PRODUCERS
BRUCE COHEN (Lead Producer)
Bruce Cohen is an Academy Award-winning and Emmy-nominated producer of film, television, theater and live events. This year, he was nominated for his third Best Picture Oscar for producing SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, along with Donna Gigliotti and Jon Gordon. SILVER LININGS, written and directed by David O. Russell and starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver received a total of eight Oscar nominations and Jennifer Lawrence won for Best Actress.
Bruce won the Best Picture Oscar in 2000 for producing AMERICAN BEAUTY, along with Dan Jinks, received his second Best Picture nomination for MILK in 2009, also with Dan, and was nominated for an Emmy in 2011 for producing the 83rd Annual Academy Awards with Don Mischer.
AMERICAN BEAUTY, 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 and was the first film produced through The Jinks/Cohen Company.
MILK, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, was also nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, as well as receiving the PGA's Stanley Kramer Award.
The Jinks/Cohen company’s other films were DOWN WITH LOVE starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, BIG FISH, directed by Tim Burton and nominated as Best Picture by both the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, THE FORGOTTEN, starring Julianne Moore, and John August's directing debut, THE NINES, starring Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy.
Bruce and Dan are the lead producers of the stage musical version of BIG FISH, which opens on Broadway this October, with book by John August, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and direction and choreography by five time Tony Award winner Susan Strohman.
In television, Bruce and Dan executive produced the acclaimed ABC series PUSHING DAISIES, which won a total of 7 Emmys and was nominated for a Golden Globe as best comedy. They served as executive producers on the series TRAVELER (ABC) and SIDE ORDER OF LIFE (Lifetime). Bruce also executive produced the emmy-nominated CBS special MOVIES ROCK in 2007.
Bruce produced THE FLINTSTONES and the prequel, THE FLINTSTONES IN: VIVA ROCK VEGAS, as well as MOUSEHUNT. He executive produced TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR! and co-produced ALIVE. A graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1983, he began his film career as the DGA trainee on Steven Spielberg's THE COLOR PURPLE and went on to serve as the associate producer and first assistant director on Spielberg's HOOK.
Along with James Moll and Dan, Bruce produced A TIMELESS CALL, a film tribute to veterans, directed by Spielberg for the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver. Bruce was appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles to the Mayoral Transition Team in 2005, and Bruce and his husband, Gabe Catone, were the first LGBT couple to be married by the Mayor at City Hall in May, 2008. He is President of the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group behind the federal case to have Prop 8 declared un-constitutional and serves on the Advisory Board of the Harvey Milk Foundation, the Southern California Committee of Human Rights Watch, the Foundation Board of the Getty House and the board of the Lark Play Development Center in New York City. He is currently entertainment industry liaison for JOINING FORCES, First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to support military families, and on the steering committee of GOT YOUR 6, the entertainment industry’s response to her call to action.
Bruce is on the Board of Governors of the Producer’s Guild, having served two terms as Vice President of Motion Pictures. He is on the Executive Committee of the Producer's Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and produced the first ever Governor’s Awards for the Academy in November, 2009, along with Don Mischer.
ROBB NANUS (Co-Producer)
Robb Nanus is a New York based producer and director. He produced the original workshop of I AM HARVEY MILK starring Andrew Lippa, Sierra Boggess and Alex Brightman and is thrilled to be continuing his journey with the piece. He also co-produces Writers Bloc with Andrew Lippa, a bi-monthly composer salon at Ars Nova. Other past NY projects: BUS STOP (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Middle Voice Theatre Company). Upcoming projects: DEBUTANTE. (AntFest), <50% (NY Fringe Festival). Robb has also worked at Signature Theatre (DC), The Music Theatre Company (Chicago), and Telsey + Co. He has extensive work as a director including: DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, LOST/FOUND. Assistant Directing credits include the world premiere of THE HOLLOW (Dir. Matthew Gardiner, Book by Hunter Foster) and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Dir. Mark Lamos, Book by Jeffrey Hatcher).
Robb recently completed a year as one of the inaugural Producing Fellows for Story Pirates, a nationally acclaimed education and media company, and thinks they're going to change the world.
Robb is a trustee on the Sandy Rebuild chapter of the Awesome Foundation.
JESSICA LEVENTHAL (Co-Producer)
Jessica Leventhal graduated from Yale with a B.A. in English, and spent most of her life in the theater. Now a Creative Executive at Bruce Cohen Productions, she worked with Mr. Cohen on the 83rd Annual Academy Awards and the film SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. She has also co-produced several live events for BCP including the LA staged reading of "8" by Dustin Lance Black to benefit AFER's fight for marriage equality, and shows for the Annenberg Foundation and the International Olympic Committee. The daughter of a civil rights attorney, Jessica is proud to be part of this tribute to Harvey Milk and his legacy of compassion and equality.