ARMYAN BERNSTEIN is the chairman of Beacon Communications; one of the industrys most successful independently financed film companies, and was awarded the Showest Producer of the Year Award in 1999.
Beacon Communications is known for award-winning films such as The Commitments, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Picture in 1991 and went on to win four BAFTA awards; A Thousand Acres, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange; Playing God, starring David Duchovny and Timothy Hutton; Keith Gordons critical triumph, A Midnight Clear, starring Ethan Hawke; and David Mamets A Life in the Theatre, which won a Cable ACE Award for Best Dramatic or Theatrical Special.
Bernstein was born and raised in Chicago. He went to college at the University of Wisconsin, and was a journalist with PBS and later ABC. He wrote the 1970s cult classic Thank God Its Friday, starring Debra Winger and Jeff Goldblum.
He then went on to write and co-produce Francis Ford Coppolas legendary Vegas romance One From the Heart. Bernstein made his directing debut with Windy City, from his screenplay, which starred John Shea and Kate Capshaw. He also wrote and directed Cross My Heart, starring Martin Short and Annette OToole for producer Lawrence Kasdan.
Bernstein also wrote and produced the Emmy Award-winning Earth Day Special for Warner Bros. and ABC.