Friday Night Lights

Background:

American actor, film director, writer and producer Peter Berg may be best recalled for his portrayal of Dr. Billy Kronk on the CBS acclaimed drama “Chicago Hope,” a role he played from 1995 to 1999. He made his debut as a director with the ill-received black comedy “Very Bad Things” (1998, also a writer), from which he won a Deauville Film Festival Award. Berg has since focused his energies on working behind the camera. Following “The Rundown” (2003), his sophomore effort, Berg gained major commercial success with the high school football-themed “Friday Night Lights” (2004), which starred Billy Bob Thornton. Berg enjoyed further recognition with the critically acclaimed television series adaptation of his movie, “Friday Night Lights” (NBC, 2006-present). The show has been awarded an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award and a Television Critics Association Award. Apart from serving as executive producer and creator/developer, Berg also directed and wrote the pilot episode and took home an Emmy nomination for his directing effort. The gifted filmmaker also directed the movies “The Kingdom” (2007) and “Hancock” (2008) and executive produced “The Half Life of Timofey Berezin” (2006) and “Lars and the Real Girl” (2007). His more recent acting credits include “Corky Romano” (2001), “Collateral” (2004), “Smokin' Aces” (2006) and “Lions for Lambs” (2007). He has also made appearances in his own movies and in the TV series “Alias.”

Known with the trade mark of a quick, constantly moving camera, Berg often casts Jason Bateman in his movies. In 2007, Berg became one of 115 people invited to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Berg is scheduled to work on the upcoming projects “Lone Survivor” (2009), “Bran Mak Morn” (2010), the remake “Dune” (2010), and “Hercules: The Thracian Wars” (2011).

Berg and former wife Elizabeth Rogers have a 10-year-old son named Emmett. Berg dated Estrella Warren from January 2003 to spring 2006. He is Jewish.

New York Native

Childhood and Family:

Peter Winkler Berg was born on March 11, 1964, in New York City to Sally and Larry Berg. His mother co-founded a youth group named Catalog for Giving and worked at a psychiatric hospital when Peter was growing up. His father is an ex-Marine and advertising executive. Peter was raised in a comfortable household in Chappaqua, New York, along with his younger sister, Mary. He attended The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, where he began showing an interest in theater by regularly going to productions at Taft. After graduating, he majored in theater arts and theater history at Macalister College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He earned his degree in 1984 and moved to Los Angeles a year later to try his hand at film.

On August 28, 1993, Peter married Elizabeth Rogers. They later split up in 2002. Peter and his former wife have a son named Emmett Berg (born in November 1999). Peter is the cousin of writer H. G. Bissinger (born on November 1, 1954).

Chicago Hope

Career:

“I moved to Los Angeles thinking I was going to go to film school. I remember looking at AFI or UCLA thinking I'd go to one of those two schools, but didn't. Instead, I ended up getting jobs on film, working in all areas of production. So I never went to film school. Never took a film class.” Peter Berg

While attending college in Minnesota, Peter Berg performed in several theater productions, including “Tartuffe” and “Flibberty Gibbet.” After moving to Los Angeles in 1985, he put acting on the back burner and worked as a production assistant with Trans World International, the producers of ABC's “Battle of the Network Stars” (1976-1985). He was later fired from the job and worked at various job, including a dock worker, to support himself. In 1987, Berg worked as a property assistant on Wayne Wang’s “Slam Dance” (1987) while trying to find acting work. His first break arrived when he landed a guest role in an episode of the CBS series “The Equalizer” in 1986.

Two years after his TV debut, Berg appeared in an episode of Fox's “21 Jump Street” and made his TV movie debut with “Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story” (1988, CBS). He also appeared in small roles in Steve De Jarnatt's “Miracle Mile” (starring Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham) and Adam Rifkin's low-budget “Never on Tuesday.” More roles ensued in 1989, including a lead role in Wes Craven's cult classic “Shocker” (as Jonathan Parker) and diverse parts in “Tale of Two Sisters,” “Race For Glory” and “Heart of Dixie.”

Berg was in high demand during the 1990s. He costarred with Terence Stamp in the thriller “Genuine Risk” (1990), played Tom in Michael Bortman's “Crooked Hearts” (1991), which was adapted from a novel by Robert Boswell, starred as Brian Wimmer's brother-in-law in “Late for Dinner” (1991), and was cast as Ethan Hawke's platoon mate, Bud Miller, in the war movie “A Midnight Clear” (1992). He next portrayed Paul Gross' pal in “Aspen Extreme” (1993) and worked with D.B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick and Craig Sheffer in “Fire in the Sky,” a film based on real events surrounding the alleged alien abduction of Travis Walton. He was then seen with Linda Fiorintino in the John Dahl-helmed “The Last Seduction” (1994) and in the Fox television film “Rise & Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story,” where he portrayed paralyzed pro football player Dennis Byrd. He next worked in the Mickey Rourke starring vehicle “F.T.W” and “Unveiled.”

