Jerry Lieberman Productions | NYC Designer, Director and Producer of Animation
Designer, Director and Producer of Animation
Designer, Director and Producer of Animation
BIOGRAPHY
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Jerry Lieberman
(1938 - 2017)
Jerry Lieberman, Designer, Director and Producer of Animation and Mixed Media, passed away at age 79 on February 23, 2017. His Manhattan-based studio, Jerry Lieberman Productions, created award-winning commercials, music videos, corporate films and educational/ entertainment projects over several decades. Jerry is survived by his wife, Joan, his daughter, Dana and his brother, Ron.
Below is the history of his animated life.
Jerry Lieberman was a Designer, Director and Producer of Animation and Mixed Media. Works include 2D animation, clay animation, combined live-action / animation and motion graphics. His Manhattan-based studio, Jerry Lieberman Productions, created award-winning commercials, music videos, corporate films and educational/entertainment projects over several decades.
Jerry was born in honky-tonk Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Designer, Director and Producer of Animation
While growing up he was immersed in the wonders of the Miss America Pageant, Elephant Hotel, High-Diving Horse, Ice Capades, Mr. Peanut and Salt Water Taffy.
During World War II, dressed up in a soldier's uniform, he sang patriotic war songs to people walking on the boardwalk.
When he was fifteen, he took a photograph with his Brownie camera of Marilyn Monroe on the board-walk. She also signed her autograph for him which he kept in his wallet for many years.
Initially he studied pre-med at Muhlenberg College, but decided to be an artist and transferred to the Philadelphia College of Art. His parents were not amused. During summer evenings as an art student, Jerry drew caricatures at the end of the famed Million Dollar Pier. As he sketched, his drawings were projected onto a screen that attracted huge crowds. Over three summers, he drew thousands of caricatures at 50 cents apiece, and was able to finance his college education.
In the early sixties Jerry served in the army, and then worked as an animation designer at Studio Monitor Pantanella in Rome, Italy.
Upon returning to the US he moved to NYC where he was a designer at Paramount Pictures and Pelican Films. During breaks between film studio jobs, he also worked as a fashion model.
In 1968 he co-founded Ovation Films, an animation and live-action production company, where he began directing and producing.
Since starting his own studio, Jerry Lieberman Productions in 1977, he has produced projects for major advertising agencies, corporations and tv networks. In addition to directing hundreds of commercials, he has created many animated tv segments, show opens and ID’s. Networks and shows include: Exploring (NBC), Hot Hero Sandwich (NBC), Braingames (HBO), Cinemax, Showtime, Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Contact, The Electric Company, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Night, HA! TV, Comedy Channel, TNT, Turner Pictures and Cartoon Network.
Music videos Jerry has directed include: Yakety-Yak (The Coasters/Hot Hero Sandwich), She-Bop segment (Cyndi Lauper/Sony Music) and The Crying Game (Boy George/EMI). His films have been screened at the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum, Film Forum and The Society of Illustrators. He has collaborated on animated projects with many illustrators, such as Lou Brooks, Mark Marek, Kim Deitch, Ed Sorel and Seymour Chwast of The Pushpin Group.
Two successful half-hour shows, Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Video Ever and Richard Scarry’s Best ABC Video Ever were produced for Random House by Jerry through his animation studio. Over the years he has also developed long-form scripts and projects with Michael O’Donoghue and Anne Beatts (Saturday Night Live), Gerald Sussman (National Lampoon), Alexandra Penney (How to Make Love to a Man and Confessions of a Bag Lady) and Soupy Sales (The Soupy Sales Show/CBS).
Teaching credits include: NYU (experimental film), School of Visual Arts (advanced graphic design), University of the Arts (senior animation thesis project) and Parsons (masters program).
Awards include: ASIFA-East Awards, International Animated Film Festivals including Annecy, Zagreb and Hiroshima, Chicago Film Festival, NY Festivals, CLIO Awards, NY Art Directors Awards, Hollywood Radio and Television Society and many more.
