Fred Berner

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.

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 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) Without Warning: The James Brady Story; Emmy nomination "Outstanding Made for Television Movie" (1992)