 | This biographical article is written like a résumé .(September 2021) |
Alex Berger | |
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 Alex Berger in 2000. | |
| Born | March 22, 1962 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S. |
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Alex Berger (born March 22, 1962) is a producer, creator, consultant and entrepreneur in the media field.
He was born March 22, 1962, in Philadelphia in the US. He is the son of Francine Dreyfus-Berger, a French painter and Dr. Joseph Berger, PhD. In 1972, he moved to France with his parents and his sister Sylvie Berger. After a French schooling, he briefly studied at the University of Pennsylvania, then lived between the US and Europe. He currently lives in Paris, with his wife Florence Servan-Schreiber [ fr ] and their three children.
In 1997, Alex Berger invents the multi-access web portal Vizzavi, [1] which consists of enabling premium content to travel seamlessly between all of the subscribers and their services and devices ( Canal+ pay TV and CanalSatellite pay channels, AOL Europe subscribers, SFR mobile subscribers, Numéricâble subscribers.)... This system named Vizzavi, was co-owned by Vodafone under the name Vodafone Live. [2] service.
In 1998, Alex Berger founded and became the first CEO of CanalNumedia [3] [4] CanalNumedia all the gaming activities of the group (2nd worldwide) and football, cinema and photography sites... In 1999 he founded and became the co-CEO of Vivendi Universal Net (VivendiNet) along with Franck Boulben. VivendiNet regrouped all digital contents of:
•Canal+/CanalNumedia (sports and cinema websites and Allociné [5] ), •Havas with all of its publications and digital assets such as Scoot, bonjour !, 01.net, la Vie Financière • Cegetel [ fr ] (SFR) and Vizzavi •as well as all the venture capital funds (Viventures) and the incubator @VISO co-owned 50/50 with SOFTBANK. [6]
Once approved by Jean Marie Messier [7] and Pierre Lescure, Alex Berger initiated the discussions with Universal. With the help of Terry Semel, former CEO of Warner Brothers, they approached Edgar Bronfman Jr, CEO of Seagram, owned by Universal. This strategy led to Vivendi, Universal and Canal+ to merge in June 2000. [8]
After the merger was finalised in June 2000, Alex Berger was at a strategic position between Vivendi-Universal CEO Jean-Marie Messier [9] and Canal+ Group CEO Pierre Lescure, head of content and digital. Internal politics and infighting raging, Alex Berger decided to leave Canal+ group in September 2000. [10]
On a new organisation for scripted drama series in France
Alex Berger was asked to write a report for the CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée- French National Center for Cinema and Animation) on a new organisation of scripted drama in France. The report was commissioned by the CNC to show what and how should be changed in the French market to meet the standards as well as needs in this golden age of scripted drama. The report puts in perspective the changes that need to be made within paradigm shift with the rise of the digital platforms, and how this affects the way of developing, producing and distributing TV series, taking Le Bureau des Légendes/The Bureau as an example.
In 1992, he interpreted the character of Jean-Robert Günther in L'Émission impossible [ fr ] on TF1, the first show of d'Arthur on television. [11] In 1994, he made an appearance on Canal+ in the very last sketch of the show in Nulle part ailleurs of Antoine de Caunes and José Garcia. With the humoristic group Les Nuls as a guest on the set, he made a parody of one of them, Dominique Farrugia [12]
Alex Berger interpreted the character of Caius Tchounus Mogulus, in Astérix et Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre of Alain Chabat. [13]
Jean-Marie Messier is a French businessman who was chairman and chief executive of the multinational media conglomerate Vivendi until 2002. He is also frequently referred to by the nickname "J2M" and "J6M", based on his initials.
Canal+, also spelt Canal Plus and sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal, is a French premium television channel owned by the Groupe Canal+. The channel was launched in November 1984, and broadcasts to Metropolitan France. It broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted, but some unencrypted content can be viewed free of charge.
Vivendi SE is a French mass-media holding company headquartered in Paris. It owns Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village, and Dailymotion, and is a majority owner of the Lagardère Group. The company has activities in television, film, video games, book publishing, print press, communication, tickets, and video hosting services.
