Rippberger is the director of the 2019 drama Strive, about a girl from the projects in Harlem who works to attend Yale. Inspired by true stories, Strive stars Grammy-nominated JoiStaRR, Shaylin Becton, Ricky Flowers Jr, Chelsea Lee Williams, and Emmy-nominated Danny Glover, with music composed by Grammy-winning producer Warryn Campbell. Rippberger is currently in pre-production as the producer of The Inventor, a stop-motion feature film written and directed by Jim Capobianco, the Oscar-nominated writer of Pixar's Ratatouille.
Documentary
In 2016, Rippberger's feature documentary 7 Days in Syria, which follows journalist Janine di Giovanni's 2012 trip to Aleppo, was screened at Britain's House of Lords. The film has played in over 50 cities worldwide, on television in Denmark, Sweden, and China, and via streaming service Hulu. The documentary is currently available via Amazon Prime and other VOD providers. The film was well received by critics and personally championed by United Nations Special Envoy Angelina Jolie. Rippberger went on to executive produce Alive and Kicking, a documentary about swing dancing, which premiered at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival to a Grand Jury nomination, and was released in 2017 by Magnolia Pictures. Alive and Kicking was named the film to watch by The New York Times watching section, received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was invited to be part of the 2018/19 American Film Showcase, the State Department's diplomacy through cinema program. The film is currently available on Netflix. In 2011, Rippberger co-created a seven part documentary series published by The New York Times interviewing politicians and world leaders regarding the world's biggest crises. He was the 2012 recipient of the Dan Eldon Activist Award for producing and directing A Ride With Matt, later retitled Breaking the Cycle, a documentary feature about Huntington's Disease. The award is given to filmmakers for best use of media to effect positive change. Rippberger is the previous president of I Imagine, a socially conscious technology and media organization which runs the annual I Imagine Film Festival and conference. He is also the co-founder and editor of the magazine and podcast Cinema of Change, whose mission is to create a central, continuously relevant source of accessible information on social impact filmmaking.
In 2014, Rippberger published a novel with Regent Press called Escape to Anywhere Else with a foreword by Mariel Hemingway. Robert is the co-founder and co-editor of the magazine, Cinema of Change, along with Tobias Deml. He is a contributing writer to The Huffington Post.
Early life
Rippberger began filmmaking at age 13. As a freshman in high school, he enrolled in filmmaking classes at the University of Colorado Boulder, studied under directing teacher Judith Weston, and at UCLA Film School in Los Angeles. In 2005, at age 16, he made his first feature film, "The Hoodwink." Rippberger received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley in 2010, where he was awarded in 2009 the Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prize for his film "In the Middle." It is considered the highest achievement in creativity given on the UC, Berkeley campus. In 2006, Rippberger founded Aletheia Films, named after Aletheia with a view to make entertaining and impactful films for mass audiences. The company produces feature films, series, documentaries, commercials, music videos, and major events.
