Michael Shamberg
Michael Shamberg | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Shamberg at Web Summit 2017 | |
| Born | March 22, 1944 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Washington University in St. Louis |
| Occupation(s) | Film producer, former Time–Life correspondent |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
Michael Shamberg (born March 22, 1944)[1] is an American film producer and former Time–Life correspondent.
Life and career
[edit]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[update], 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, where he became a brother of Zeta Beta Tau.[4][5] Shamberg is Jewish.[6]
Filmography
[edit]He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film
[edit]| 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
[edit]| 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
[edit]- ^ Michael Shamberg Biography (1945 - 2020)
- ^ 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.
- ^ "All DuPont-Columbia Award winners". Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
- ^ Rea, Barbara (27 October 2016). "Totenberg to headline annual Founders Day celebration". Washington University in St. Louis. Disqus. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ "Notable Brothers". Zeta Beta Tau. Archived from the original on September 30, 2025.
- ^ "Michael Shamberg – Chairman; MAS Production". Jewish Graduate Student Initiative. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
