# Bruce Cohen

Bruce L. Cohen (born September 23, 1961) is a film, television, and theater producer. He is best known for producing the films American Beauty, Milk, and Silver Linings Playbook. American Beauty won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony.

## Early life and education

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

## 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, 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. 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.

## Personal life

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

## Filmography

Cohen was a producer on all films unless otherwise noted:

### Film

| Year | Film | Credit |
| 1991 | Hook | Associate producer |
| 1993 | Alive | Co-producer |
| 1994 | The Flintstones | |
| 1995 | To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar | Executive producer |
| 1997 | Mouse Hunt | |
| 1999 | American Beauty | |
| 2000 | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | |
| 2003 | Down with Love | |
| 2003 | Big Fish | |
| 2004 | The Forgotten | |
| 2007 | The Nines | |
| 2008 | Milk | |
| 2012 | Silver Linings Playbook | |
| 2016 | Bleed for This | |
| 2017 | Rebel in the Rye | |
| 2023 | Ex-Husbands | |
| 2023 | Rustin | |
| 2024 | Blink Twice |
| TBA | Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? | |
| TBA | Stardusk | Executive producer |

#### Second unit director or assistant director

| Year | Film | Role |
| 1985 | The Color Purple | DGA trainee |
| 1987 | Cherry 2000 | DGA trainee |
| 1987 | Batteries Not Included | Second assistant director |
| 1988 | The Couch Trip | Second assistant director |
| 1988 | Satisfaction | Second assistant director |
| 1988 | Cocoon: The Return | Second assistant director |
| 1988 | The Boost | Second assistant director |
| 1989 | Always | Second assistant director |
| 1990 | Arachnophobia | First assistant director |
| 1991 | Hook | First assistant director |
| 2000 | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | Second unit director |

#### As an actor

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | American Beauty | Bartender | Uncredited |

#### Script and continuity department

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | The Flintstones | Script revision | Uncredited |

#### Thanks

| Year | Film | Role |
| 2000 | Mothman | The producers wish to thank |
| 2022 | To Leslie | Special thanks |

### Television

| Year | Title | Credit | Notes |
| 1996 | Centennial Olympic Games: Torch Relay Opening Ceremonies | | Television special |
| 1996 | Mistrial | | Television film |
| 2005 | Hate | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2007 | Traveler | Executive producer | |
| 2007 | Side Order of Life | Executive producer | |
| 2007 | Movies Rock | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2007−09 | Pushing Daisies | Executive producer | |
| 2011 | 83rd Academy Awards | | Television special |
| 2012 | 8 | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2017 | When We Rise | Executive producer | |

#### Miscellaneous crew

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1990 | As the World Turns | Technical director |