Brian Avery

Biography

Brian Avery is a native of Los Angeles, California and attended Loyola High School where he was awarded the Bing Crosby Drama Medal at Graduation and then attended Loyola University on scholarship. He received a B.A. from the Liberal Arts College of Loyola University majoring in English with minors in Philosophy and Languages. Brian's stellar artistic career began in New York City when he co-starred on Broadway in the dramatic musical of the great John Ford Film, "How Green Was My Valley". A talent scout for Universal Studios saw him onstage and convinced the studio to offer him a movie contract. He began work at Universal Studios with Harrison Ford and Katharine Ross, also under contract. Harrison and Brian did "Journey To Shiloh" together and Katherine and Brian were chosen by director, Mike Nichols, to be the wedding couple in his classic film The Graduate (1967). Brian is also featured as Diane Keaton's boyfriend in Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973), as well as roles in numerous other motion pictures, television shows and theatrical plays. Upon the release of The Graduate (1967), 'Gregory Peck (1916-2003)' offered to recommend Brian to the Board of Governors of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for membership in the Actors Branch which then invited him to join. Brian has been a very active participant in The Academy's activities and has been invited to serve on multiple committees. Brian was initially invited to join The Academy's Foreign Language Film Committee (FLFC) and thereafter invited to serve on the Executive Committee with some of the most prestigious people in the entertainment business like 'Robert Wise (I) (1914-2005)', 'Fay Kanin (1917-2013)' and Mark Johnson. As a member of the Executive Committee of the FLFC he was asked to be the Official Academy Host to incoming directors for The Academy Awards. Among the directors he has hosted are: Ang Lee, Giuseppe Tornatore, Sergei Bodrov, Paula van der Oest, 'Sven Nykvist (1922-2006)' and Walter Salles among others. He served for some years on The Documentary Committee. He now serves on the Executive Committee for The Student Academy Awards which fosters the great filmmakers of the future and the Membership Screening Committee which selects the films Academy members will see from all the films the studios and distributors submit for Academy Award consideration. He also serves as an Academy judge for AMPAS's Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Competition which fosters the screenwriters of tomorrow and which has helped to develop the careers of many of the top screenwriters creating films today. Serving on these committees has put Brian in direct contact with some of the world's greatest international directors, the filmmakers of the future and extraordinary screenwriters. The high level of contacts provided by The Academy prompted Brian to transition into producing. He brought Crash (2004) to the Yari Film Group where he is based and the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Subsequently, he is credited on Shortcut to Happiness (2003) the re-make of "The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)", starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, Where the Red Fern Grows (2003) starring Dave Matthews and Flashbacks of a Fool (2008) starring Daniel Craig as an Executive Producer. Brian is producing the action drama, "Venice Pier", which came via AMPAS Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting program that Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is packaging. Brian has been invited to participate for the past several years in several film festivals which include: the American Film Institute (AFI) FEST as a part of their Kodak Connect which connects outstanding film professionals with the AFI filmmakers. He has connected and collaborated with many excellent international filmmakers. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has invited Brian to be introduced to the incoming Indian filmmakers to advise them and collaborate with them. He has also been invited to be a judge for The Polish Film Festival of Los Angeles for their narrative film competition. Polish Cinema has given us some of the greatest filmmakers like Krzysztof Kieslowski, Agnieszka Holland and Roman Polanski, so this is an esteemed honor and put him in contact with the Polish filmmakers of today. Brian is a member of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the Actors Equity Association (AEA) and AMPAS. He has also taught as a private teacher of voice and a public teacher of English as a Second Language, Mathematics and Cultural Studies for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Adult Division. He is married to Nicole Avery, a psychotherapist. They have two children, Eric, the co-founder and world-renowned original bassist of JANE'S ADDICTION, and Rebecca, a gifted actress and mother of their first grand-child, Henry.