Bernie Van De Yacht hails from Green Bay, Wisconsin, the youngest of 12 children. He earned a BA in Psychology and Theatre from The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). After graduation, Bernie began working at an animation studio while he pursued his acting career. During that time, he was spotted by one of the artists and asked to pose for the character of Prince Derek in The Swan Princess. This opportunity allowed him to promote the movie all over the country, travel to the Cannes Film Festival, appear on a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and even have a doll made in his likeness. During this time, Bernie did theatre in and around the Los Angeles area. He eventually became an animation casting director and has been casting films for over eighteen years including The King and I, Trumpet of the Swan, Alpha and Omega, all the Swan Princess sequels, Happily N'ever After II and the upcoming Ribbit and Norm of the North. He has cast for Crest Animation, Morgan Creek, Warner Bros., Columbia/Tri-Star, Sony and Lionsgate. Recently he has branched into live action features and in the past two years has cast Blackjacks, Five Souls, The Speak and No Tell Motel. He is a proud member of the Casting Society of America (CSA) and was recently nominated for an Artios award for casting the animated feature film, Alpha and Omega. He is also a screenwriter and director. In 2004 he directed a short film called, There's Something About Meryl, which was the Official Selection at many film festivals around the country. Recently, he directed his first full-length feature film, Salvation, from his original screenplay. It has won multiple awards on the film festival circuit. In addition, he is prepping his next feature, Midwest Farmers' Daughters, once again based on his original screenplay. He and his wife have been married for twenty years and are the proud parents of two young sons. Show less «