Alec Berg

Alec Berg
Berg at SXSW 2016
Born	1969or1970(age 54–55)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupations	Screenwriter producer director
Years active	1991–present
Known for	Seinfeld Curb Your Enthusiasm EuroTrip The Dictator Silicon Valley Barry

Alec Berg (born 1969or1970 ^[1] ) is an American television writer, producer, and director.

Early life and education

Berg is of Swedish descent, ^[2] and grew up idolizing the comedy of Bill Cosby and Steve Martin. ^[3] He attended high school in Pasadena, California, ^[4] before graduating from Harvard University, ^[1] where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon . ^[3]

Career

Berg wrote for the final four seasons of the sitcom Seinfeld , as well as being the co-creator (with Bill Hader) and executive producer of Barry . ^[5] He also co-wrote the screenplays for the films The Cat in the Hat , EuroTrip , and The Dictator . Berg is also an executive producer (and sometime director) of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as an executive producer of Silicon Valley . ^{[4] [6]} In 2016, Berg signed an overall deal with HBO. ^[7]

Berg was the inspiration for a character in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "The Divorce," a lawyer of the same name whom Larry assumes to be Jewish but is a Catholic of Swedish descent. ^[2]

Filmography

Writing

Year	Title	Notes
1991	MTV, Give Me Back My Life: A Harvard Lampoon Parody	TV movie
1992	Great Scott!	Episode "Date Bait"
1994	Herman's Head	Episode "Absence Makes the Head Grow Fonder"
1995–2000	The Moxy & Flea Show
1996	68th Academy Awards	Wrote special material
1994–1998	Seinfeld	13 episodes
2002	The Barenaked Ladies Show	TV movie
2003	The Cat in the Hat	Screenplay
2004	EuroTrip
2004	Shark Tale	Additional dialogue
1994, 1998–2009	Late Night with Conan O'Brien	13 episodes
2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	10 episodes
2012	The Dictator
2013	Clear History
2014–2019	Silicon Valley	7 episodes
2018–2023	Barry	32 episodes

Directing

Year	Title	Notes
2004	Eurotrip	Co-director (uncredited)
2007–2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	6 episodes
2013	New Girl	2 episodes
2014–2019	Silicon Valley	11 episodes
2018–2023	Barry	7 episodes

Producing

Year	Title	Notes
1993–1994	Herman's Head	22 episodes; served as story editor
1996–1998	Seinfeld	44 episodes
2004	Eurotrip
2005, 2007–2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	32 episodes
2012	The Dictator
2013	Clear History
2014–2019	Silicon Valley	53 episodes
2018–2023	Barry	32 episodes

Acting

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Best Laid Plans	Phone Guy No. 1
2019	Silicon Valley	Documentarian	Episode “Exit Event”

Awards and nominations

Year	Category	Project	Result	Ref.
Primetime Emmy Awards
1997	Outstanding Comedy Series	Seinfeld (season 8)	Nominated	[8]
1998		Seinfeld (season 9)	Nominated	[9]
2008		Curb Your Enthusiasm (season 6)	Nominated	[10]
2010		Curb Your Enthusiasm (season 7)	Nominated	[11]
2012		Curb Your Enthusiasm (season 8)	Nominated	[12]
2014		Silicon Valley (season 1)	Nominated	[13]
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (episode: "Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency")	Nominated
2015	Outstanding Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (season 2)	Nominated	[14]
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (episode: "Two Days of the Condor")	Nominated
2016	Outstanding Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (season 3)	Nominated	[15]
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (episode: "The Uptick")	Nominated
	Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (episode: "Daily Active Users")	Nominated
2017	Outstanding Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (season 4)	Nominated	[16]
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (episode: "Success Failure")	Nominated
2018	Outstanding Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (season 5)	Nominated	[17]
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Silicon Valley (episode: "Fifty-One Percent")	Nominated
	Outstanding Comedy Series	Barry (Season 1)	Nominated
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Barry (episode: "Chapter One: Make Your Mark")	Nominated
2019	Outstanding Comedy Series	Barry (Season 2)	Nominated	[18]
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Barry (episode: "ronny/lily")	Nominated
	Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series	Barry (episode: "The Audition")	Nominated
2022	Outstanding Comedy Series	Barry (Season 3)	Nominated	[19]
	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Barry (episode: "starting now")	Nominated
2023	Outstanding Comedy Series	Barry (Season 4)	Nominated	[20]

References

1. Gay, Verne (December 29, 1997). "So, NBC, Who's Next?". Newsday . p. B2. ...Alec Berg and Jeff Schaffer, are 27-year-old Harvard grads...
2. Pfefferman, Naomi (May 2, 2012). "'Dictator' Scribes Dish on Sacha Baron Cohen's New Comedy". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles; jewishjournal.com. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
3. Renfro, Kim; Carlson, Nicholas (April 24, 2017). "'Silicon Valley' showrunner Alec Berg on how to become a top comedy writer in TV and the challenges of satire". Business Insider . Retrieved August 20, 2025.
4. "Interview with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld" Writer Alec Berg". Austin Film Festival . July 20, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
5. Hiatt, Brian (July 20, 2011). "'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and 'Seinfeld' Writers Talk About the Legend of Larry David". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
6. Andreeva, Nellie (June 2, 2016). "Bill Hader Hitman Comedy 'Barry' Picked Up To Series By HBO". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 28, 2018.
7. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (June 22, 2016). "HBO Inks Overall Deal with 'Silicon Valley' Showrunner Alec Berg (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
8. "Nominees / Winners 1997 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
9. "Nominees / Winners 1998 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
10. "Nominees / Winners 1998 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
11. "Nominees / Winners 2010 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
12. "Nominees / Winners 2012 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
13. "Nominees / Winners 2014 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
14. "Nominees / Winners 2015 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
15. "Nominees / Winners 2016 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
16. "Nominees / Winners 2017 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
17. "Nominees / Winners 2018 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
18. "Nominees / Winners 2019 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
19. "Nominees / Winners 2022 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
20. "Nominees / Winners 2023 Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved July 10, 2024.

External links

Media related to Alec Berg at Wikimedia Commons

• Alec Berg at IMDb