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Director. Producer. Writer. Actor. All of these words fit comfortably around the long and prolific career of Peter Berg who, after an inauspicious debut as a director in 1997 for television series Chicago Hope, roared away from the rest of the pack with such uniquely original directed films as Very Bad Things and Friday Night Lights. Brash and visceral, Berg’s work was the cinematic equivalent of bennies mixed with acid. The end results were many things, but boring and predictable they were not. Discerning film fans easily saw all of this and now, according to Variety, so too does streaming behemoth Netflix.
Announced today is a first-look deal that has been reached between Netflix and Peter Berg’s production shingle Film 44. Per the details of the new deal, Berg will direct and produce both film and television projects for Netflix.
In a press release, Berg- a man of few words – said that “For me, in this moment, Netflix is the perfect creative fit. I could not be more excited to get to work!”
Today’s announcement follows on the heels of last year’s collaboration between Berg and Netflix which produced the hit film Spencer Confidential. How big of a hit are we talking about here? Spencer Confidential racked up a jaw-dropping 85 million views within four weeks of its release. Bean counters at Netflix took note of those stellar numbers obviously, and here we are today with a plum deal for the auteur behind such fare as Deepwater Horizon.
Vice-President of Netflix Tendo Nagenda said about the deal in a statement that “Pete makes movies that captivate and thrill us. He can put a fresh spin on classic and beloved characters like he did with Spencer Confidential, as well as find and tell original stories that entertain the world. We’re thrilled to have him and Film 44 officially at Netflix.”
For his next at bat with Netflix, Berg will be tasked with executive producing the scripted drama series Painkiller which is set to take a deep dive into the opioid epidemic. On top of this project, Berg is presently toiling away on the film The Colonel’s Wife which the talented gent will serve as writer-director and as a producer.
So a hearty congrats to Peter Berg, one of the real good guys in the industry!
