Josh Berger

Berger was born in Los Angeles, California, to artist manager Shelly Berger and talent agent Elinor Berger. His godfather is American music impresario Berry Gordy.[1]

About his childhood, Berger has said:

“I learned a ton about creativity – by osmosis really – from hanging around the incredible artists my father and godfather worked with, people like Diana Ross, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson 5, and Marvin Gaye, among others."[2]

He attended Beverly Hills High School between 1980 and 1984. During that time, he directed, produced, and hosted television programmes aired over Group W’s cable network. He also produced a stage production of Oklahoma!, which starred fellow students Jon Turteltaub and Nicolas Cage, under the supervision of John Ingle, who was the head of the school's drama department at the time.[3]

Berger also created, directed, produced, and hosted a TV show called ‘How Hollywood Works’ for a local cable TV channel, interviewing such figures as Leonard Goldberg, Billy Dee Williams, John Badham, Walter Parkes, Robert Chartoff, and Lawrence Lasker.

In the summer of 1983, he worked in the mailroom at Hollywood talent agency The William Morris Agency.[4]

Berger enrolled at Harvard College in 1984.[5] In 1986, he spent a gap year working at production and distribution company Lorimar-Telepictures (bought by Warner Bros. in 1989) in Los Angeles and New York, and at Silvio Berlusconi’s Rete Italia in Milan. While in Milan, he also worked for ad agency Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, where he recorded the voiceover for the launch of Sanpellegrino’s One O One.[6]

While at Harvard, Berger was the publicity director for the university's theatre organisation, Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatral organisation in the US.[7]

He graduated from Harvard with honours in General Studies in 1989, with a concentration in English and American literature and language.

In 2002, Berger completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.

After graduating Harvard, Berger joined Warner Bros. in 1989 as a sales executive in the TV distribution division.[8] He then worked in a number of leadership roles in Paris, Madrid, and London, where he settled in 1996.

In London, Berger oversaw all of Warner Bros.’ TV activities, including equity investments and co-productions, for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. During this time, he sat on the boards of CanalSatellite in France, Spain, and the Nordics, and was a founding director of e.tv in South Africa.[7]

In 2002, Berger became Warner Bros.’ first Country Manager, for the UK and Ireland, setting the template for a management model which integrates the disparate divisions in a territory under one leader and one corporate structure.[9] In the role, he was responsible for all Warner Bros.’ business activities in the region, including film distribution, Television distribution, home entertainment, video-games and consumer products, among others.

During his tenure, Berger was instrumental in the expansion of the company's activities in the UK, in particular in the acquisition of Leavesden Studios, and the development of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.[10][11] He oversaw over 350 theatrical releases in the UK and Ireland, including The Hangover, the Harry Potter series, Argo, the Dark Knight Trilogy, Gravity, The Lego Movie, Dunkirk, It, and Joker.

Berger was also part of the effort to expand into the UK video-games sector.[12] He worked closely with the two leading games developers and publishers Traveller's Tales (on whose board he served) and Rocksteady that Warner Bros. acquired, resulting in major successes such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman and Lego Harry Potter.

In 2008, and subsequently in 2012, Berger was a member of the National Finance Committee for the Obama-Biden election campaign.[13]

In 2009, Berger added management of Spain to his responsibilities, and in this capacity he oversaw the transformation of the team into a hub for world-class Spanish-language productions, including such successful theatrical releases as Lo Imposible, Palmeras en la Nieve, and Villaviciosa de al lado.[14]

In 2013, he established the award-winning Warner Bros. Creative Talent programme to develop emerging talent from all backgrounds in the UK and Ireland, identifying a pipeline for the UK and Ireland's creative industries in film, TV, games and theatre.[15]

In 2014, Berger took responsibility for the expansion of the Harry Potter global franchise effort, leading Warner Bros.’ expanded creative partnership with J.K. Rowling.[16] In the role, Berger worked on numerous initiatives including the Fantastic Beasts film series; The Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions at Universal Studios in Florida, Hollywood, Japan, and Beijing; videogame label Portkey Games; the stage-play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; and the Harry Potter Fan Club.

In October 2020, Berger announced his departure from Warner Bros. after 31 years at the company.[5]

Berger is a producer of the hit Broadway musical Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations.[17]

He is also an executive producer of the third instalment of the Fantastic Beasts film series, and upcoming BBC documentary Fantastic Beasts: A Natural History.[18][19]

Berger has been a British citizen since July 2011, and is based in Battersea, London with his partner Danna Harman. He has two children, Jake and Noah.

He speaks Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese, moderate level Hebrew, and beginner-level German and Catalan.

Berger was appointed Chairman of the British Film Institute in 2016, having been a BFI Governor since 2011.[20] In this role, Josh has promoted the cultural and economic value of the creative industries, and has championed the push for greater diversity in the screen industries, including the development and promotion of the BFI Diversity Standards.[21]

He is also chairman Emeritus of Chickenshed Theatre Trust; a board member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA); a Member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the British Screen Forum; a Director of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[22][23][24]

In 2012, Berger was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his outstanding services to the UK's creative industries.[25]