- published: 21 May 2015
- views: 1217
Alec Berg is an American comedy writer, best known as a writer for the sitcom Seinfeld. He also co-wrote the screenplays for the films The Cat in the Hat, EuroTrip and The Dictator. In addition, Berg is an executive producer of and has directed numerous episodes of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and also executive produces Silicon Valley.
In the Seinfeld episode "The Face Painter", Berg's name is given to an attorney friend of Jerry's who gives Jerry some New York Rangers playoff tickets. When Jerry fails to thank Berg's character for the tickets, Berg does not offer Jerry tickets for another game that week. In that episode, Jerry jokes that Berg has a great "John Houseman name", pronouncing it jokingly in Houseman's accent.
Berg is of Swedish descent. In the Season 8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "The Divorce," Larry David fires his divorce attorney Andrew Berg (played by Paul F. Tompkins) after he finds out that Berg is not Jewish – as he had presumed from the name – but, like Alec Berg, is a Catholic of Swedish heritage.
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld (born April 29, 1954) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for portraying a semifictional version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David. For its final two seasons, they were also co-executive producers.
Seinfeld also co-wrote and co-produced the 2007 animated film Bee Movie, in which he voiced the protagonist. In 2010 he premiered a reality series called The Marriage Ref. He directed Colin Quinn in the Broadway show Long Story Short at the Helen Hayes Theater, which ran until January 2011. He is also the creator and host of the web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
In his stand-up comedy career, Seinfeld is known for specializing in observational humor, often focusing on personal relationships and uncomfortable social obligations. In 2005 Comedy Central named him the 12th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time.
Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Kalmen Seinfeld (1918–1985), was born to a Jewish immigrant from Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine. His mother, Betty (née Hosni; born 1914), is of Syrian Jewish descent; her parents Selim and Salha Hosni were from Aleppo. Seinfeld grew up in Massapequa, New York, and attended Massapequa High School on Long Island. At the age of 16, he spent time volunteering in Kibbutz Sa'ar in Israel. He later attended State University of New York at Oswego; after his second year, he transferred to Queens College, City University of New York, graduating with a degree in communications and theater.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. It aired 80 episodes over eight seasons, the last of which aired in 2011. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself. The series follows Larry in his life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles and later New York City. Also starring are Cheryl Hines as his wife Cheryl, Jeff Garlin as his manager Jeff, and Susie Essman as Jeff's wife Susie. Curb Your Enthusiasm often features guest stars, and many of these appearances are by celebrities playing versions of themselves fictionalized to varying degrees.
The plots and subplots of the episodes are established in an outline written by David and the dialogue is largely improvised by the actors (a technique known as retroscripting). As with Seinfeld, the subject matter in Curb Your Enthusiasm often involves the minutiae of daily life, and plots often revolve around Larry David's many faux pas and his problems with certain social conventions and expectations, as well as his annoyance with other people's behavior. The character has a hard time letting such annoyances go unexpressed, which often leads him into awkward situations.
May 21 -- Mike Judge and Alec Berg, producers of HBO's "Silicon Valley," talk about their show and what goes into portraying Silicon Valley with Bloomberg's Emily Chang in a sneak peak of their conversation on this week's edition of "Studio 1.0," airing tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT.
April 21 -- HBO's hit show Silicon Valley returns Sunday. Alec Berg and Mike Judge, executive producers of "Silicon Valley," and Dick Costolo, former Twitter CEO, discuss the show's third season with Emily Chang on "Bloomberg West." Like this video? Subscribe to Bloomberg on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/Bloomberg Watch Bloomberg TV live at http://www.bloomberg.com/live
May 21 -- Mike Judge and Alec Berg, producers of HBO's "Silicon Valley," talk about their show and Hollywood with Bloomberg's Emily Chang's in a sneak peak of their conversation on this week's edition of "Studio 1.0," airing tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT.
For more movie news, stories and videos visit: http://www.screenslam.com
Alec Berg, Executive Director of ‘Silicon Valley’, joins HuffPost Live and Johnnie Walker to discuss how he challenges himself in the comedy world for The Next Step Series.
Roundtables are back! Tune in Monday, May 23rd for the premiere of The Hollywood Reporter’s 2016 Emmy Roundtable season, and every day after for new Roundtable videos. Who do you want to see on this season’s Roundtables? Tell us in the comments below! "I remember the actual day we got that job, we were just sitting at home when the phone rang and our friends called us and said hey how long would it take us to get over to CBS [Radford Studios] and I said 'why?' and he said 'well Larry [David] and Jerry [Seinfeld] want to meet you,'" said Alec Berg of his beginnings in Hollywood. The full Comedy Showrunner Roundtable can be seen on Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter when it premieres Sunday, Sep. 6, at 11 a.m. ET/PT on Sundance TV and HollywoodReporter.com. Subscribe to our channel: h...
"Silicon Valley" Executive Producer Alec Berg answers the question "what does creativity mean to you?"
Congratulations to Alec Berg on his WGA nomination for Best Comedy Series for "Curb Your Enthusiasm"! Alec's television credits include "Seinfeld" where he was a writer and executive producer, and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where he currently serves as a writer, executive producer and director, and for which he was nominated. Check out this clip from one of Alec's panels at the 2011 Austin Film Festival & Conference in which he discussed the story process for "Curb Your Enthusiasm". We're thrilled he'll be joining us again in 2012! Learn more about the Austin Film Festival at www.austinfilmfestival.com