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Alex Gibney Biography

Birth Name:Philip Alexander Gibney

Birth Place:New York City, New York, United States

Profession Producer, Director, Writer, Actor, Sound department, Editor, Editorial department

Fast Facts

Was awarded the first Christopher Hitchens Prize in 2015
Received the International Documentary Association's Career Achievement Award
Graduated from Yale University in 1977
Best known as a documentary filmmaker who produced "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" and "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room․"
Founder and President of Jigsaw Productions, which produces independent films, music documentaries and TV mini-series
Dedicated his Oscar win for "Taxi to the Dark Side" to the Afghan taxi driver who was the inspiration for the film
Regular blogger for the "Atlantic," and has also written for "Newsweek," "Huffington Post," "Los Angeles Times" and many more publications

Awards

2005Black Reel-Best Film, Musical or Comedy: winner
2005Canal+ Award-Best Documentary: winner
2005Gotham Independent Film Award-Best Documentary: nominated
2005Grammy-Best Long Form Music Video: nominated
2005IDA Award-Feature Documentaries: nominated
2005LAFCA Award-Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film: nominated
2005Grand Jury Prize-Documentary: nominated
2006Oscar-Best Documentary, Features: nominated
2006Independent Spirit Award-Best Documentary: winner
2006OFTA Film Award-Best Documentary Picture: nominated
2006Documentary Screenplay Award-: winner
2007Gold Hugo-Best Documentary: winner
2007Gotham Independent Film Award-Best Documentary: nominated
2007Jury Award-Documentary: winner
2007Jury Award-Best Documentary Feature: winner
2008Oscar-Best Documentary, Features: winner
2008Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Direction: winner
2008DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: nominated
2008Best World Documentary-: nominated
2008Grand Jury Prize-Documentary: nominated
2008True Vision Award-Documentary: winner
2008Documentary Screenplay Award-: winner
2009Cinema Eye Audience Choice Prize-: nominated
2009Emmy-Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form: nominated
2009Emmy-Best Documentary: winner
2009WGA Award (Screen)-Best Documentary Screenplay: nominated
2010Grand Jury Prize-Documentary: nominated
2010Best Documentary-: nominated
2011Cinema for Peace Award-Cinema for Peace Award for the Most Valuable Documentary of the Year: nominated
2011DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: nominated
2011Grand Jury Prize-Knight Dox Competition: nominated
2011Emmy-Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form: nominated
2011Emmy-Best Documentary: nominated
2011PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures: nominated
2012Grierson Award-: winner
2012Gold Hugo-Best Documentary: nominated
2013Grierson Award-: nominated
2013Politiken's Audience Award-: nominated
2013F:ACT Award-: nominated
2013Golden Firebird Award-Documentary: nominated
2013Humanitas Prize-Documentaries - Special Awards Category: nominated
2013Video Source Award-: nominated
2013Feature Award-Best Picture: winner
2013Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming: winner
2013Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming: nominated
2013Primetime Emmy-Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking: winner
2013WGA Award (Screen)-Best Documentary Screenplay: nominated
2014BAFTA Film Award-Best Documentary: nominated
2014BAFTA Film Award-Best Documentary: nominated
2014Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking for Television: nominated
2014FOCAL Award-Best Use of Footage in a Current Affairs Production: winner
2014Gold Derby Film Award-Documentary Feature: nominated
2014Silver St. George-Best Film of the Documentary Competition: nominated
2014OFTA Film Award-Best Documentary Picture: nominated
2014OFTA Film Award-Best Documentary Picture: nominated
2014PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures: winner
2014Television Academy Honors-The Television Academy Honors - Documentary: winner
2014WGA Award (Screen)-Best Documentary Screenplay: nominated
2014Paul Selvin Honorary Award-: winner
2015ACCA-Best Documentary Feature Film: nominated
2015Black Reel-Outstanding Television Documentary or Special: winner
2015Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special: winner
2015Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming: winner
2015Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special: nominated
2015Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming: winner
2016EDA Award-Best Documentary Feature Film: nominated
2016Amnesty International Film Prize-: nominated
2016Golden Berlin Bear-: nominated
2016Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Production: nominated
2016Cinema Eye Audience Choice Prize-: nominated
2016Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking for Television: nominated
2016DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: nominated
2016Gold Derby Film Award-Documentary Feature: nominated
2016Grammy-Best Music Film: nominated
2016IDA Award-Best Limited Series: nominated
2016OFTA Film Award-Best Documentary Picture: nominated
2016Seattle Film Critics Award-Best Documentary: nominated
2016WGA Award (Screen)-Best Documentary Screenplay: winner
2017Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Production: nominated
2017WGA Award (Screen)-Best Documentary Screenplay: nominated
2018George Morrison Feature Documentary Award-Best Feature Documentary: nominated
2018Emmy-Outstanding Investigative Documentary: nominated
2018Emmy-Outstanding Investigative Documentary: nominated
2018Primetime Emmy-Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking: nominated
2018WGA Award (Screen)-Documentary Screenplay: nominated
2019Emmy-Outstanding Investigative Documentary: nominated
2019Jury Award-Best Documentary Feature: nominated
2019Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special: nominated
2019Primetime Emmy-Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking: nominated
2019Audience Award-Documentary: nominated
2019Best Documentary-Best Documentary Feature: nominated
2019WGA Award (TV)-Long Form Adapted: nominated
2020Critics' Choice Documentary Award-Best Narration: nominated
2020Jury Award-ConScience Award: nominated
2020Bruce Sinofsky Prize for Documentary Feature-: nominated
2020Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special: nominated
2020WGA Award (Screen)-Documentary Screenplay: winner
2020WGA Award (Screen)-Documentary Screenplay: nominated
2021Cinema for Peace Award-Cinema for Peace Dove on Global Health: nominated
2021Critics' Choice Documentary Award-Best Narration: nominated
2021IDA Award-Best Episodic Series: nominated
2021Emmy-Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary: winner
2021Emmy-Outstanding Investigative Documentary: nominated
2021PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television: nominated
2021WGA Award (Screen)-Documentary Screenplay: nominated
2022Emmy-Outstanding Investigative Documentary: winner
2024Indiemusic Schweppes Award-: nominated
2025Cinema Eye Honors Award-Outstanding Achievement in Anthology Series: nominated
2025IDA Award - Honorable Mention-Feature Documentaries: winner
2026Windie-Best Documentary Film: nominated