Biography
As Producer, LISA BRUCE has made feature films both domestic and internationally, both independently and with major studios.
In 2018 Bruce is once again nominated for both an Academy Award for Best Picture and again for 2 BAFTA’s for Best Picture and for Best British Picture for her newest feature, “Darkest Hour” directed by Joe Wright and starring Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James, and Stephen Dillane. She teamed up once again with writer Anthony McCarten and producer Eric Fellner at Working Title to make this feature film focusing on Winston Churchill’s campaign to stand against Hitler.
In 2015 Bruce won the Best British Film BAFTA and was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award® for “The Theory of Everything”. Critically acclaimed, it was nominated for 100 international awards and won 29 including three BAFTAs, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award®.
Prior to that, Bruce produced 15 feature films including the Working Title and HBO telefilm “Mary and Martha”, directed by Phillip Noyce, written by Richard Curtis and starring Hilary Swank and Brenda Blethyn. Previously for HBO, she had produced “Walkout”, starring Alexa Vega and Michael Pena, about Mexican American activism for which director Edward James Olmos received a Directors Guild of America Award nomination.
Ms. Bruce was an executive producer on Ivan Reitman’s hit “No Strings Attached”, starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher; on Dito Montiel’s “Fighting” with Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard; and on Dante Ariola’s “Arthur Newman”, starring Colin Firth and Emily Blunt. She was co-producer of Nigel Cole’s “A Lot Like Love”, which paired Mr. Kutcher with Amanda Peet; of Christian Alvart’s “Case 39” starring Renée Zellweger; and of Michael Hoffman’s “The Emperor’s Club”, starring Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Patrick Dempsey, Jesse Eisenberg, and Paul Dano.
Bruce was the co-producer of Gavin O’Connor’s breakthrough feature, “Tumbleweeds”. The film’s young star Kimberly J. Brown won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and lead Janet McTeer was nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Actress and won the Golden Globe. Tumbleweeds was cited by the National Board of Review as one of the year’s 10 Best Movies.
Bruce was a founding partner of Orenda Films, a New York-based company for which she developed and produced internationally-released feature films including Sam Henry Kass’ “The Search for One-Eye Jimmy” and Buddy Giovinazzo’s “No Way Home” starring Tim Roth.
Bruce has taught international workshops on Independent Feature Film Producing at New York University, Columbia University, Loyola Marymount University, and for the George Soros funded Eastern European Film Academy in Groznjan, Croatia.