Nancy Bernstein (September 10, 1960 – September 18, 2015) was an American visual effects producer at

Digital Domain Digital Domain (also known as Digital Domain Media Group or DDMG) is an American visual effects, computer animation and digital production company headquartered in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California. Digital Domain has produced visual effects ...

and later Head of Production at

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

. She produced DreamWorks' 2012 film ''

Rise of the Guardians ''Rise of the Guardians'' is a 2012 American animated science fantasy action-adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Peter Ramsey from a screenplay by David Lindsay-Aba ...

''.

Biography

Bernstein was born in 1960 and grew up in New York before moving to Los Angeles. Bernstein's early career included ten years at

R/GA R/GA is an innovation consultancy, and digital design and advertising agency, headquartered in New York City, with global offices in Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, London, Berlin, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Shanghai, Sy ...

, where she worked on films, commercials, and other media. Her first visual effects credit was on Woody Allen's segments in the 1989 ''

New York Stories ''New York Stories'' is a 1989 American anthology film consisting of three segments with the central theme being New York City. The first is ''Life Lessons'', directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Richard Price and starring Nick Nolte. The ...

''. She served as their first head of production during the transition to digital production. Bernstein joined the effects studio

in 1997, where her credits included '' Lake Placid,

Red Corner ''Red Corner'' is a 1997 American mystery thriller film directed by Jon Avnet, and starring Richard Gere, Bai Ling and Bradley Whitford. Written by Robert King, the film is about an American businessman in China who ends up wrongfully on tria ...

'', and ''Armageddon''. As features executive, she oversaw effects for ''Titanic'' and ''What Dreams May Come''. In 1999, Bernstein became vice president and general manager of the company, responsible for all their film and theme park effects. She also worked as a visual effects producer on more than thirty films, including ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

'', I, Robot (film), ''I, Robot'' and ''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.'' In 2005, she joined DreamWorks Animation, producing films, overseeing global initiatives, and becoming head of production. She helped translate the Shrek (franchise), ''Shrek'' films to 3D and produced the 2012 film ''

''.

Death

Bernstein was initially diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2011. She started an organization, Call to Cure, to raise awareness of the disease funds for research. She died on September 18, 2015, after the stage IV cancer metastasized to her lungs. Bernstein was 55 and left behind a wife and daughter. DreamWorks Animation's ''Kung Fu Panda 3'' was dedicated to her memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Nancy 1960 births 2015 deaths American animated film producers Film producers from New York (state) LGBTQ film producers American visual effects artists DreamWorks Animation people Tulane University alumni Deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States American women film producers