Amy J. Berg
| Amy J. Berg | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 13, 1970 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation | Film director, producer, screenwriter |
Amy J. Berg (born October 13, 1970) is an American film maker best known for her Academy Award-nominated documentary Deliver Us from Evil (2006). Deliver Us from Evil is about sex abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church, focusing on Oliver O'Grady, who abused many children in California between the late 1970s and early 1990s.[1]
Life and career
Born to a Jewish family,[2][3] Berg grew up in the San Fernando Valley and lives in the Venice Beach neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.[4]
Prior to Deliver Us From Evil, Berg produced documentary segments for CNN Investigations and the KCBS news program "30 Minutes of Special Assignment".[5] Her work at KCBS earned her Emmy Awards in 2003 and 2004. Before that, Berg researched and developed stories for Silver Creek Entertainment. Many aired on Good Morning America, 20/20, and Extra. In addition, she has written numerous articles for the National Organization for Women, The Jewish Journal and a number of monthly and weekly periodicals in America and France.[6]
Berg has directed the 10-minute-long documentary film Polarized (2007) for Al Gore's Live Earth Pledge. She also produced Bhutto, a documentary feature that played at Sundance 2010. West of Memphis (2012), produced by Peter Jackson and Damien Echols, documents the story of the West Memphis Three, who were convicted as teenagers of the 1993 murder of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas.[2] The film has received critical acclaim and won numerous awards at film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, where the film premiered in January 2012, and the Toronto International Film Festival.
As of April 2014, Berg was in pre-production for Every Secret Thing, a narrative feature film produced by Frances McDormand and Anthony Bregman, and starring Diane Lane and Elizabeth Banks.[7]
Also in April 2014, Variety confirmed that Berg had spent the past two years working on a documentary about sex abuse in Hollywood[8] entitled An Open Secret.[9]
In 2014 Content Film boarded Berg's new documentary about Janis Joplin and was looking to introduce the film to buyers at Cannes. The film, called Janis: Little Girl Blue, follows Joplin during her performing years at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Woodstock Festival in 1969 and Festival Express in 1970, and it also includes interviews with family, friends and rock star contemporaries.[10]
On November 24, 2014 Berg and Matthew Cooke launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds towards creating American Race, a documentary addressing "the black male crisis" in the US.[11]
Prophet's Prey, a documentary directed by Berg which explores the life of Warren Jeffs, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Berg adapted the film from Sam Brower's book Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation Into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints.
Berg is the founder of Disarming Films, a film and documentary production company.[12]
Filmography
- Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
- West of Memphis (2012)
- An Open Secret (2014)
- Every Secret Thing (2014)
- Prophet's Prey (2015)
- Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)
References
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