Filmmaker Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights) has announced the launch of Film 45, a 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 of the new Santa Monica-based venture
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 set up 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.
Berg stated, “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 postproduction services.
Film 45 is represented by Lance Klein at WME and David Matlof at Hirsch, Wallerstein, Hayum, Matlof & Fishman.
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, Jon Favreau and Christian Slater. Berg went on to direct The Rundown, The Kingdom, Battleship, and Lone Survivor. Berg is also known for his fierce portrait of high school football in the 2004 film adaptation of H.G. Bissinger’s 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.
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 series On 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.
Berg continues to be available to direct commercials and select ad/branding projects via bicoastal Pony Show Entertainment. He has helmed high-profile spots and branded content through Pony show over the years, including last October’s trailer launching Activision’s third release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warefare. Created by agency 72andSunny, the trailer instantly dropped viewers into an intense action sequence with Taylor Kitsch, best known for his role in NBC’s Friday Night Lights and star of the new season of HBO’s True Detective with Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn. Together, the viewer and Kitsch discover how the technology of Advanced Warfare radically transforms combat as they journey through a battle taking place in 2059. The trailer was shot from a first person perspective, making the viewer feel as if he or she is an advanced soldier, actually operating the gadgets, throwing the grenades and free-falling from building tops, all the while experiencing how the new weapons, future technology, and gear might work in the game.
This marked second time that Berg worked on the Call of Duty franchise, having previously directed via Pony Show the live action trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 starring Jonah Hill and Sam Worthington.
