Who was Robert Lieberman? American Film Director Dead at 75

Robert Lieberman was an American film director who founded the school’s film program and became the first UB student to graduate with a degree in film.

He died at age 75 on July 1, 2023, after battling cancer. However, his death made the news on July 17. He was known for several movies including Fire in the Sky, The Tortured, Titanic, The Stranger, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Final Days of Planet Earth, All I Want for Christmas, Breakaway, Table for Five, and more.

When asked about what he’d tell people looking to get into film and movie making, he said;

“My advice to people who are trying to get in the business is you’ve got to be absolutely fearless and relentless. If you want it, you’ve got to want it with everything in your being, and then you have to pursue it with everything of your being,” he said.

“I wanted to be in this business, and now looking back over my whole career, I love that I spent my life in this business. I got to go to work and have fun. Do what I wanted to do, create what I wanted to create; wake up in the morning with blank canvases and go out and paint, and with somebody else’s money. It’s craziness, and I got to do it for over 50 years,” he added.