Bruce Cohen
Cohen in 2015
Born (1961-09-23) September 23, 1961
Falls Church, Virginia, US
OccupationProducer
Years active1985–present
Spouse
Gabriel Catone
​
(m. 2008)​
Children1

Bruce L. Cohen (born September 23, 1961) is a film, television, and theater producer. He is best known for his production of the Academy Award nominated films Milk, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Beauty, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Early Life and Education

Cohen was born to a Jewish family and raised in Falls Church, Virginia.[1] In 1983, he graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies.[2]

Career

After school, Cohen moved to Los Angeles, where he accepted a clerical job as a Directors Guild of America trainee on Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple,[1] and went on to serve as associate producer and first assistant director on Spielberg's Hook. In 2000, Cohen won the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing American Beauty.[3] The film, directed by Sam Mendes, won a total of five Oscars, as well as the Golden Globe, British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA), and Producers Guild of America (PGA) awards.

He later earned additional Best Picture nominations for Milk and Silver Linings Playbook. Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, as well as the PGA's Stanley Kramer Award. Silver Linings Playbook, written and directed by David O. Russell, was nominated for eight Oscars. It was the first film in 31 years to be nominated in all four acting categories, with Jennifer Lawrence going on to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

Other films Cohen has produced include Big Fish, directed by Tim Burton, which was nominated for both Golden Globe and BAFTA Best Picture awards. In 2013, he served as lead producer of the stage musical version of Big Fish on Broadway, under the direction and choreography of five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman.

On television, Cohen was executive producer of the ABC series Pushing Daisies, which won a total of seven Emmys and was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Comedy. He was also executive producer of the CBS special Movies Rock. In 2011, he was nominated for an Emmy in 2011 for producing the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.

Cohen is on the Board of Governors of the Producer's Guild, having served two terms as vice president of motion pictures, and is on the Executive Committee of the Producers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is president of the board of directors of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group behind the recently successful Supreme Court case to have California's Proposition 8 declared unconstitutional.

In 2019, Bruce Cohen joined the Advisory Board for the Harlem Film House, which presents the Hip Hop Film Festival, an annual event that focuses on filmmakers from the global culture of hip hop and also promotes financial sustainability for independent filmmakers from marginalized or economically disadvantaged communities.[4][5][6][7]

Personal Life

He is married to Gabriel Catone and they have a daughter.[8]

Filmography

Cohen was a producer on all films unless otherwise noted:

Film

Year Film Credit
1991HookAssociate producer
1993AliveCo-producer
1994The Flintstones
1995To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie NewmarExecutive producer
1997Mouse Hunt
1999American Beauty
2000The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
2003Down with Love
Big Fish
2004The Forgotten
2007The Nines
2008Milk
2012Silver Linings Playbook
2016Bleed for This
2017Rebel in the Rye
2023Ex-Husbands
2023Rustin
TBAPussy Island
Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?
StarduskExecutive producer
Second unit director or assistant director
Year Film Role
1985The Color PurpleDGA trainee
1987Cherry 2000
Batteries Not IncludedSecond assistant director
1988The Couch Trip
Satisfaction
Cocoon: The Return
The Boost
1989Always
1990ArachnophobiaFirst assistant director
1991Hook
2000The Flintstones in Viva Rock VegasSecond unit director
As an actor
Year Film Role Notes
1999American BeautyBartender
Uncredited
Script and continuity department
Year Film Role Notes
1994The FlintstonesScript revision
Uncredited
Thanks
Year Film Role
2000MothmanThe producers wish to thank
2022To LeslieSpecial thanks

Television

Year Title Credit Notes
1996Centennial Olympic Games: Torch Relay Opening CeremoniesTelevision special
MistrialTelevision film
2005HateExecutive producerTelevision film
2007TravelerExecutive producer
Side Order of LifeExecutive producer
Movies RockExecutive producerTelevision special
2007−09Pushing DaisiesExecutive producer
201183rd Academy AwardsTelevision special
20128Executive producerTelevision film
2017When We RiseExecutive producer
Miscellaneous crew
Year Title Role
1990As the World TurnsTechnical director

References

  1. 1 2 The Jewish Journal: "Bruce Cohen: A career full of ‘Silver Linings’" by Naomi Pfefferman February 19, 2013
  2. ↑ "Bruce L. Cohen '83 B.A." Yale University. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Bruce Cohen". IMDb. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  4. ↑ Staff, S. B. N. (September 30, 2019). "THEO ROSSI & BRUCE COHEN JOIN THE ADVISORY BOARD AT HARLEM FILM HOUSE". Silicon Beach News. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  5. ↑ House, Harlem Film (September 17, 2019). "THEO ROSSI & BRUCE COHEN JOIN THE ADVISORY BOARD AT HARLEM FILM HOUSE". Medium. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Harlem Film House Our Team". Harlem Film House. December 27, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ Amos, Jim. "Groundbreaking Hip Hop Film Festival Returns For Its 5th Season". Forbes. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Hollywood stands behind same-sex marriage". The Associated Press. October 22, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
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