Alex Gibney is an activist documentarian as well as the co-founder and president of film studio Jigsaw Productions. Giney’s most notable films include Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, a film about the decline of energy company Enron, as well as a 2007 documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, a film about enhanced interrogation practices used under the George W. Bush administration during the War on Terror.  ^{1  2  3  4}

Background and Education

Alex Gibney was born on October 23, 1953, in New York City. He is married to Anne Gibney, with whom he has three children. Gibney graduated with a degree in Japanese studies from Yale University and attended film school at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Gibney dropped out of UCLA to become an editor at Samuel Goldwyn Co. ¹

Career

Alex Gibney is known for his 2005 documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, a film about the business practices and later decline of energy company Enron, as well as his 2007 documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, a film about alleged interrogation practices used under the George W. Bush administration during the War on Terror. ^{3  4}

Gibney also directed the 2005 documentary The Dark Money Game on influence in American politics in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling that lifted restrictions on certain political spending.  ⁵

Gibney is the founder and president of film studio Jigsaw Productions. Films and TV series produced by Jigsaw Productions include The Dark Money Game, Furry Detectives, Unmaking a Monster, The Bibi Files, In Restless dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, The Ruling Class, Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, The Crime of the Century, Kingdom of Silence, and Agents of Chaos.  ^{2  6}

Jigsaw Productions also produces several podcasts including Search Engine, Bad Bets, The Line, and Lies We Tell. ⁷

Jigsaw Productions argues that it is “committed to establishing, supporting, and cultivating a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” ⁸

Political Donations and Activism

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Gibney has made 12 reportable donations to Democratic politicians or Democratic Party-aligned organizations between 2020 and 2024, including two donations totaling $1,250 to support the congressional candidacy of David Seagal, who lost in the Democratic primary for Rhode Island’s second district; $250 to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY); and multiple donations to the online clearinghouse of the Democratic Party ActBlue. ⁹

Awards and Nominations

Alex Gibney has previously been nominated for two Academy Awards, winning one. His documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2006, and his documentary Taxi to the Dark Side won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2008. He has also been nominated for four Emmy awards for the documentaries Laurel Canyon, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, Divide and Conquer, and City of Ghosts, and Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief. Going Clear won the Primetime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming” in 2015.  ^{10  11}

1. “Alex Gibney.” IMDB. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316795/bio/. 
2. “Team Members.” Jigsaw Productions. Accessed September 25, 2025. https://www.jigsawprods.com/team/. 
3. “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.” IMDB. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/. 
4. “Taxi to the Dark Side.” IMDB. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0854678/. 
5. Rampell, Ed. “Legalized Bribery is Destroying Our Democracy.” The Progressive Magazine. April 29, 2025. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://progressive.org/latest/legalized-bribery-is-destroying-our-democracy-rampell-20250429/. 
6. “Our Work.” Jigsaw Productions. Accessed September 25, 2025. https://www.jigsawprods.com/film-tv/. 
7. “Podcasts.” Jigsaw Productions. Accessed September 25, 2025. https://www.jigsawprods.com/podcast/. 
8. “DEI.” Jigsaw Productions. Accessed September 25, 2025. https://www.jigsawprods.com/dei/. 
9. “Alex Gibney.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed September 25, 2025. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Alex+Gibney&contributor_employer=Jigsaw+Productions. 
10. “Alex Gibney: Awards.” IMDB. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316795/awards/. 
11. “Alex Gibney.” UCLA. Published May 22, 2015. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://alumni.ucla.edu/stories/alex-gibney/.