UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An award-winning Penn State alumnus who has crafted a film and television production career that crosses over numerous genres and spans nearly six decades will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Centre Film Festival on Nov. 5 at the State Theatre.
Gerry Abrams has produced more than 70 films and television specials while working with a who’s who in Hollywood — from Art Carney, Ingrid Bergman and Sid Caesar to Alec Baldwin, Michael J. Fox, Ron Howard and Denzel Washington.
Abrams, who earned his Penn State bachelor’s degree in 1961 and was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1986, has produced more than 70 films and TV specials while earning Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominations. His work has also earned numerous Gemini Awards (Canada’s equivalent to an Emmy).
Among his most well-known works are “Houdini” (2014), “Nuremberg” (2000) and “Family of Spies” (1990). "Houdini" was cable television's top-rated miniseries in 2014. "Nuremberg," a dramatized account of the war crime trials following the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, was a four-hour miniseries on Turner Network Television starring Baldwin and Christopher Plummer that garnered numerous award nominations. It was the highest-rated cable miniseries the year it premiered.
Abrams, 84, grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and started his career after Penn State as an account executive focused on sales. He found success in that endeavor and moved to the West Coast, where he gained additional sales responsibility but first moved into production as the executive producer of “The Secret Life of John Chapman” in 1976. It told the true story of a college president, Chapman, who took a job as a general laborer while on sabbatical — a version of reality TV long before that became its own genre.
By 1978, Abrams had launched his own company, Cypress Point Productions, and his varied interests and skills as a producer kept him busy and productive.
Through the years, shows he produced appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, Lifetime Television, the Hallmark Channel, ESPN and numerous other outlets as he deftly helped productions connect audiences. Award-winning actors in the movies have included Michael Caine, Glenn Ford and Bob Dylan, and the actresses have included Sissy Spacek, Joan Collins and Julie Harris. While some of his productions were based on real situations and dealt with potentially heavy topics — a convict who seeks rehabilitation through boxing, a victim of domestic violence, a historic recall election in California — his ability to shape stories about people consistently resulted in successful productions.
Abrams and his late wife, Carol, also a Penn State alumna and a Peabody Award-winning producer in her own right, have two adult children and five grandchildren. Their children are director/producer/screenwriter J.J. Abrams — with numerous credits for TV (“Alias,” “Felicity,” “Lost,” “Westworld”) and film (“Super 8,” “Star Trek,” “Star Wars: Episode VII”) — and screenwriter Tracy Rosen (“Daniel’s Daughter,” “Fairfield Road” and “Felicity,” among others.)
The festival also presents an annual Chandler Living Legacy Award, which will honor actor and musician Gary Farmer this year. Farmer has made more than 100 film and television appearances. From “Powwow Highway” (1988) and “Dead Man” (1995) to “Smoke Signals” (1999) and “Reservation Dogs” (2021-2023), Farmer often breaks the stereotypical mode of indigenous people and brings authenticity to the characters he portrays on screen.
Farmer, from the Cayuga Nation and the Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy, has been nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, which are dedicated to independent filmmakers. He was the founder and publisher of Aboriginal Voices Magazine, which was devoted to Native Canadian issues. He also formed his own blues band, “Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers,” which has released two CDs.
The award named for festival co-founder Curt Chandler, an award-winning Bellisario College faculty member who died in 2022 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, will be presented Nov. 5 as well.