inspiring."
Gibson enjoyed continued longform success with The Josephine Baker Story for HBO (which earned a best director Emmy) and then the theatrical feature What’s Love Got to Do with It, a biography of singer Tina Turner. While his last spotwork with Block was in the early ’90s, the two remained close friends. Both went on to become fathers again later in life. A couple of years ago, said Block, the two were commiserating about being older dads carrying around infants. "We both talked about the little aches and pains, particularly in our backs—it turns out his, though, was this cancer, which we had no idea of at the time."
Gibson is survived by his wife, the former Paula Guarderas; two daughters, three-year-old Raphaela from his current marriage, and Grace, 12, from his prior marriage to actress Lynn Whitfield; his mother, Victoria; and a sister, June.
