SPECIAL: MEN WHO INSPIRE
Tell Me Your Story
TIM BREITBACH’S PASSION IS SHOWCASING INSPIRING WOMEN
By Vi c k i B e n n i n g t o n
W
riter, producer, director, showrunner – oh,
and don’t forget dedicated husband and
father. Tim Breitbach’s life is full and very
busy, and that’s just how he likes it.
Recently forming his own company,
Optimal Entertainment, Breitbach has been involved in the
entertainment business for a number of years, spending the earlier part
of his career in advertising.
He grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, earned a journalism and mass
communications degree at Iowa State University, but works around the
country, now making St. Louis his home.
After moving to the area in 2007, he joined Coolfire Media, and later,
as vice president of story development at Coolfire, helped produce
such shows as “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” “Fast N’ Loud,” “Funeral
Boss,” “MFF: Mom Friends Forever,” “The Frontline For Hope,” “Listed
Sisters,” and “House of Cars,” among others.
He likes that the entertainment industry allows him to tell a “longer
story” than advertising. And developing shows around strong females
that have moved from one point in their lives to another (or are in
the process) is right up his alley, especially when he delves into the
psychology of the transitions.
“I love creating shows about inspiring women,” Breitbach said. “I
like finding fascinating women in transition. Women have an extra level
of fortitude that men do not have. Life, in general, provides its own
source of pressure, and women are often under pressure that men don’t
understand.”
Cases in point: Miss Robbie of Sweetie Pie’s fame faced challenges
to overcome; Sue McCarthy of “Resale Royalty (one of Breitbach’s
favorites)” was homeless at one time. Many of the women who brought
items in to sell did so for reasons that differed from seller to seller.
Currently in the works is a new digi-series, “Hope at the Crossroads,”
about women at a crossroads in their lives.
“Real stories provide an opportunity that you can’t create,” Breitbach
said. “And it can also be complicated and interesting the way people
deal with success. There are different pressures that develop from
doing well, not from doing bad. The storytelling sometimes revolves
around the character being revealed by choices they make while under
pressure.”
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GAZELLE STL
He also likes telling stories of immigrants, or as he calls it, “import/
export” stories.
“We are a nation of immigrants. I like to showcase first-generation
immigrants who have positive stories about what they brought to
America,” he said. “Cillah Hall fits that category – and she is also a
strong woman.”
Inspired by Hall’s accomplishments, Breitbach is currently
developing an entertainment project surrounding her journey as an
immigrant, a mother and a business person, and the progression of her
publication, Gazelle STL.
Before coming to St. Louis, Breitbach and Mark Decena formed
Asylum, a strategic creative content company in San Francisco. He and
Decena wrote a script for a love story, “Dopamine,” that was accepted
in the Sundance Institute Filmmaker’s Lab. They then created Kontent
Films and developed “Dopamine” into an award-winning feature film,
screened at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
Breitbach chose St. Louis as his home after his son, Ellis Anthony,
was born. And he thought St. Louis was a good place for a career in
film. He met the Coolfire team and decided to go to television – in a
bigger way.
“The exciting thing is that we executive-produced 20 programs
in seven years for all kinds of networks. It was really unheard of, but
we put forth the effort