Michael Shamberg (born May 4, 1945)[1] is an American film producer and former Time–Life correspondent.

Michael Shamberg
Shamberg at Web Summit 2017
Born (1945-05-04) May 4, 1945 (age 79)
Alma materWashington University in St. Louis
Occupation(s)Film producer, former Time–Life correspondent
Spouses
(m. 1974; div. 1991)
Carla Santos Shamberg
(m. 1996)
Children3

Life and career

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His credits include Erin Brockovich, A Fish Called Wanda, Garden State, Gattaca, Pulp Fiction and The Big Chill. His production companies include Jersey Films, with Stacey Sher and Danny DeVito, and, as of 2015, Double Feature Films, with Stacey Sher.

In the 1960s and 1970s, counter-culture video collectives extended the role of the underground press to new communication technologies. In 1970, Shamberg co-founded a video collective called Raindance Corporation, which published a newspaper-magazine called Radical Software. Raindance Corporation later became TVTV, or Top Value Television. Shamberg and his first wife Megan Williams were founding members of TVTV.[2] The collective believed new technology could effect social change. An example was Shamberg's work on In Hiding: A Conversation with Abbie Hoffman, broadcast on Public-access television station WNET/13 in May 1975.[2]

Shamberg described his approach as "guerrilla television" (the title of his 1971 book) because, despite its strategies and tactics similar to warfare, guerrilla television is non-violent and he saw it as a means to break through the barriers imposed by broadcast television, which he called beast television.[citation needed]

His TVTV group's documentary Lord of the Universe, 1974, won a DuPont-Columbia Award in 1975.[3] The group urged for the use of Sony's Portapak video camera, introduced in 1967, to be merged with the documentary film style and television, and later pioneer use of 3/4" video in their works.[citation needed]

Shamberg is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, MO.[4] Shamberg is Jewish[5]

Filmography

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He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

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Year Film Credit
1980 Heart Beat
1981 Modern Problems
1983 The Big Chill
1986 Club Paradise
1988 A Fish Called Wanda
1989 How I Got into College
1994 Reality Bites
8 Seconds
Pulp Fiction Executive producer
1995 Get Shorty
1996 Sunset Park
Matilda
Feeling Minnesota
1997 Fierce Creatures
Gattaca
1998 Out of Sight
Living Out Loud
1999 Man on the Moon
2000 Drowning Mona Executive producer
Erin Brockovich
2001 The Caveman's Valentine
How High
2003 Camp
2004 Along Came Polly
Garden State Executive producer
2005 Be Cool
The Skeleton Key
2006 World Trade Center
2007 Freedom Writers
Reno 911!: Miami
2010 Extraordinary Measures
2011 Contagion
2012 LOL
Django Unchained Executive producer
2013 Runner Runner
2014 Wish I Was Here
A Walk Among the Tombstones
2015 Freeheld
Burnt Executive producer
2016 Get a Job
2017 Wetlands Executive producer
2019 Cold Pursuit
As an actor
Year Film Role
2000 Erin Brockovich PG&E Lawyer
2004 Along Came Polly Van Lew Executive
2010 Extraordinary Measures Renzler Venture Capitalist #1
Thanks
Year Film Role
2002 The Good Girl Special thanks
2018 A Futile and Stupid Gesture
Super Troopers 2

Television

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Year Title Credit Notes
1972 Four More Years Documentary
1974 Lord of the Universe Documentary
1976 Super Bowl Documentary
TVTV Looks at the Academy Awards Television special
1977 The TVTV Show Television film
1998 The Pentagon Wars Executive producer Television film
2000 Celebrity Executive producer Television film
2001 Kate Brasher Executive producer
2002 The American Embassy Executive producer
The Funkhousers Executive producer Television film
2001−02 UC: Undercover Executive producer
2003 Other People's Business Executive producer Television film
Karen Sisco Executive producer
2015−19 Into the Badlands Executive producer
2004−20 Reno 911! Executive producer
2021 Reno 911!: The Hunt for QAnon Executive producer Television film
2022 Meltdown: Three Mile Island Executive producer Documentary
TBA The Devil in the White City Executive producer
As an editor
Year Title Notes
1974 Lord of the Universe Documentary
1976 Super Bowl Documentary
TVTV Looks at the Academy Awards Television special
As writer
Year Title Notes
1977 The TVTV Show Television film

References

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  1. ^ Michael Shamberg Biography (1945 - 2020)
  2. ^ a b Teasdale, Parry D. (1999). Videofreex: America's First Pirate TV Station & the Catskills Collective that Turned it on. Hensonville, NY: Black Dome Press Corp. p. 214. ISBN 1-883789-21-4.
  3. ^ "All DuPont-Columbia Award winners". Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
  4. ^ Rea, Barbara (27 October 2016). "Totenberg to headline annual Founders Day celebration". Washington University in St. Louis. Disqus. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Michael Shamberg – Chairman; MAS Production". Jewish Graduate Student Initiative. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
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