Barry "Armyan" Bernstein (born August 12, 1947) is an American film producer, director and screenwriter. He is the co-founder and chairman of film company Beacon Pictures.

Career

Bernstein has produced, executive produced, written or directed more than 40 films, including ''

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

'', '' The Hurricane'' (which he also co-wrote), ''

Spy Game ''Spy Game'' is a 2001 American action thriller film directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. The film grossed $62 million in the United States and $143 million worldwide on a $115 million budget, and received mostly ...

'', ''

The Family Man ''The Family Man'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Brett Ratner, from a screenplay by David Diamond and David Weissman. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni, with Don Cheadle, Saul Rubinek, and Jeremy ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', '' Children of Men'', the '' Dawn of the Dead'' remake, ''

Bring It On Bring It On may refer to: Books * ''Bring It On'' (book), by Pat Robertson * ''Bring It On!'' (manhwa), a romance manhwa by Baek Hye-Kyung Film and stage * ''Bring It On'' (film series), an American series of teen comedy cheerleading films capit ...

'', ''

Open Range In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out; th ...

'', '' Thirteen Days'', '' A Lot Like Love'', ''

Firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

'' and '' End of Days''. Films he has produced via Beacon Pictures include ''

Ladder 49 ''Ladder 49'' is a 2004 American disaster thriller film directed by Jay Russell and written by Lewis Colick. The film follows Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, who is trapped inside a warehouse fire, and his recollection of the events that got ...

'', ''

Raising Helen ''Raising Helen'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, siblings Spencer and Abigail Breslin, and Helen M ...

'', '' For Love of the Game'' and ''

The Water Horse ''The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep'' (stylised on-screen as simply ''The Water Horse'') is a 2007 fantasy drama film directed by Jay Russell and written by Robert Nelson Jacobs, based on Dick King-Smith's children's novel ''The Water Horse'' ...

''. In television, Bernstein was the Executive Producer of the TNT series '' Agent X'' and the ABC series ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

'', created by Andrew Marlowe, who wrote ''Air Force One'' and ''End of Days'' for Beacon. Bernstein also produced the Broadway musical ''

'', which was nominated for a Tony for Best Musical. Bernstein has received many awards including being honored as Showest Producer of the Year, and winning the USC Scripter Award for his screenplay for ''The Hurricane''. He is also the founder and chairman of the upcoming sports league, The People's Games. Bernstein founded Beacon Communications in 1990 with his college fraternity brother,

Tom Rosenberg Tom B. Rosenberg (1947/1948) is an American film producer, co-founder of Beacon Pictures; and founder and chairman of Lakeshore Entertainment. He is a recipient of the 2004 Academy Award for Best Picture for the film ''Million Dollar Baby''. B ...

, who now has his own successful film company,

Lakeshore Entertainment Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquart ...

, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture for ''

Million Dollar Baby ''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...

''. Bernstein was also a partner with Charlie Lyons and the Ascent Entertainment Group which owned the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

, On-Command and Spectravision. Other films produced by Bernstein and Beacon Pictures include '' The Commitments'', '' A Midnight Clear'', ''

A Thousand Acres ''A Thousand Acres'' is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name. It was premiered as an ...

'', '' Sugar Hill'', '' Playing God'', ''

Princess Caraboo Mary Baker (née Willcocks; 11 November 1792 (alleged), Witheridge, Devonshire, England – 24 December 1864, Bristol, England) was an English impostor. Posing as the fictional Princess Caraboo, Baker pretended to come from a far-off island ki ...

'', '' The Road to Wellville'' and ''

A Life in the Theatre ''A Life in the Theatre'' is a 1977 play by David Mamet. It focuses on the relationship between two actors, the play's only characters. One, Robert, is a stage veteran while John is a young, promising actor. As the play goes on they are involve ...

'', which won a cable ACE Award for Best Drama. Armyan was born and raised in Chicago, and attended the University of Wisconsin. He was a broadcast journalist with PBS and then with ABC. He wrote the disco film '' Thank God It's Friday''. He then wrote and co-produced Francis Ford Coppola's ''

One from the Heart ''One from the Heart'' is a 1982 American musical romantic drama film co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, and Harry Dean Stanton. The story is set ...

''. Bernstein made his directing debut with '' Windy City'', from his screenplay, which starred John Shea and Kate Capshaw. He also co-wrote and directed '' Cross My Heart'', starring Martin Short and Annette O'Toole. He also wrote and produced ABC's Emmy Award–winning ''

The Earth Day Special ''The Earth Day Special'' is a television special revolving around Earth Day that aired on ABC on April 22, 1990. Sponsored by Time Warner, the two-hour special featured an ensemble cast addressing concerns about pollution, deforestation, and o ...

''.

Personal life

Armyan Bernstein was born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, the youngest of Lynne and Armand Bernstein's two children.Lynne Bernstein's obituary
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', June 4, 2019 (als
available on "Shiva"
. He is married to Christine Meleo.

Filmography

Film

Producer only Executive producer only

Television

References

External links

*
Armyan Bernstein – DetailsArmyan Bernstein – Channel 4 Film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Armyan American film producers American film directors American male screenwriters 20th-century American Jews English-language film directors Living people 1947 births 21st-century American Jews