We got to speak with producer Jon Berg about his newest project, Ordinary Angels.
Jon Berg is President of Film at Stampede Ventures. He joined the company in 2020 after leaving Warner Bros. Studios where he was Co-President of Production. At Stampede Ventures, Berg’s next release to hit theaters is Ordinary Angels.
Based on a remarkable true story, Ordinary Angels centers on Sharon (Hilary Swank), a fierce but struggling hairdresser in small-town Kentucky who discovers a renewed sense of purpose when she meets Ed (Alan Ritchson), a widower working hard to make ends meet for his two daughters. With his youngest daughter waiting for a liver transplant, Sharon sets her mind to helping the family and will move mountains to do it. What unfolds is the inspiring tale of faith, everyday miracles, and ordinary angels.
Ordinary Angels was directed by Jon Gunn and written by Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig. The film stars Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson, Skywalker Harris, and Emily Mitchell as Michelle Schmitt along with Nancy Travis, Tamala Jones, Drew Powell, Amy Acker.
Check out our interview below:
More on Jon Berg:
He is currently in post-production with K-Pops!, the dramatic comedy marking the directorial debut of eight-time Grammy winner Anderson .Paak, and Space Cadet, a romantic comedy starring Emma Roberts written/directed by Liz W. Garcia. Berg is about to start production on The Fisherwoman, a thriller starring Emma Thompson, to begin production at the end of February in Finland. Next up is Chasing Red, a feature adaptation of the YA web romance novel by Isabelle Ronin, to be directed by Jessika Borsiczky, which will begin production at the end of April and will be the first film produced under Stampede and Film AlUla’s newly announced $350 million 3-year/10 picture partnership.
Berg began his career in the mailroom of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment in 1995, had stops at The Canton Company (1996) and then as an executive at Universal Pictures (1998-2000) where he was responsible for buying the Bourne Identity franchise directed by Doug Liman. Berg then transitioned to managing writers/directors and producing full-time, first at Berg-Saccani
Entertainment and then at Guy Walks into a Bar (2000-2007) where the first movie he produced in 2003 was Elf, the perennial Christmas classic.
In 2007, Berg was hired to an executive position at Warner Bros. where he worked on dozens of movies from 2007 to 2017, first starting as a Senior Vice President, and then rising to Co-President, Production in 2015. Berg’s movies at Warner Bros. included Argo, American Sniper, Sherlock Holmes 1 & 2, The Dark Knight Rises, Edge of Tomorrow, Interstellar, Joker, Due Date, Gangster Squad, Midnight Special, and Suicide Squad. The combined box office total for his films while at Warner Bros. was over $7 billion.
In 2018, Berg left Warner Bros. and transitioned back to being a producer, full-time. In addition to Elf, Berg’s producing credits include Out of Time, Doctor Sleep, Meet Dave, the documentary The Saint of Second Chances, Space Cadet, Aquaman, Justice League, Wonder Woman, and the upcoming Minecraft set at Warner Bros.
