By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com
PETER BERG LAUNCHES FILM 45
Berg Forms New Production Company Producing Original Content in the Non-Scripted & Branded Entertainment Space
LOS ANGELES (March 10, 2015) – Acclaimed filmmaker Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights) announced today the launch of Film 45, a new production company formalizing a partnership between Berg and producer Matthew Goldberg (HBO’s State of Play, CNN’s The Sixties) to produce content in the non-scripted and branded entertainment space. Goldberg serves as President.
Based in Santa Monica, CA, Film 45 is currently in production on Season 2 of an 8-episode order of the critically acclaimed series State of Play for HBO. The new season will examine controversial topics in sports and their relevance to society at large.
Recently, Film 45 setup an 8-part series with the History Channel. In the vein of Berg’s box office hit Lone Survivor, the series will detail heroic first-person accounts from U.S. Special Forces. The series is slated to debut in the fall.
With Berg attached to direct, Film 45 will produce a theatrical feature film surrounding megastar Rihanna. A contemporary version of the 1967 rock doc Don’t Look Back, the film will showcase an unfiltered look into Rihanna’s life and how she’s ascended to become a global icon.
As Berg states, “This is an exciting time for unscripted and we are fully committed to being a part of this robust and creative medium.”
Film 45, an entity separate from Berg’s Film 44 production company, is specifically tasked with maximizing the principal’s existing relationships and opportunities to create non-scripted and branded content for film, television and other platforms. In addition to developing original material, the entity will house full-scale production and post-production services.
Film 45 is represented by Lance Klein at WME and David Matlof at Hirsch, Wallerstein, Hayum, Matlof & Fishman.
ABOUT THE FILM 45 PARTNERS
Peter Berg is a Partner at Film 45. Berg has enjoyed success as a writer, director, producer and actor, making his feature film directorial debut (from his own original screenplay) on the 1998 cult favorite Very Bad Things, which starred Cameron Diaz, John Favreau and Christian Slater. He went on to direct The Rundown, The Kingdom, Battleship, and most recently this year’s acclaimed release Lone Survivor. Berg is also known for his fierce portrait of high school football in the 2004 film adaptation of H.G. Bissinger’s blistering best-seller “Friday Night Lights.” The film spawned an acclaimed television series for which Berg served as executive producer and directed several episodes. In addition to feature projects, Berg’s unscripted directorial work includes 30 for 30: Kings Ransom, which chronicled the impact of Wayne Gretzky’s infamous trade to the Los Angeles Kings. Under the Film 44 banner, Berg’s produced the critically acclaimed HBO documentary series On Freddie Roach and sports documentary State of Play: Trophy Kids. Berg also executive produced and directed the pilot for the HBO series The Leftovers, starring Justin Theroux and Liv Tyler.
Matthew Goldberg is the President of Film 45. Previously, Goldberg spent a decade working at Herzog and Company, serving the past three years as its president. He is Co-Executive Producer on HBO’s State Of Play and recently on CNN’s summer hit series The Sixties. As a Producer, Goldberg is in his third season of HBO’s The Fight Game and in 2013 was nominated for a PGA award for his work on the critically acclaimed HBO seriesOn Freddie Roach. In 2013 he also produced the groundbreaking digital series Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn for Microsoft, which to date has had more than 75 million views. Goldberg has overseen innovative content marketing for brands including Apple, Microsoft, Under Armour and Casio and on a variety of entertainment properties including the Transformers and Pirates of The Caribbean franchises for Disney, Paramount, Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers.