---
name: "Shari Springer Berman"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/shari-springer-berman"
fi1m_id: "shari-springer-berman"
imdb_id: "nm0075849"
tmdb_id: 72205
wikidata_id: "Q14071638"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "13 July 1963"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_as: "director"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-09-30T22:48:16.098002+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Shari Springer Berman

## Identity

Shari Springer Berman

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/shari-springer-berman
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** shari-springer-berman
- **IMDb ID:** nm0075849
- **TMDB ID:** 72205
- **Wikidata ID:** Q14071638
- **Same entity:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14071638, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0075849/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/72205

Director. Born 13 July 1963 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 13 July 1963, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 2011–present
- **Frequently works with:** [Robert Pulcini](https://film.one/person/robert-pulcini.md), [Jude Weng](https://film.one/person/jude-weng.md), [Kevin Bray](https://film.one/person/kevin-bray.md), [Mark Mylod](https://film.one/person/mark-mylod.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as director, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 79 (2), 2020s 70 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 73 to 69 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 4, Drama 4, Crime 1, Mystery 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14071638, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0075849/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/72205

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Shameless*](https://film.one/tv/shameless-2011.md) (70), [*Vladimir*](https://film.one/tv/vladimir.md) (67), [*The Four Seasons*](https://film.one/tv/the-four-seasons.md) (64)
- **Disney+:** [*Only Murders in the Building*](https://film.one/tv/only-murders-in-the-building.md) (76), [*Fleishman Is in Trouble*](https://film.one/tv/fleishman-is-in-trouble.md) (74)
- **HBO Max:** [*Succession*](https://film.one/tv/succession.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Shari Springer Berman

> We value Shari Springer Berman’s work with actors and her willingness to mix filmmaking forms. *Vladimir* offers a more qualified pleasure: Rachel Weisz keeps it amusing, but the storytelling gives us reasons to hesitate.

In *Vladimir* (2026), Rachel Weisz’s professor is having a midlife crisis, and her frequent fantasies begin to repeat themselves. We were amused by Weisz’s difficult professor, though the repeated fantasies wore down our patience. The performance keeps the series worth trying, even when the storytelling grows uneven. It is a useful place to begin with Shari Springer Berman, a director drawn to awkward company and alert to what actors can do with it.

Her collaboration with Robert Pulcini began in documentaries, including *Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s* (1997), before the breakthrough of *American Splendor* (2003). In that film, comics, real subjects and actors share the job of telling the story. Conventional narrative features followed, among them *The Nanny Diaries* (2007) and *The Extra Man* (2010). We are more interested in that willingness to try different forms than in the studio comedies, where the execution has been less dependable.

Berman’s particular contribution to the partnership is her greater concentration on actors and organisation; Pulcini spends more time on the camera and shots. We would look first at the handling of the cast when asking what she brings to a film. The move into episodic television took her to *Succession* in 2019 and later *Fleishman Is in Trouble* (2022). Those shared responsibilities also make us wary of assigning every success or shortcoming of *Vladimir* to her alone.

The limitation in *Vladimir* is not that its professor is difficult. That is part of the attraction, and Berman’s taste for such people is something we share. The trouble is being taken back into fantasy so often that it loses its interest, while Weisz keeps finding enough amusement to make the series worth trying. Our recommendation is modest: spend an evening with this professor if prickly company appeals, but allow for some impatience with the way her story is told.

## Biography

Shari Springer Berman is an American film and television director and screenwriter. Born on 13 July 1963 in New York City, she trained at Wesleyan University and Columbia University film school.

She frequently collaborates with her husband Robert Pulcini, whom she married in 1994. Their feature credits include *American Splendor* (2003), for which they received an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay, *The Nanny Diaries* (2007) and *Things Heard & Seen* (2021). In television they have directed episodes of *Succession* (2018), *Only Murders in the Building* (2021) and *The Four Seasons* (2025), and are attached to direct on the series *Vladimir* (2026).

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, deadline.com.*

## On Fi1m (6)

- *Vladimir* (2026), Fi1m 67, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/vladimir.md)
- *The Four Seasons* (2025), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-four-seasons.md)
- *Fleishman Is in Trouble* (2022), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/fleishman-is-in-trouble.md)
- *Only Murders in the Building* (2021), Fi1m 76, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/only-murders-in-the-building.md)
- *Succession* (2018), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/succession.md)
- *Shameless* (2011), Fi1m 70, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/shameless-2011.md)

## Complete filmography (22)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Vladimir* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/tv/vladimir.md)
- *The Four Seasons* (2025), series, Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-four-seasons.md)
- *Fleishman Is in Trouble* (2022), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/fleishman-is-in-trouble.md)
- *Night Sky* (2022), series, Director
- *WeCrashed* (2022), series, Director
- *Only Murders in the Building* (2021), series, Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/only-murders-in-the-building.md)
- *Things Heard & Seen* (2021), Director, Screenplay
- *Succession* (2018), series, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/succession.md)
- *10,000 Saints* (2015), Director, Screenplay, Executive Producer
- *Girl Most Likely* (2012), Director
- *Cinema Verite* (2011), Director
- *Shameless* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/shameless-2011.md)
- *The Extra Man* (2010), Director, Executive Producer, Screenplay
- *The Nanny Diaries* (2007), Screenplay, Director
- *Wanderlust* (2006), Director, Writer
- *American Splendor* (2003), as Interviewer (voice) · Writer, Director
- *The Young and the Dead* (2000), Director
- *Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's* (1998), Director
- *Love After Death* (1993), Producer
- *Miss Ruby's House* (1993), Producer
- *Velvet Elvis* (1992), Director
- *This Is Pleasure*, Director

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2004: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *American Splendor*

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2011: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (nominated), for *Cinema Verite*

### Other awards — 4 won, 7 nominated

- Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay 2004: Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay (nominated), for *American Splendor*
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 2004: Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (won), for *American Splendor*
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Director 2004: Chlotrudis Award for Best Director (nominated), for *American Splendor*
- Independent Spirit Awards 2004: Best Director (nominated), for *American Splendor*
- Independent Spirit Awards 2004: Best Screenplay (nominated), for *American Splendor*
- Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 2004: Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *American Splendor*
- Satellite Award for Best Director 2004: Satellite Award for Best Director (nominated), for *American Splendor*
- Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 2004: Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (won), for *American Splendor*
- Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay 2003: Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay (nominated), for *American Splendor*
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay 2003: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay (won), for *American Splendor*
- Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award 2003: Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award (won), for *American Splendor*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/shari-springer-berman