Barry "Armyan" Bernstein (born August 12, 1947) is an American film/television producer, director and screenwriter.[1] He is the co-founder and chairman of the film/television company Beacon Pictures.[2]

Armyan Bernstein
Bernstein in 2007
Born (1947-08-12) August 12, 1947 (age 77)
Occupation(s)Film producer, screenwriter, film director
SpouseChristine Meleo

Career

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Bernstein has produced, executive produced, written or directed more than 40 films, including Air Force One, The Hurricane (which he also co-wrote), Spy Game, The Family Man, The Guardian, Children of Men, the Dawn of the Dead remake, Bring It On, Open Range, Thirteen Days, A Lot Like Love, Firewall and End of Days. Films he has produced via Beacon Pictures include Ladder 49, Raising Helen, For Love of the Game and The Water Horse.

In television, Bernstein was the Executive Producer of the TNT series Agent X and the ABC series Castle, created by Andrew Marlowe, who wrote Air Force One and End of Days for Beacon.

Bernstein also produced the Broadway musical Bring It On, 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.[citation needed]

He is also the founder and chairman of the upcoming sports league, The People's Games.

Bernstein founded Beacon Communications in 1990[3] with his college fraternity brother, Tom Rosenberg, who now has his own successful film company, Lakeshore Entertainment, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture for Million Dollar Baby.[4]

Bernstein was also a partner with Charlie Lyons and the Ascent Entertainment Group which owned the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, On-Command and Spectravision.

Other films produced by Bernstein and Beacon Pictures include The Commitments, A Midnight Clear, A Thousand Acres, Sugar Hill, Playing God, Princess Caraboo, The Road to Wellville and A Life in the Theatre, which won a cable ACE Award for Best Drama.[citation needed]

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. 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.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Armyan Bernstein was born into a Jewish family, the youngest of Lynne and Armand Bernstein's two children.[5][6][7] He is married to Christine Meleo.[7][5]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1978 Thank God It's Friday Yes
1982 One from the Heart Yes Co-producer
1984 Windy City Yes Yes Directorial debut
1987 Cross My Heart Yes Yes
1999 The Hurricane Yes Yes
2015 Grey Lady Story Yes

Producer only

Title Year Notes
The Road to Wellville 1994
364 Girls a Year 1996
Air Force One 1997
Disturbing Behavior 1998
For Love of the Game 1999
End of Days 1999
Thirteen Days 2000
A Lot Like Love 2005
Firewall 2006
Mardi Gras: Spring Break 2011 Limited release

Executive producer only

Title Year Notes
Satisfaction 1988
The Commitments 1991
A Midnight Clear 1992
Sugar Hill 1993
Princess Caraboo 1994
The Baby-Sitters Club 1995
A Thousand Acres 1997
Playing God 1997
Bring It On 2000
The Family Man 2000
Spy Game 2001
Tuck Everlasting 2002
The Emperor's Club 2002
Open Range 2003
Bring It On: Again 2004 Direct-to-video film
Dawn of the Dead 2004
Ladder 49 2004
Bring It On: All or Nothing 2006 Direct-to-video film
Children of Men 2006
Pu-239 2006
The Guardian 2006
Let's Go to Prison 2006
Bring It On: In It to Win It 2007 Direct-to-video film
Ny-Lon 2008 Unsold television pilot
Bring It On: Fight to the Finish 2009 Direct-to-video film
Bring It On: Worldwide Cheersmack 2017 Direct-to-video film
Dreadspace 2017 Short film

Television

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Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1976 Family Yes episode: "Monday Is Forever"
1990 The Earth Day Special Yes Executive Television special
2003 Naked Hotel Yes Yes Television film
2009-16 Castle Executive 171 episodes
2015 Agent X Executive 9 episodes

References

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  1. ^ "Armyan Bernstein". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2014. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014.
  2. ^ "Beacon Pictures". Beacon Pictures. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "About Us". Beacon Pictures. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  4. ^ Hammond, Pete (December 15, 2005). "'Million Dollar' march". Variety. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Lynne Bernstein's obituary, Chicago Tribune, June 4, 2019 (also available on "Shiva").
  6. ^ "Privilege and its price". Los Angeles Times. December 7, 2008. My mom would get dressed up on Oscar night and make a special dinner," he said. "The next day, we didn't have to go to school. It was like a Jewish holiday.
  7. ^ a b "Armand Bernstein, age 85, founder and president of Ogden Oil Co., beloved husband cherished friend of 62 years to Lynne; devoted loving father of Eileen (Richard) Kriozere and Army Barry (Christine Meleo) Bernstein". Chicago Tribune. June 1, 2003.
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