Imagine Plucks HBO Veteran Sara Bernstein as Documentaries Executive Vice President

Bernstein spent 19 years at HBO, racking up 10 Emmys and two Academy Awards

Sarah Bernstein
Gillian Laub

Imagine Entertainment’s Documentaries president Justin Wilkes announced on Wednesday that the company has brought in Emmy and Peabody-winning producer Sara Bernstein to serve as the division’s new executive vice president.

Bernstein, previously an executive at HBO, joins Wilkes in leading the development and production of premium feature docs and non-scripted series while leveraging her longstanding relationships within the filmmaking community.

“I couldn’t possibly think of a better partner than Sara,” Wilkes said in a statement. “For years, I’ve admired her work as a producer, an executive and as someone who is beloved by talent across the board.  I’m so excited that we get to work side-by-side and build this new venture together.”

Bernstein spent 19 years at HBO as a senior vice president at HBO Documentary Films, responsible for overseeing various award-winning documentary films and nonfiction programming for the network.  Her recent films include Judd Apatow’s “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling,” Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” Alex Gibney’s “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” “Suited,” executive produced by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, and “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer,” to name a few.

In her career, Bernstein has racked up 10 Emmy wins, 28 Emmy nominations, 11 Peabody Awards. And docs she has worked on at HBO have received 13 Oscar nominations and 2 Academy Awards.  Before joining the HBO Documentary division in 2000, Bernstein worked in the limited series department of HBO and in independent feature film development and production in New York City.

“I am thrilled to join the extraordinary team of innovators at Imagine,” Bernstein said in a statement.  “There is no better time than now in the premium documentary landscape, and working alongside Ron, Brian, Michael and Justin in launching a nonfiction division is a dream come true.”

Imagine, founded in 1986 by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, has been expanding its footprint in the documentary film space, recently announcing a new documentary group based out of New York. The company’s latest project “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years” won the 2017 Grammy for Best Music Film. Other documentaries include Jay Z’s “Made in America,” “Prophet’s Prey,” “Katy Perry: Part of Me,” “Inside Deep Throat” and “Beyond The Mat.”

Imagine  is currently working on a Ron Howard directed documentary about opera great Luciano Pavarotti, to be released in 2019. And on the TV side, Imagine is behind the hit National Geographic hybrid series “Mars.”

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