Dori Berinstein is a six-time, Tony-winning Broadway producer, an Olivier winner and an Emmy-award-winning director, producer and writer of film & television. As a documentary filmmaker, Dori’s award-winning work includes: “ShowBusiness: The Road To Broadway” (IDA Finalist), “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life” (NYT List of Favorite Films of the Century), “Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love” (Emmy Award) and ‘Gotta Dance” (adapted for the stage). Dori is Executive Producer of Isaac Mizrahi’s film “Unzipped” and the just-released “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story”. Dori supervised production on “Dirty Dancing”, oversaw film production for Walt Disney Imagineering and produced Ryan Murphy’s Netflix adaptation of her Broadway musical “The Prom” (Golden Globe Nominee). www.dramaticforces.com
Dori’s Broadway Productions include: “Stereophonic” (Tony Award), “Company” (Tony Award), “Is This A Room”, “Dana H”, “The Prom” (Drama Desk Award), “Legally Blonde” (Olivier Award), “Virginia Woolf” (Tony Award), “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (Tony Award), “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” (Tony Award), “The Crucible”, and Fool Moon (Tony Award).
Dori serves on the Boards of The Broadway League, New Dramatists and the Jacob Burns Media Center. She is the founder and CEO of The Broadway Podcast Network. Dori began her career as an M&A Investment Banker with Morgan Stanley.
Please List the Title of Your Film at BIFF 2025
A MAN with SOLE: The Impact of Kenneth Cole
What was your first experience with film and how did it influence your first project?
I have a vivid memory of seeing CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, (as it was known then), when I was very little. It was an unforgettable experience that made an indelible impression on me. The long trip to a very theatrical venue, the footprints out front, the scrumptious popcorn, the intermission (yes, there was an intermission) and the movie itself….made the outing a big ‘event’. This isn’t something you could re-create at home. It taught me a great deal about the audience experience. This ‘experience’ has always stayed front-of-mind, whether working on documentary films, producing Broadway shows or creating one-of-a-kind experiences for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Who is (are) your favorite filmmakers?
Where to start!??!?
Focusing in on documentary filmmakers, I’d race to see anything by Errol Morris, Alex Gibney, Jehane Noujaim, Wim Wenders, Laura Poitras, Liz Garbus and so many others!
What are you working on that no one knows about?
I’m working with Warner Brothers on a thrilling new, top secret Broadway Musical with an epic team of musical theatre greats that involves exhilarating dance, a killer score, climate change and penguins!! (Ask me at BIFF and I’ll share the title with you!)
Who would play you in a movie? What’s your go to movie snack? What’s the film title that best describes your life?
1. Katharine Hepburn. There is absolutely no reason for this. I just think it would be incredible.
2. Popcorn….always.
3. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” meets “Whiplash” meets “Pay It Forward”