SFR is a French telecommunications company. It is both the second oldest mobile network operator and the second largest telecommunications company in France, after Orange.
Guy Dejouany was the CEO of Compagnie Générale des Eaux, from 1976 to 1995.
Antoine de Caunes is a French television presenter, actor, writer and film director. He is the son of two prominent French personalities, television journalist-reporter Georges de Caunes and television announcer Jacqueline Joubert. He is the father of the actress Emma de Caunes.
Jean-Denis Bredin was a French attorney and founding partner of the firm Bredin Prat. He was widely admired as an author-commentator, both for his novels and for his non-fiction works, with a particular focus on recent and contemporary history. On 15 June 1989, he was elected to membership of the Académie Française, becoming the twentieth occupant of seat 3, which had been vacated through the death of Marguerite Yourcenar. His daughter, Frédérique Bredin, served between 2013 and 2019 as President of the French National Center of Cinematography and the moving image.
Groupe Canal+, also known as Canal+ Group in English, is a French media and telecommunications conglomerate based in Paris, owned and controlled by Vivendi. It runs its own subscription TV channels in France, distributes third-party channels and services, and is a major source of finance for domestic film production, participating in the financing of the vast majority of films produced in France. It also has its own subsidiary companies with direct involvement in film production and distribution, such as StudioCanal. Apart from extensive operations in mainland France, the company owns many subsidiaries and operates in countries across Europe, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and in French Overseas Territories.
Catherine Jacob is a French film and theatrical actress who has won a César Award for her role in Life Is a Long Quiet River (1988), and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Tatie Danielle (1990), Merci la vie (1991) and Neuf mois (1994). She has been two-time president of the Lumières Award. She is known for her voice and her charisma.
The Très Court International Film Festival is a film festival which takes place annually in June in multiple cities simultaneously. It is dedicated to short films that are no longer than four minutes. Each year, around 2 000 international short films are screened in competition and of those around 140, or 7% are screened at the festival, of which a much smaller number will be awarded one of the various awards available that year.
Bruno Putzulu is a French actor, born in Toutainville, France.
Le Grand Journal was a French nightly news and talk show television program that aired on Canal+ every weekday evening from 19:10 to 20:20. It debuted on August 30, 2004 and was created and hosted by Michel Denisot, succeeded by Antoine de Caunes and then later by Maïtena Biraben. Victor Robert took on the reins from 2016 to the program's end in 2017. Originally a one-hour program, it expanded to two hours in 2005. Even though the program was broadcast on the premium channel Canal+, it was a non-encrypted program.
Jean-Bernard Lévy is a French businessman, and the CEO and chairman of EDF.
Pierre Lescure is a French journalist and television executive. He is known for having founded the French TV music show Les Enfants du rock broadcast on public television from 1981 to 1988 and for having led the French Canal+ channel from its creation in 1984 to 2002. Since 2015 he has been the president of the Cannes Film Festival.
Jean-David Blanc in Neuilly-sur-Seine (France), is a French entrepreneur, angel investor, film producer, writer and jazz musician, founder of AlloCiné and Molotov. He is France's thirteenth favorite entrepreneur according to the 2022 ranking drawn up by Forbes France.
Édouard Tétreau is a French public intellectual known as an essayist, columnist, and political and economic consultant. He founded his advisory firm Mediafin in 2004, which he brought to Edelman in December 2022, to run their Global Families advisory services.
Jean-Louis Ezine, real name Jean-Louis Bunel is a French writer, journalist and radio host.
Maïtena Biraben is a French-Swiss television presenter and producer. She has notably presented on France 5 the program Les Maternelles and on Canal+ La Matinale and Le Supplément. From September 2015 to June 2016, she presented on the same channel Le Grand Journal, succeeding to Antoine de Caunes.
Élodie Frenck is a Peruvian–Swiss–French actress, born 31 July 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is known for playing the character of Marlène Leroy in the French TV series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie.
Albert Algoud, is a French humorist known for his sketches on several Canal+ programs and on the radio. He has also published books on Tintin.