Fred Berner (born March 6, 1953) is an American producer and director, best known for producing Maestro, Pollock, and Vanya on 42nd Street, and for directing and producing hundreds of hours of television, including on Law & Order.
Contents
Career
Berner and his producing partner Amy Durning first approached the family of conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein for music and life rights in 2008, thus beginning a 15-year journey of research and development, which would eventually result in the Bradley Cooper film Maestro (Netflix, 2023). Maestro stars Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper, it was written by Josh Singer and Cooper, and produced by Cooper, Berner, Durning, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese.
Prior to this, his New York-based production company, Fred Berner Films, produced independent films such as Louis Malle's Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) and the biopic of painter Jackson Pollock, Pollock (2000). The latter earned Academy Award nominations for Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden, with Harden winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The company also produced 3 Backyards (2010), starring Edie Falco, and Speak (2004), starring a then 13-year old Kristen Stewart. Berner also produced Straight Talk (1992), starring Dolly Parton.
Berner served as an Executive Producer on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and on the original Law & Order until the latter's cancellation in 2010.
Berner's work also includes several television movies, mini-series, and specials. He directed Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (2017) starring Edie Falco. As a producer or executive producer, his credits include Murder in a Small Town (1999), starring Gene Wilder; the ABC Special About Us: The Dignity of Children (1997) hosted by Oprah Winfrey (Emmy-nominated); Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee (1994); Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991); Rising Son (1990), starring Brian Dennehy and Matt Damon; and Bette Midler's Mondo Beyondo (1988) for HBO.
For the stage, Berner directed Warren Leight's Sec. 310, Row D, Seats 5 and 6 (2014) and Alan Zweibel's Pine Cone Moment (2013) and Happy (2010) for Summer Shorts at 59E59 Theaters. Happy and Sec. 310, Row D, Seats 5 and 6 were also recorded as radio plays for Playing On Air. Berner directed the short film Still Happy, an adaptation of the play, starring Scott Adsit and Arthur French.
Berner is a member of the Directors Guild of America.
Filmography
Feature films
Miss Firecracker (1989) – producer
Straight Talk (1992) – producer
The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) – producer
Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) – producer
The Great White Hype (1996) – producer
Pollock (2000) – producer
Speak (2004) – producer
Handsome Harry (2009) – executive producer
3 Backyards (2010) – executive producer
Maestro (2023) – producer
Television series
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001–2006) – executive producer, co-executive producer
Law & Order (2008–2010) – executive producer – director
Magic City (2013) – executive producer
Chicago Fire (2016) – director
Chicago Justice (2017) – director
Chicago P.D. (2014–2017) – director
Chicago Med (2015–2018) – director
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011–2019) – director
FBI (2018–2019) – director
FBI: Most Wanted (2020) – director
Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021–2022) – executive producer, director
Television movies and mini-series
Bette Midler's Mondo Beyondo (1988) – producer
Rising Son (1990) – producer
Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991) – producer
Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee (1994) – producer
Hidden in America (1996) – producer
About Us: The Dignity of Children (1997) – executive producer
The Farmhouse (1998) – executive producer
Murder in a Small Town (1999) – producer
Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (2017) – director
Theater, shorts, radio
Happy, Summer Shorts (2010) – director
Pine Cone Moment (2013) – director
Sec. 310, Row D, Seats 5 and 6 (2014) – director
Still Happy (2019) – director
Awards and nominations
Maestro; Golden Globe nomination, Best Motion Picture - Drama (2023); Producers Guild of America Awards nomination, Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures (2023); Academy Awards nomination, Best Picture (2023)
About Us: The Dignity of Children; Emmy nomination "Outstanding Children's Program" (1997)
Hidden in America; Golden Globe nomination (1997)
Without Warning: The James Brady Story; Emmy nomination "Outstanding Made for Television Movie" (1992)