Bernadette O'Reilly

Versatility is the calling card of industry veteran Bernadette O’Reilly, whose entertainment industry credits include musicians and singers, TV programming and comics. She has launched independent label Breaking Records, is a hit songwriter, has worked in artist relations and nurtured talent as a consultant, manager and instructor.

Brooklyn native O’Reilly is currently a partner with composer, producer and songwriter Eve Nelson at Manhattan-based Nelson-O’Reilly Productions, which provides music production services from a state-of-the-art studio in the city’s Flatiron district. Services run the gamut, from concept to production.

The company formed in the fall of 1994 with the discovery of Billy Crawford, a childhood movie star in his native Philippines. Nelson-O’Reilly co-wrote his debut self-titled album and acquired a record deal from Richard Branson’s V2 Records, which propelled Crawford to stardom across much of Southeast Asia. Second album, “Ride” also contains several songs written and produced by O’Reilly; it is double-platinum in France.

Nelson O’Reilly also conceived Chaka Khan’s 2004 jazz standards album, “Classikhan,” which O’Reilly executive produced. She filled the same role for comedienne Sandra Bernhard’s Broadway debut, “I’m Still Here…Damn It!” Other artists include singer/songwriter Ben Jelen; Willa Ford, Turkey’s most-acclaimed female artist Sezen Aksu; the Beu Sisters; and classical crossover singer Hayley Westernra.

O’Reilly began her career in the artist relations division at Spotlite
Entertainment, where she worked with comics Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld and Dennis Miller. She then became creative director for Peer Music, playing a pivotal role in steering successful career turns for James Ingram, Tina Turner and Menudo, as well as the first U.S. label deal for U.K. producers 3 Man Island.

Other pivotal roles include instructor at the Songwriters Hall of Fame; music supervisor for indie films “Crooked Lines” and the Upright Citizen’s Brigade feature, “Wild Girls Gone”; and music consultant for TV program “Get Fit To Go.”

Currently, O’Reilly is again spotlighting her own songwriting skills: She has rejoined Peer Music as a staff writer and is working with 7th Street Entertainment, a New York-based multi-media firm.

In her new role as founder of Breaking Records, O’Reilly signed the label imprint’s first artist in 2006, LOURDS. The eclectic quartet has been deemed “the quintessential face of female rock in New York.”