Bruce Pittman
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Bruce Pittman has vast experience in feature film and television production. His work reflects the diversity of his directorial talents - comedy, drama, action, adventure, sci-fi and thriller genres.
He began his career in the advertising and publicity department of Famous Players Ltd. He then moved to a film market research division of Paramount Pictures. These jobs gave him a firm foundation in the art, craft, and business of selling films. He also opened the Revue Cinema in Toronto as a repertory cinema which still operates today.
His first love was always film making, and his first break was to get to be an apprentice for John Frankenheimer and then as production assistant on the John Badham film Reflections of Murder (1974) . Returning to Toronto, he co-created the long running series Saturday Night at the Movies (1974-2013) . This afforded him the opportunity to interview many of the original screen giants of American and British cinema. He considers these interviews to be his real education in film making.
His first short films were aired by the Canadian Broadcasting corporation and subsequently at film festivals around the world. Three times his works won best short film awards from the Canadian Film and Television Association. One of them, The Painted Door (1984) , was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Subject.
Bruce Pittman has proved himself adept at moving from short film to television series, TV movies & mini-series to feature films;
To date his film and television work has been cited for 97 nominations and awards around the world. His latest film The Last Movie (2012), an independent noir feature film, won Best Foreign Film at the Long Island International Film Festival and was an official selection at the Moscow International Film Festival. Bruce Pittman's mini-series Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion (2003), won two Directors Guild of Canada Awards and five Gemini Awards. The film stars Graham Greene and Pete Postlethwaite.
His MOW's include the CBS/Hallmark period adventure Captive Heart: The James Mink Story (1996) which was named Best TV Movie, winning both the Grand Award and Gold World Medal at the New York International Television Programming Awards, as well as, the E Pluribus Unum Award for Best TV Movie.
The critically acclaimed Harrison Bergeron (1995), a futuristic black comedy for Showtime was named one of the 10 Best TV Movies at the prestigious Cologne Conference in Germany.
Where the Spirit Lives (1989), Pittman's drama about Indian residential schools, received numerous international awards including Gemini's for Best TV Movie and Best Actress and Pittman won Best Director at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Bruce Pittman's films have won four Best Drama Awards in Canada and he has received four nominations for Best Director at the Gemini Awards. His MOW Locked in Silence (1999) received 4 Daytime Emmy Nominations
Bruce Pittman has directed 335 episodes on 33 series for 11 different networks. These series reflect the diversity of Pittman's talents. From the science fiction of Earth: Final Conflict (1998-2002), Beyond Reality (1991-1992) and Tekwar (1995-1996); the comedy of Maniac Mansion (1990-1993) and
Due South (1998); the drama of Street Legal (1990) and E.N.G. (1993-1994); to the family values of
Avonlea (1990) and Doc (2003), Bruce Pittman has always delivered the needs of the producer.
Bruce Pittman is a storyteller. Be it drama, comedy, action, adventure, or suspense, the stories are always told cinematic with a keen awareness of the impact on the audience and an eye on efficient production He has proven to be a creative collaborator who can bring a wealth of experience and energy to both feature length films and series television.
