Carolyn Bernstein

Carolyn Bernstein is Executive Vice President, Documentary Films at National Geographic (NGDF) where she oversees the award-winning National Geographic Documentary Films banner. Over the last eight years, Bernstein has built NGDF into an industry powerhouse, partnering with best-in-class filmmakers to tell gripping, creatively ambitious stories that inspire a deeper connection to our world. Under her leadership, NGDF has earned both awards recognition and commercial success, starting with E. Chai Vasarhelyi + Jimmy Chin’s Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning ‘Free Solo’. Other notable titles include Oscar-nominees ‘The Cave’, ‘Fire of Love’, ‘Bobi Wine: The People’s President’, ‘Sugarcane’ and BAFTA-nominees ‘The Rescue’ and ‘Becoming Cousteau’. Notable upcoming titles include ‘Time and Water’ from Oscar-nominated director Sara Dosa, ‘Everest North’ (working title) from Vasarhelyi and Chin, and ‘Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff’ from Oscar-nominated director Nanette Burstein. Bernstein has also been a scripted television executive for over 30 years, having developed and overseen culture-defining series ‘Dawson’s Creek’, ‘Gilmore Girls’, ‘Smallville’, ‘One Tree Hill’, FX’s ‘The Bridge’ and Nat Geo’s ‘Genius’ franchise. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University and resides in Los Angeles with her family.