Michael Barker
As Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022, Michael Barker (with Tom Bernard) has distributed (and often produced) some of the finest independent movies. Previously he was an executive at United Artists (1980-1983) and went on to co-found Orion Classics (1983-1991) and Sony Pictures Classics.
Over the span of his career, Barker’s films have received 190 Academy Award® nominations, including ten for Best Picture: I’M STILL HERE, THE FATHER; CALL ME BY YOUR NAME; WHIPLASH; AMOUR; MIDNIGHT IN PARIS; AN EDUCATION; CAPOTE; CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, recognized as the highest grossing foreign film of all time in North America; and HOWARDS END. His companies' 41 Academy Award® wins include Best Actresses Cate Blanchett (BLUE JASMINE), Julianne Moore (STILL ALICE), and Emma Thompson (HOWARDS END); Best Actors Anthony Hopkins (THE FATHER) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (CAPOTE); Best Supporting Actor J.K. Simmons (WHIPLASH); Best Supporting Actress Marcia Gay Harden (POLLOCK); Best Adapted Screenplays by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller (THE FATHER) and James Ivory (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) and Best Original Screenplays by Woody Allen (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS) and Pedro Almodóvar (TALK TO HER); as well as 5 wins for Best Documentary Feature, including INDOCHINE, SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN, INSIDE JOB, and FOG OF WAR; and 14 for Best Foreign Language Film, including INDOCHINE, IN A BETTER WORLD, BABETTE’S FEAST, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, A SEPARATION, AMOUR, SON OF SAUL, and A FANTASTIC WOMAN.
Barker has collaborated with some of the world’s most beloved filmmakers including Walter Salles, Pedro Almodóvar, Nadine Labaki, Luca Guadagnino, Mike Leigh, Nicholas Hytner, Sally Potter, Louis Malle, Zhang Yimou, Susanne Bier, Agnieszka Holland, the Dardenne brothers, Jonathan Demme, R W Fassbinder, Michael Haneke, Nicole Holofcener, Akira Kurosawa, Mario Van Peebles, Richard Linklater, David Mamet, Errol Morris, Francois Truffaut, and Wim Wenders, all of whom he’s worked with on multiple occasions, as well as Chloé Zhao, Robert Altman, Lorene Scafaria, Michelangelo Antonioni, Lone Scherfig, Ingmar Bergman, Marielle Heller, Francis Coppola, David Cronenberg, Spike Lee, Guillermo del Toro, Ang Lee, Damien Chazelle, Haifaa Al-Mansour and Maren Ade.
Over the years, Barker has released features from American masters (THE RIDER, FOXCATCHER, ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, SWEET AND LOWDOWN) and new American filmmakers (MILES AHEAD, MAGGIE’S PLAN, THE MEDDLER, INFINITELY POLAR BEAR, EQUITY, WHIPLASH, PARIS CAN WAIT, THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, TAKE SHELTER, SLACKER, WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, FROZEN RIVER); cutting edge films (BAADASSSSS!, KUNG FU HUSTLE, MOON, ORLANDO, RUN LOLA RUN, THE RAID); animated features (THE TRIPLETS OF BELLVILLE, PERSEPOLIS, WALTZ WITH BASHIR); feature documentaries (THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS, MAIDEN, DARK HORSE, RED ARMY, DOGTOWN AND THE Z BOYS, CRUMB, WINGED MIGRATION, IT MIGHT GET LOUD, THE GATEKEEPERS) and foreign films (I’M STILL HERE, THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE, PARALLEL MOTHERS, CAPERNAUM, NO, PAIN AND GLORY, WADJDA, TONI ERDMANN, RAN, A PROPHET, ELLE, CENTRAL STATION, WINGS OF DESIRE).
He and his colleagues have also restored and theatrically reissued some of the great films of the past, including AMÉLIE, VELVET GOLDMINE, THE PASSENGER, THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI CONTINIS, MURMUR OF THE HEART, and the classic films by Indian master Satyajit Ray.
Honors bestowed on Barker and Bernard include the Honors Award from the Directors Guild of America, the FINDIE Spirit Award in Los Angeles, the GLAAD Media Award, the Gotham Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from the Independent Feature Project, and Outfest’s Legacy Award. Under his and Bernard’s leadership, Sony Pictures Classics received the Special Recognition Award from the Sony Corporation CEO two years in a row. He and Mr. Bernard were awarded the esteemed French Legion of Honor from the French government and The Women in Film Beacon Award from Women in Film Los Angeles in recognition of their unmatched support of female filmmakers throughout their careers. Barker and Bernard had the privilege of being honored by the Directors Guild of America at their prestigious 3rd Annual DGA Honors, which celebrates individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions in support of the industry.
Barker currently serves as Co-Chairman on the Museum of the Moving Image Board of Directors, on the Entertainment Media and Technology Dean’s Advisory Board at the NYU Stern School of Business, and has in the past served as Adjunct Professor at the Columbia University School of the Arts Graduate Film Program and on the Visiting Committee to the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago. He was also inducted in the Texas Film Hall of Fame. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas.
Tom Bernard
As Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022, Tom Bernard (with Michael Barker) has distributed (and often produced) some of the finest independent movies. Previously he was a director at United Artists (1980-1983) and went on to co-found Orion Classics (1983-1991) and Sony Pictures Classics.