Berg enjoyed a huge breakthrough when he won a regular role on the popular CBS medical drama series “Chicago Hope,” whose cast members also included Adam Arkin, Hector Elizondo, Christine Lahti, Mark Harmon and Mandy Patinkin. Playing Dr. Billy Kronk, he jointly picked up three Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (1996, 1997, and 1998) before deciding to leave the show in May 1999 for fear of being stereotyped as his character. In addition to acting, Berg wrote the 1996 episode “Quiet Riot” and directed the 1997 episode “Colonel of Truth.”

While on “Chicago Hope,” Berg also kept busy working on other projects. He wrote the one act play “Miles and Mickey” (1995), supported Christina Applegate and Elizabeth Peña in the independent film “Across the Moon” (1995), costarred with Samuel L. Jackson and Jeff Goldblum in the sport-themed “The Great White Hype” (1996), appeared in Spike Lee's “Girl 6” (1996), delivered a solid supporting performance as Joey Randone in James Mangold's “Cop Land” (1997), opposite Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro, and appeared in the comedy film “Dill Scallion” (1999). He also appeared in episodes of “Fallen Angels” (1995) and “The Naked Truth” (1996).

However, Berg did not emerge as a filmmaker until the release of “Very Bad Things” (1998), which he directed and wrote. Starring Jon Favreau, Cameron Diaz, Christian Slater, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern and Leland Orser, the comedy failed to attack audiences and was panned by critics. Berg also co-wrote the song “Walls Come Down” for the soundtrack.

2000 saw Berg executive produce and create the ABC series “Wonderland,” in which he also wrote and directed the pilot episode. He returned to the director's chair in 2003 with “The Rundown,” which starred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson and Christopher Walken. The action movie received a positive response from critics and enjoyed a modest success at the box office. Eventually, Berg gained recognition as a filmmaker with his subsequent film, “Friday Night Lights” (2004), which was based on cousin H.B. Bissinger's popular nonfiction book “Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream.” Following the story of a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, when they made a run for the state championship, the movie, which starred Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines, earned overwhelmingly good reviews from critics and was a hit at the box office. Also a screenwriter, Berg shared a USC Scripter nomination with writing partners Bissinger and David Aaron Cohen for his writing efforts.

While working on films, Berg continued acting. He played Paulie Romano in the comedy film “Corky Romano” (2001), alongside Chris Kattan, Vinessa Shaw, Peter Falk and Chris Penn, had a recurring role in two episodes of the Fox drama “Alias” (2002), and guest starred in an episode of the Kevin James-led comedy “The King of Queens” (2002). He was also cast as a cop named Richard Weidner in Michael Mann's “Collateral” (2004), which starred Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.

Lured by the success of “Friday Night Lights,” Berg developed a television version of his movie for NBC. Debuting in October 2006, the “Friday Night Lights” series, with Kyle Chandler starring as Couch Eric Taylor and Connie Britton as his wife Tamy, received low ratings in its first season but went on to enjoy success with critics. In 2007, the show received a string of awards and nominations, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, a Peabody Award for Broadcast Excellence, an American Cinema Editors' Eddie for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial Television, and a Satellite nomination for Best Television Series, Drama. Berg, who also wrote and directed the pilot episode, was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, and jointly netted a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best New Series. The show has since earned a 2008 Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series, a 2008 TCA Award for Outstanding New Program of the Year, and many additional impressive nominations. Also in 2006, Berg returned in front of the film cameras as Pete Deeks in Joe Carnahan's “Smokin' Aces,” alongside Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta. The next year, he played Lieutenant Colonel Falco in Robert Redford's “Lions for Lambs” and directed Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman in the thriller “The Kingdom,” in which he also had a featured role as an FBI Agent. Premiering at the 2007 Edinburgh Film Festival, the film received mixed reviews from critics and had a worldwide gross of over $86 million.

Berg appeared in an unaccredited part in his next feature, “Hancock,” a 2008 comedy superhero vehicle for Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman. Despite earning mixed reviews, it emerged as a huge commercial hit. As an executive producer, Berg also oversaw Scott Z. Burns' “The Half Life of Timofey Berezin” (2006) and Craig Gillespie's “Lars and the Real Girl” (2007) and the 2009 TV series pilot “Virtuality,” which he also directed.

Berg has signed on as director for the new movies “Bran Mak Morn” (2010), a fantasy based on stories by Robert E. Howard, and “Dune” (2010), a science fiction adapted from the Frank Herbert award winning novel of the same name. Other upcoming projects include “Lone Survivor” (2009, director), “Hercules: The Thracian Wars” (2011, director), “The Losers” (producer and screenwriter) and a yet-untitled Barbaro Film (co-producer).

“There is no opportunity apart from the opportunities you make for yourself.” Peter Berg

Awards:

• Deauville Film Festival: Fun Radio Trophy, “Very Bad Things,” 1998