Teddy Leifer of Rise Films, producer behind HBO’s Cannes Doc “All That Breathes” and “George Carlin’s American Dream”, talks about the company’s growth and why non-fiction is “just a few years from its peak.”

Rise Films is drawing to a close, what has been a monumental month for London productions. Last week, HBO Max released a two-part documentary about the company. George Carlin’s American DreamWhich tells the story of a comedian’s life and a five-decade career with director Jad Apatov.

The Oscar and Emmy winning company also watched his documentary, everything that breathesShaunak Sen’s HBO documentaries sold out earlier this week before being screened in a special screening last night. Deadline announced last week that the company was making a landmark documentary on Sky once in london with hulus We are working Helmer Jed Rothstein. The NBCUniversal project has investigated 14 mysterious deaths in the UK from alleged links to Russia over the past two decades.

It’s the culmination of the company’s 15-year rise to establish itself as one of the UK’s leading independent documentary actors and, for Teddy Leifer, who founded Clothes in 2007, it was a journey that wouldn’t change. .

“When we started Rise Films, nobody paid much attention to documentaries,” says Deadline. “Most documentary directors were considered amateurs. We weren’t in the world of cinema or television, and we were a little scared on both fronts. “

The company opened its doors with an exciting and inspiring story We are together, that Leiffer, who is the general manager of Rise Films, is a producer directed by Paul Taylor. The title, about 12-year-old Slindil and his friends from the Agape orphanage in South Africa, has won more than 20 major international film awards, including Tribeca, Edinburgh and IFDA.

Since then, the company’s products have included an Emmy Award. invisible war Y switchesOscar-winning Russian anti-doping doctor Icarus, A lot Y სა The catch of dreams. You have worked with a wide range of broadcasters and streamers, from Netflix to Hulu, NBCUniversal, ITV and Film4.

For Leiffer, the decision to enter the documentary arena in the early days “wasn’t a business decision, it was a more passionate decision,” he said, noting that before the recent streaming boom, documentaries were more widely available for a global audience. audience of the documentary. They were considered “bad businessmen”.

“But now is still a good time for us, because it means we’ve learned our skills and have a lot of experience working with some great directors on the kindergarten runway, which probably wasn’t as stressful as it is now.” he says.

In fact, the company has worked with many top talent, including British documentary maker Kim Longinotto, a business meeting veteran, as well as partnering with Taylor on a political thriller. The art of political assassination, Set in the dark world of postwar Guatemala. Executive producers on this project were George Clooney and Grant Heslow.

Leifer’s company is powered by a strong in-house team of developers and producers working on non-fiction, feature films and comedies. As for project selection, he says the company remains “agnostic” when it comes to issues.

“We have made many films with a positive social impact, but we are not trying to make films to change the world, we are trying to develop what we really care about with great directors and extraordinary people. “Movie,” she says. “Our current board has a broad flavor, but what connects them is that these are stories that fascinate us and are all directed by teams of directors and producers who are top notch but have varying levels of experience.

Indicates his recent experience with the Sen skin title. everything that breathes, as a prime example of the kind of directors and projects that force you to stand up and pay attention. The project that won the Jury Prize of World Cinema: A documentary at Sundance earlier this year tells the story of two Indian brothers in Delhi who work to rescue and treat injured birds in their abandoned basement.

“Shaunak had a very clear vision of how he wanted to make his film and he never turned it down,” said Leifer. “He was the most amazing employee and what you really expect from a director is someone who has a vision and realizes it, he has it from the start and was incredibly engaging in the conversation. He must be one of the brightest people he has ever met. “

This is Sen’s second feature film, and while Rise Films wants to work on subtitles with talented up-and-coming directors who can perform at an international festival, the company also has the skills and experience to work with more experienced directors like Apatow.

Leiffer has long been a fan of comedian Carlin, someone he considers the “Beatles of comedy” – he’s just as good. A few years ago he contacted Carlin’s daughter Kelly and her former manager Jerry Hamza with the idea of ​​making a documentary. Of course, they often went to different companies to do things similar to George. Eventually, Kelly Carlin and Hamza gave Leiffer and his team a chance.

“Maybe it was the British charm or they trusted me because I often called them from afar to let them know I was serious,” laughed Risas. “But they quickly realized we didn’t want to do anything too mundane and they knew that if they worked with Rise, it would be something we would have editorial control over.”

I was at work The art of political assassination With HBO, when the network, realizing he was working on Carlin’s paper with the executive, offered him a run to run Apatow. “The conversation happened very quickly, they joined immediately. It was a good match. We went into production as fast as possible. “

once in london It is the latest project to shoot Rise Films. Co-produces with Universal International Studios, BuzzFeed Studios and Concordia Studio. A project that looks at two decades of Vladimir Putin’s rule and how he forces Britain to rely on Russian money, thus missing an opportunity for the Kremlin to hold back.

“It’s incredibly timely,” Leifer said. “We are very aware of the situation and this is really an origin story.”

He points out that in the field of documentaries this increased appetite reinforces ambition. Budgets are growing in the non-fiction space – “and they should be, because the audience is there” – and, she says, there are many other exciting ways to finance films.

“Before, if you were shooting a documentary at Sundance and it wasn’t being bought by HBO, Netflix or Showtime, you might not get paid, but there are incredible global buyers and more exciting ways to sell your movies. he says. “You don’t need to sell a movie with just small TV licenses around the world, unless you make a big global sale in the US. It is now a much bigger buyer. “

Although Rise Films has been successful in the documentary industry over the past decade, the company does not operate exclusively in this genre. The troupe is currently filming their hit long-running comedy special ITV2. Plebs, which ends the five-season series. The show, which first aired on ITV2 in 2013, follows Marcus (Tom Rosenthal), his slave Grumio (Ryan Sampson) and the most recent series, Jason (Jonathan Pointing), as they continue to live in ancient Rome. .

Teddy Leifer’s brother Sam Leifer runs the company’s comedy department, which has many projects in the pipeline.

In terms of drama, Lefebvre says it’s a “natural progression” for the company to really enter the drama space and see its first major television series dubbed out the gate. thanks and goodbyeAbout the phone hacker scandals that shook the foundations of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in his early years.

“We’re not really saying we should do a movie or a drama, but we look at things and ask ourselves, ‘What’s the best version of this story?'” Leifer said. “And with this story, we thought that instead of doing a top-down version, we wanted to tell the story of the hackers on the ground floor, and of course that was a drama.

They are collaborating with Saul Dib, the governor salisbury poisoningA hit drama for BBC One. “He’s someone I’ve wanted to work with for years, it’s a wonderful collaboration.”

For Leiffer, he believes the journey of documentaries and their global appeal is only just beginning.

“People talk about this ‘golden age’ of documentaries we’re in now, but I don’t think we’re close,” he said. “I think non-fiction is years away from peaking, because I don’t think we have yet to see the best work from the best directors and producers. The scene is staged, but I truly believe that the best is yet to come ”.