Director Rob Lieberman–who won the inaugural Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award for commercials based on his work in 1979, and then went on to take the top DGA honor again as Best Commercial Director of 1995–has come aboard the roster of DNA, Hollywood, for spots. The move reunites Lieberman, a four-time DGA Award nominee, with DNA executive producer Patricia Judice. The two first collaborated years ago at the venerable Harmony Pictures where Lieberman was a founding partner.
Lieberman was formerly repped for commercials by production house Form, which closed when partners Jesse Dylan and Craig Rodgers went their separate ways. (Director Dylan has since launched Wondros while exec producer Rodgers joined GARTNER, SHOOTonline, 7/28). Among Lieberman’s latest ad endeavors is a Form-produced Oreo spot shot in Shanghai and featuring recently retired NBA star Yao Ming.
With a filmography spanning ads, TV and features, Lieberman has to his credit more than 1,000 commercials for clients such as AT&T, Budweiser, Burger King, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Merrill Lynch, Hallmark and Sprint. Over the years, Lieberman’s spots have garnered assorted kudos, including Gold and Silver Lions at Cannes, multiple ANDYs and Addys, and 29 Clio Awards. He also helmed Hallmark’s “Working Mom” for Leo Burnett, Chicago, which earned a primetime commercial Emmy nomination.
On the feature film front, Lieberman has directed D3: The Mighty Ducks, Fire in the Sky, All I Want For Christmas, The Tortured, and The Stranger. He made his feature directorial debut with Table For Five starring Jon Voight who at the time was fresh off of winning the Best Actor Oscar for Coming Home. Lieberman’s newest feature, Breakaway, will be a Special Presentation at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. A cross-cultural story marked by humor, Breakaway centers on a young Sikh-Canadian man who aspires to hockey stardom but first has to overcome several daunting challenges to realize his dream.
Lieberman began directing TV in the early 1980s and has to his credit work for such series as Dexter, Brothers & Sisters, Eureka, Shark, Haven, Lost Girl, The X-files, thirtysomething, Gabriel’s Fire (which he guided as exec producer to garnering three Emmys), Harts of the West, The Young Riders, and Strong Medicine. Lieberman’s longer form TV endeavors include the telefilm Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy, the CBS miniseries Titanic, the TNT movie Second String and a pair of SyFy miniseries–Earthsea and The Final Days of Planet Earth. He directed the pilot and served as exec producer of USA Network’s The Dead Zone, helming many of its episodes during that series’ seven-year run. Of the 19 pilots Lieberman has directed, 16 have sold through to series, an atypically high success rate.
Here’s the trailer for his feature film Breakaway:
Trump Asks Supreme Court To Delay TikTok Ban
President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a "political resolution" to the issue.
The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk.
"President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case," said Trump's amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump's choice for solicitor general.
The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table.
He has been holding meetings with foreign leaders and business officials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida while he assembles his administration, including a meeting last week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger... Read More