Bruce Berman
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Bruce Berman is a producer and studio executive, best known as Chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures. In this capacity, Berman served as executive producer of critical and commercial successes including Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" (2014), the animated hit "The Lego Movie" (2014), and Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" (2013), among many others. Born April 25, 1952 in New York, NY, Berman studied American history at UCLA, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1975. After receiving a degree from Georgetown Law School in Washington D.C., Berman entered the film industry in 1978 at Casablanca Filmworks, the short-lived spinoff of Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records best known for producing the disco comedy "Thank God It's Friday" (1978), starring Donna Summer, Jeff Goldblum, and Debra Winger. By 1982, he was a production vice president at Universal; he joined Warner Brothers Pictures in the same capacity in 1984, moving up to Senior Vice President of Production before becoming President of Theatrical Production in 1989 and Worldwide President of Theatrical Production in 1991. Films he worked on during his tenure at Warner Brothers included hits like "The Fugitive" (1993), "Goodfellas" (1990), and the Oscar-winning "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989). In February 1998, Berman was named Chairman and CEO of the newly formed Village Roadshow Pictures. His first executive producer credit came the same year on the Sandra Bullock/Nicole Kidman romantic comedy "Practical Magic" (1998). With Village Roadshow, Berman went on to executive produce films in an impressive variety of styles and genres, including "The Matrix" (1999), Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) trilogy, "Mystic River" (2003) and George Miller's animated hit "Happy Feet" (2006). The company's success continued in the '10s with the hits "The Lego Movie" (2014), "American Sniper" (2014), "the Dwayne Johnson action thriller "San Andreas" (2015), Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015), and Ron Howard's "In the Heart of the Sea" (2015).
Filmography
Producer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1979
Joined Universal Pictures as assistant to Sean Daniel and Joel Silver; moved up the ranks to production vice president
1984
Named production vice president at Warner Bros.
1988
Appointed Senior Vice President of Production at Warner Bros.
1989
Named President of Theatrical Production, Warner Bros.
1991
Promoted to President of Worldwide Theatrical Production, Warner Bros. (September)
1996
Founded Plan B Entertainment, an independent motion picture company at Warner Bros.
1998
Named Chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures
1999
Executive producer of "The Matrix"
2001
Executive producer of "Training Day"
2003
Executive producer of "Mystic River"
2006
Executive producer of "Happy Feet"
2008
Executive producer of "Gran Torino"
2014
Executive producer of "The Lego Movie"
2015
Executive producer of "Mad Max: Fury Road"
Companions