Over the span of his career, Bernard’s films have received 190 Academy Award® nominations including ten for Best Picture: I’M STILL HERE, THE FATHER; CALL ME BY YOUR NAME; WHIPLASH; AMOUR; MIDNIGHT IN PARIS; AN EDUCATION; CAPOTE; CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, recognized as the highest grossing foreign film of all time in North America; and HOWARDS END. His companies' 41 Academy Award® wins include Best Actresses Cate Blanchett (BLUE JASMINE), Julianne Moore (STILL ALICE), and Emma Thompson (HOWARDS END); Best Actors Anthony Hopkins (THE FATHER) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (CAPOTE), Best Supporting Actor J.K. Simmons (WHIPLASH); Best Supporting Actress Marcia Gay Harden (POLLOCK); Best Adapted Screenplays by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller (THE FATHER) and James Ivory (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) and Best Original Screenplays by Woody Allen (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS) and Pedro Almodóvar (TALK TO HER); as well as 5 wins for Best Documentary Feature including SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN, INSIDE JOB and FOG OF WAR; and 14 for Best Foreign Language Film including INDOCHINE, IN A BETTER WORLD, BABETTE’S FEAST, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, A SEPARATION, AMOUR, SON OF SAUL, and A FANTASTIC WOMAN.
Bernard has collaborated with some of the world’s most beloved filmmakers including Pedro Almodóvar, Nadine Labaki, Luca Guadagnino, Mike Leigh, Sally Potter, Louis Malle, Zhang Yimou, Susanne Bier, Agnieszka Holland, the Dardenne brothers, Jonathan Demme, R W Fassbinder, Michael Haneke, Nicole Holofcener, Akira Kurosawa, Mario Van Peebles, Richard Linklater, David Mamet, Errol Morris, Francois Truffaut, and Wim Wenders, all of whom he’s worked with on multiple occasions, as well as Chloé Zhao, Robert Altman, Lorene Scafaria, Michelangelo Antonioni, Lone Scherfig, Ingmar Bergman, Marielle Heller, Francis Coppola, David Cronenberg, Spike Lee, Guillermo del Toro, Ang Lee, Damien Chazelle, Haifaa Al-Mansour and Maren Ade.
Over the years, Bernard has released features from American masters (THE RIDER, FOXCATCHER, ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, SWEET AND LOWDOWN) and new American filmmakers (MILES AHEAD, MAGGIE’S PLAN, THE MEDDLER, INFINITELY POLAR BEAR, EQUITY, WHIPLASH, PARIS CAN WAIT, THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, TAKE SHELTER, SLACKER, WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, FROZEN RIVER); cutting edge films (BAADASSSSS!, KUNG FU HUSTLE, MOON, ORLANDO, RUN LOLA RUN, THE RAID); animated features (THE TRIPLETS OF BELLVILLE, PERSEPOLIS, WALTZ WITH BASHIR); feature documentaries (THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS, MAIDEN, DARK HORSE, RED ARMY, DOGTOWN AND THE Z BOYS, CRUMB, WINGED MIGRATION, IT MIGHT GET LOUD, THE GATEKEEPERS) and foreign films (PARALLEL MOTHERS, CAPERNAUM, NO, PAIN AND GLORY, WADJDA, TONI ERDMANN, RAN, A PROPHET, ELLE, CENTRAL STATION, WINGS OF DESIRE).
He and his colleagues have also restored and theatrically reissued some of the great films of the past including THE PASSENGER, THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI CONTINIS, MURMUR OF THE HEART, and the classic films by Indian master Satyajit Ray.
Bernard was previously the co-founder of Orion Classics (1983-1991), which released Akira Kurosawa’s Oscar®-winning film RAN. Prior to Orion Classics, Bernard ran the first specialized distribution company, United Artists Classics (1981-1983), where he officially began his professional relationship with long-time collaborator Michael Barker. There Bernard served as the company’s Division Director and Head of Sales until 1983. During his tenure, he released films by R.W. Fassbinder (LOLA, VERONIKA VOSS) and François Truffaut (THE LAST METRO).
He is the New Jersey State Film Commissioner and is a member of the Executive Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Count Basie Theatre Foundation Board of Directors, the Atlantic Highland Arts Council Advisory Board and the Monmouth County Arts Council, as well as Co-Chair for the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival. Bernard and Mr. Barker have received numerous recognitions for their work, including the privilege of being honored by the Directors Guild of America at their prestigious 3rd Annual DGA Honors, which celebrates individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions in support of the industry. Additionally, he and Mr. Barker have been recognized for their work with the insignia of Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government and the Spirit of Independence Award from Film Independent at the Los Angeles Film Festival. He and Mr. Barker were awarded the esteemed French Legion of Honor from the French government in acknowledgment for their continued contributions to French culture. He and Mr. Barker were awarded The Women in Film Beacon Award from Women in Film Los Angeles in recognition of their unmatched support of female filmmakers throughout their careers. Mr. Bernard has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Marcie Bloom
Marcie Bloom is the co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics—a company that distributes, finances and produces independent films from the United States and around the world. Recent successes include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Pollock, Sweet and Lowdown, All About My Mother and The Tao of Steve. Previously Marcie worked at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, for Gaumont under Columbia’s Triumph Films label, and for PMK Public Relations, where she joined Michael Barker and Tom Bernard as a publicist for over five years before becoming their partner in 1989. Academy Award-winning films she released include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Pollock, One Day in September, All About My Mother, Howards End, Babette’s Feast, Indochine, Ran, Cyrano de Bergerac, Burnt by the Sun, Belle Epoque, and Anne Frank Remembered.
She has worked with some of the world’s greatest filmmakers including: Ang Lee, Woody Allen, Francois Truffaut, Akira Kurosawa, Louis Malle, Wim Wenders, R.W. Fassbinder, Lily Tomlin, Jim Jarmusch, Richard Linklater, Zhang Yimou, Merchant Ivory, John Sayles, John Boorman, David Mamet, Neil LaBute, Errol Morris, Sally Potter, Don Roos, Gary Oldman, Allison Anders, Hal Hartley, and Mike Figgis.
Ms. Bloom has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.
