On Thursday, October 29, and Friday, October 30, Stevenson’s FMI (Film and Moving Image) Department will host film producer – and Maryland native – Jason Berman (LUV, Little Accidents, which both played at the Maryland Film Festival) as our Fall 2015 Artist-in-Residence. Mr. Berman – who now lives and works in Los Angeles – will fly in on Wednesday, October 28, and then spend the next two days visiting classes and talking about both his own work and the business of filmmaking, in general. On Thursday, October 29, at 7pm, in the Soundstage (SD101) of the School of Design building (located at 11200-A Gundry Lane, Owings Mills, MD, 21117), we will screen an as-yet-to-be-released feature of his, The Benefactor (formerly entitled Franny), directed by Andrew Renzi (Fishtail) and starring Richard Gere (Arbitrage), Dakota Fanning (The Runaways) and Theo James (Divergent). There will be a reception prior to the screening, at 6pm, in the School of Design lobby, and a Q&A with Mr. Berman afterwards. Both the reception and the screening are free and open to the general public.

We are particularly excited to have Jason come, since we have just recently inaugurated a new Producing Track in our Film and Moving Image major. His experience makes him a perfect fit to talk to all of our students, and especially to our future film producers. Here are selections from his official bio:

Jason Michael Berman is the Vice President of Mandalay Pictures, where he is responsible for structuring financing for Mandalay’s slate of independent films, in addition to packaging projects. Jason has produced feature films that have debuted at premiere film festivals around the globe, including the Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca, Berlinale, and Edinburgh. Berman was named by Variety in 2011 as one of the Top Ten Producers to Watch, and by Deadline Hollywood in 2012 as one of the Top Ten Producers to Watch at Sundance.

Prior to producing, Jason started his career at the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills, California. His understanding of the entertainment business was further honed under the Chief Operating Officer at MGM Studios, and then writer/director Gary Ross.

Jason is a 2006 graduate of the University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts, where he is now an adjunct professor teaching a course on Entrepreneurship in Entertainment.

Jason is a co-founder of the Sundance Institute Catalyst Initiative (creative investor and financier lab), in which he is now a consultant. Jason is a member of the Producers Guild of America. Jason lives in Los Angeles, California, and is originally from Baltimore, Maryland.