Teddy Leifer is a British film and television producer.[1] He founded Rise Films in 2006, a London-based production company,[2] and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2023.[3]
He has produced a number of films and television programmes, including The Invisible War, Icarus, the Peabody Award-winning documentary All That Breathes,[4] The Interrupters, Dreamcatcher, We Are Together, Rough Aunties, Mayor, The Art of Political Murder, George Carlin's American Dream and Plebs.
He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,[5] BAFTA and the Producers Guild of America.
Career
Leifer’s career began in 2006 with We Are Together, a documentary about the orphanage, Agape, in South Africa, which won the Special Jury Prize and Audience Award at Tribeca Film Festival.[6]
He then produced Rough Aunties, his first collaboration with director Kim Longinotto, which won the Grand Jury Prize in the 'World Cinema — Documentary' category at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.[7] In 2013, as part of a publicly-voted list produced by the Hospital Club, The Guardian Culture Professionals Network listed Leifer in the "100 most innovative and influential people in British creative and media industries".[8] He was nominated for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures by the Producers Guild of America in 2023.[9]
Other credits include The Invisible War (Oscar nominee[10], Emmy winner[11], Peabody winner[12]) and The Interrupters (Emmy winner[13]).
He later produced Longinotto’s Dreamcatcher in 2015, which went on to win Sundance’s World Cinema Directing Award.[14]
Leifer was the executive producer of Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus in 2017,[15] and Mayor in 2020, which won an Emmy.[16] He also produced Dror Moreh’s The Human Factor, about the United States’ 30-year effort to bring peace to the Middle East.
In 2022, he produced All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen - the first film to have won both the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival.[17] The film subsequently received BAFTA[18] and Oscar nominations for Best Documentary[19]. At the 84th awards ceremony, All That Breathes won a Peabody Award for "its graceful portrait of empathy and interconnectivity between nature and man."[20]
Other productions include George Carlin’s American Dream, a two-part documentary directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio which won the 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Documentary[21] and Once Upon A Time In Londongrad,[22] a political thriller about 14 mysterious UK deaths with alleged Russian links, described by The Guardian as “a blazing fireball that could topple our democracy”[23].
Leifer also produced Roman sitcom Plebs, which was the most-watched show in ITV2’s history.[24] The series ended after five seasons with a feature-length special[25] released in 2022.
Most recently, Leifer produced Teenage Wasteland which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival[26], The Balloonists which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival[27], and Nuisance Bear which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival[28]. This latest win makes Leifer the only person in Sundance history to have won the Grand Jury Prize three times (in either documentary or fiction).
Filmography
- Nuisance Bear (2026) (producer)
- Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! (consulting producer)
- The Balloonists (2025) (producer)
- Teenage Wasteland (2025) (producer)
- Plebs: Soldiers of Rome (2023) (producer)
- All That Breathes (2022) (producer)
- George Carlin's American Dream (2022) (executive producer)
- Once Upon a Time In Londongrad (2022) (executive producer)
- The Art of Political Murder (2020) (producer)
- Mayor (2020) (executive producer)
- Plebs (TV Series) (2018) (producer)
- Icarus (2017) (executive producer)[29]
- The Love Commandos (2016) (TV) (executive producer)
- Chancers (2016) (executive producer)
- Dreamcatcher (2015) (producer)
- Who is Dayani Cristal? (2013) (executive producer)
- The Invisible War (2012) (executive producer)
- Too Fast to be a Woman?: The Story of Caster Semenya (2011) (TV) (executive producer)
- The Interrupters (2011) (executive producer)
- Knuckle (2011) (producer)
- The Honeymoon Suite (2010) (short) (producer)
- Road To Las Vegas (2010) (TV) (producer)
- Cowboys in India (2009) (producer)
- Brave Young Men (2009) (TV) (producer)
- Muslim School (2009) (TV) (executive producer)
- Rough Aunties (2008) (producer)
- Project Kashmir (2008) (associate producer)
- We Are Together (Thina Simunye) (2006) (producer)
- The 10th Man (2006) (short) (producer)
- The Unsteady Chough (2004) (producer)
References
- Mitchell, Wendy (2011-01-19). "Teddy Leifer". Screen. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
- "Rise Films". Rise Films. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- "2023 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
- https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/all-that-breathes/
- "THE ACADEMY INVITES 398 TO MEMBERSHIP". press.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- Kay, Jeremy (2007-05-07). "We Are Together wins Tribeca Audience Award". Screen. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- Finke, Nikki (2009-01-25). "SUNDANCE AWARDS: 'We Live in Public', 'Push', 'Rough Aunties', 'The Maid' Win Jury Prizes; 'Afghan Star, 'An Education', 'The Cove', 'Push' Are Audience Favorites". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- "The Hospital Club 100 list 2013". The Guardian. 2013-11-19. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- Byrd, Michelle (2023-02-27). "Producers Guild of America Awards Celebrates Everything Everywhere All At Once, White Lotus, The Bear, Navalny & More with Top Honors". Producers Guild. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- "The Invisible War Nominated for Oscar!". Independent Lens. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- Ritchie, Kevin. ""Invisible War," "Crash Reel" among doc Emmy winners". Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- "Independent Lens: The Invisible War". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- Campbell, Christopher. "'Saving Face,' 'The Interrupters' and 'The Loving Story' Among Winners at the 2013 News & Doc Emmys". www.nonfics.com. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- Vlessing, Etan (2015-02-25). "Sundance Award Winners 'Dreamcatcher,' '(T)error' Headed to Hot Docs". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- McNary, Dave (2018-03-05). "Netflix Wins First Feature Documentary Oscar With 'Icarus'". Variety. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- "POV Wins A News & Documentary Emmy Award for David Osit's Mayor | American Documentary". www.amdoc.org. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- "A Poetic New Film Follows Two Dedicated Brothers Saving Delhi's Black Kites | Audubon". www.audubon.org. 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- "2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards: The Winners". www.bafta.org. 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- ."2023 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/all-that-breathes/
- "George Carlin's American Dream". Television Academy. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- Goldbart, Max (2022-05-16). "'Once Upon A Time In Londongrad': Sky Greenlights Landmark Doc Series From Hulu's 'WeWork' Director Jed Rothstein". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- Seale, Jack (2022-05-31). "Once Upon a Time in Londongrad review – a blazing fireball that could topple our democracy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- "Plebs is getting a fourth series on ITV2". Digital Spy. 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- Plebs: Soldiers of Rome (TV Movie 2022) - IMDb, retrieved 2023-12-06
- "Film Forum · TEENAGE WASTELAND". Film Forum. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- Carey, Matthew (2025-09-11). "'The Balloonists' Ascends At TIFF: Story Of Unlikely Duo Who Attempted First Nonstop Flight Around World In Balloon". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- Grierson, Tim; critic, Senior US. "'Nuisance Bear' review: Sundance US Documentary winner is thoughtful, impactful study of Canada's polar bears". Screen. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- "Oscars winners and nominees 2013: Complete list". Los Angeles Times. 25 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2018-04-10.